Laura Lima

The Drawing Drawing

★★★☆☆

On until 29 March 2026

The tautological title of this exhibition, paired with the gallery extolling Lima’s practice as “category-defying”, cautions the visitor of some heavy abstraction ahead. Not without reason. 

The artist turned the ground floor into a life-drawing studio. How radical, truly! The twist, as if another were needed, is that both the model and punters pose on mechanised platforms. They float akin to robot vacuum cleaners. Is this perspective-taking? If so, the whining, high-pitched noise of the floats’ brushless motors does all the work. 

Upstairs, a beach umbrella dances to Brazilian beats. Looks fun, but it’s inconsequential. Next door, a commercial freezer keeps liquid tray sculptures solid; a pair of gloves invites limited, soft-play interaction.

Not much of anything in particular, then. Are these sampler vignettes of some larger, untold story? Fragments that may, when augmented, form a discernible thesis? Lima’s desire to phrase questions in philosophical jargon is obvious. It’s not even stupid. Yet it is less clear that she knows how her objects answer. Consequently, she leaves far too much for the viewer.


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

A light here required a shadow at Maximillian William ★★★☆☆

Grant Falardeau, Rimantė Mikulovičiūtė, Benjamin Sasserson, Bu Shi, Dylan Williams

A light here required a shadow

★★★☆☆

Catch the wrong end of the spectrum and forever remain obscured.

Joanne Burke, Oes with works like Esses at Soft Opening ★★★★☆

Joanne Burke

Oes with works like Esses

★★★★☆

Hot metal is that, like water, it spills away from the mould.

Means of Reproduction at Emalin ★★☆☆☆

Means of Reproduction

★★☆☆☆

Is consumption is the greatest form of anticapitalism?

Dickon Drury at Seventeen ★★★☆☆

Dickon Drury

The Preceding Cart & POV: You are Beans

★★★☆☆

Painting needs prophets, Drury plays a jester.

Nicola Turner, Edward Bekkerman at Shtager&Shch ★★☆☆☆

Nicola Turner, Edward Bekkerman

The Song of Psyche: Corners of a Soul's Otherworlds

★★☆☆☆

Who opens a space in Fitzrovia only to fill it with such drivel?

A Comparative Dialogue Act, Luxemburg pavilion in Venice ★★☆☆☆

Andrea Mancini, Every Island

A Comparative Dialogue Act

★★☆☆☆

Stage fright is real. Cowardice is another thing altogether.

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