Pavel Brăila

On the Thousand and Second Night

★★★★☆

Curated by Adelina Luft
On until 22 November 2026

Who knew that total temporal collapse would manifest magic. Moldova’s first outing in Venice mixes the hackneyed craft of carpet weaving, which one might expect to see in a heritage project of an arriviste nation, with the futuristic might of drones that has become the calling card of China’s techno-cultural displays.

The carpets float in pitch dark, disorienting the audience under with the whirring of motors and gusts of chilling air. With detailed tales from the weavers’ cultures absent, the mind drifts to air warfare that today haunts the lands of a Thousand and One Nights. That we lack the patience for a thousand more is only a pity.


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

Dominique Fung, (Up)Rooted, at Massimo de Carlo ★★☆☆☆

Dominique Fung

(Up)Rooted

★★☆☆☆

All this tries to be macabre and surreal like in Bosch or Miyazaki but is instead laughably twee.

Ithaca at Herald St ★★★★☆

Christopher Aque, Alekos Fassianos, Luigi Ghirri, Jessie Stevenson, George Tourkovasilis

Ithaca

★★★★☆

This show drips with affectation that wouldn’t survive a minute tomorrow.

Amanda Wall, Femcel at Almine Rech ★★★☆☆

Amanda Wall

Femcel

★★★☆☆

There’s no dignity in paint when the arc of art history tends to “show hole”.

Odoteres Ricardo de Ozias at David Zwirner ★★★☆☆

Odoteres Ricardo de Ozias

★★★☆☆

These images are perfectly charming even to a viewer possessed of a cold anthropological eye. The troubling part is in realising just how far ‘outside’ the ideas are.

Donna Huddleston, Company at White Cube ★★★★☆

Donna Huddleston

Company

★★★★☆

A palpably stubborn nature unites Huddleston’s women

Abel Auer, The shadow of tomorrow draws an ancient silhouette at Corvi-Mora ★★★☆☆

Abel Auer

The shadow of tomorrow draws an ancient silhouette

★★★☆☆

Auer is more interested in the fate of painting than humanity and thus stands apart from the army of zealots who make eco art today.

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