Teewon Ahn and Ibrahim Meïté Sikely

★★★☆☆

On until 17 February 2024

Forcing a Seoul gallery to share space with a Viennese one seems a little ungenerous of this London venue when the two artists’ projects are so idiosyncratic. Meïté Sikely’s acrylic canvases mix fantasy daemons with everyday slogans in the manner of DC Comics and sub-Saharan advertising murals. It’s half William Blake, bit strip-mall, part superhero film set. Ahn’s menacing cat pictures in which the artist’s pet plots his revenge against the human race are peak YouTube cuteness restaged for the CSI morgue. But when the same mutt jumps from the canvas and assumes distorted sculptural forms, the threat of his claw is but a lame joke.

These works are as garish as they are fun to look at. But experienced without the mediation of a phone screen, their exuberance is jarring. Such overstimulation is the host gallery’s brand as post-internet art’s dealer of choice. It would have been more rewarding to pursue only one of these plots.


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

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

Amanda Wall

Femcel

Femcel

★★★☆☆

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

Tamara Henderson, Green in the Grooves at Camden Art Centre ★★★★☆

Tamara Henderson

Green in the Grooves

Green in the Grooves

★★★★☆

The whole thing feels like a remake of Wind in the Willows directed by a garden gnome.

Carole Ebtinger, Esther Gatón at South Parade ★★☆☆☆

Carole Ebtinger, Esther Gatón

phosphorescence of my local lore

phosphorescence of my local lore

★★☆☆☆

Rot overpowered this subject and came for the object next. 

Eddie Ruscha, Seeing Frequencies at Cedric Bardawil ★☆☆☆☆

Eddie Ruscha

Seeing Frequencies

Seeing Frequencies

★☆☆☆☆

But either the curator or the artist should have known better.

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

Donna Huddleston

Company

Company

★★★★☆

A palpably stubborn nature unites Huddleston’s women

Aria Dean, Abattoir at ICA ★★★☆☆

Aria Dean

Abattoir

Abattoir

★★★☆☆

Visuals of her own making overpower the artist.

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