Julia Maiuri

Yesterday & The End

★☆☆☆☆

On until 13 January 2024

Maiuri’s oil copies of found film stills and promotional photographs from Hollywood’s golden age make a perfect show for the postage stamp collector. Not only will her bijou paintings fit through the letterbox, they also come in a choice of bright colours that would readily set the first class stamp apart even in a busy collection. Women’s faces and objects lifted from black and white thrillers fill the frames to bursting. Stylised retro typography signals timeless nostalgia. These scenes are at once familiar and unplaceable, as though designed to appeal to all, yet grant the illusion of depth to the would-be connoisseur. For the philatelist on a budget, Maiuri even reprised her first day covers in miniature on unprimed and presumably cheaper canvas, effectively painting each image twice.

But seeing them once would be plenty. One can only imagine that some unconscious loathing of postmen or Hollywood motivated this project. Maiuri’s hatred of paint, on the other hand, is evident.


notes and notices are short and curt exhibition reviews. Read more:

Erick Meyenberg, Nos marchábamos, regresábamos siempre, the Mexican pavilion in Venice ★☆☆☆☆

Erick Meyenberg

Nos marchábamos, regresábamos siempre

★☆☆☆☆

Whatever the purpose of this confusion, it’s not to be found in the gallery.

Gina Fischli, Love Love Love at Soft Opening ★★★★☆

Gina Fischli

Love Love Love

★★★★☆

What good it is to be best in show when the competition is lame, crooked, or outright fake?

Christopher Aque, Alexandre Khondji at Sweetwater and Studio M ★★★★★

Christopher Aque, Alexandre Khondji

★★★★★

Aesthetic cognition or crossword puzzles only rarely bring such perverse pleasure.

Max Hooper Schneider, Twilight at the Earth’s Crust at Maureen Paley ★★☆☆☆

Max Hooper Schneider

Twilight at the Earth’s Crust

★★☆☆☆

Mad Max meets Waterworld in a crossover sequel conceived by a film studio’s marketing department.

Xie Nanxing, Hello, Portrait! at Thomas Dane ★★★★☆

Xie Nanxing

Hello, Portrait!

★★★★☆

Looking at Xie’s portraits is a little like wearing a virtual reality headset over only one eye.

Ed Webb-Ingall, A Bedroom for Everyone at PEER ★☆☆☆☆

Ed Webb-Ingall

A Bedroom for Everyone

★☆☆☆☆

How can art improve the lives of communities? Wrong answers only.

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