Thibault Aedy, Dilara Koz

Caressed and Polished and Drained and Washed

★★★☆☆

On until 26 May 2024

What does it mean to put on an exhibition? In a culture where AI can fake installation shots of any object in any interior faster than one can scroll the feed, to bring material substance and human minds together is to enter a competition for permanence. 

Koz’s miniature sticker snapshot records of life, though, and other detritus are printed on unstable thermal transfer paper. The artist shows them off, however, in frames and folders reminiscent of the once powerful institutions of memory such as the archive, the court, or maybe the temple. But these structures are long forgotten. Koz’s images too will fade without further notice.

Aedy’s bodily manifestations place equal faith in technology but hope to avoid such decay. A delicate crystal resin skeleton and a hefty rubber wedge allude to human sex and the messy stuff of reproduction. These objects will outlast the flesh, the tale of Oedipus, and any sepia family portrait. But their synthetic structure forecloses the possibility of life beyond the pop-up show’s closing date.


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

The Stars Fell on Alabama at Edel Assanti ★★★☆☆

Mary L. Bennett, Richard Dial, Thornton Dial, Lonnie Holley, Ronald Lockett, Joe Minter, Mose Tolliver

The Stars Fell on Alabama: Southern Black Renaissance

★★★☆☆

The commercial imperative is understandable. The art historical intent, less clear.

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

Donna Huddleston

Company

★★★★☆

A palpably stubborn nature unites Huddleston’s women

Bhenji Ra, Biraddali Dancing on the Horizon at Auto Italia ★☆☆☆☆

Bhenji Ra

Biraddali Dancing on the Horizon

★☆☆☆☆

Such work was once a mere grift. Now, it is an outright stitch-up.

Condo: Birds at Tschudi at Hollybush Gardens ★★☆☆☆

Bethan Huws, Andrea Büttner

Birds

★★☆☆☆

Posing as an archaeology of signs, women, and their entanglement, this show is mere research notes.

Jack O’Brien, The Reward at Camden Art Centre ★★☆☆☆

Jack O'Brien

The Reward

★★☆☆☆

No narrative emerges from the tonnes of steel and plastic his work consumed

Ignacy Czwartos, Polonia Uncensored, Venice ★★☆☆☆

Ignacy Czwartos

Polonia Uncensored

★★☆☆☆

Czwartos’ painting proves little and his sign-writer’s hand loses art history’s bet.

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