London art exhibitions: Plaster staff picks

Enzo Mari, curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist with Francesca Giacomelli, the Design Museum

Legendary modernist designer Enzo Mari receives a survey at the Design Museum. From gorgeously crafted wooden chairs to playful desk calendars, cute puzzles and children’s books, Mari proved that good design can be for all and that life is too short for banal design. I look forward to leafing through Hans Ulrich Obrist’s accompanying catalogue… – Laurie Barron

Until 8th September 2024 at 224 – 238 Kensington High Street, London W8 6AG

Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron, ‘Portraits to Dream In’, National Portrait Gallery

Francesca Woodman and Julia Margaret Cameron worked an ocean and a century apart from each other, so pairing their work side by side seems like an unusual choice to me, but I’m intrigued. Both Woodman and Cameron conjured up a dream state in their images, so I’m curious to discover a new way of looking at their work, and if, as Woodman once observed, these photographs really are “places for the viewer to dream in.” – Izzy Bilkus

Until 16th June 2024 at St Martin’s Place, London WC2H 0HE

Ana Viktoria Dzinic, ‘Repetitive’, Nicoletti

Dzinic’s new paintings on velvet at Nicoletti convey a feeling of malaise with their familiar appearance: repeating Y2K cameras feel like an abandoned relic; discount sale signs feel both familiar and distant; the soft velvet surface feels like a knowing wink to Issy Wood. All monochrome, the works remind me of when I turned my iPhone screen to black and white on accessibility settings to reduce screen time – scrolling through Instagram was eerily unsatisfying because everything contemporary felt so lost and distant. (It didn’t last long). – Laurie Barron

Until 18th May at 12a Vyner Street, London E2 9DG

‘this dark gleam’, ICA

I’ve seen a lot of new-wave immersive (and dark) performances recently: from Club Are run by Mika Kailes, Alex Baczynski-Jenkins at Material Art Fair to Coumba Samba at Cell Project Space. I’m sure this six-month dance programme at ICA will be no exception. Performances are titled GONER, Afterlife, Raving and letting go of things. If this isn’t a sign to let go of something you’re holding onto, then I don’t know what is (sorry for the art horoscope). Expect sweat in a ‘pop’, ‘punk’, ‘French Baroque’, ‘Italian Renaissance’ kind of way… whilst maybe *intellectually* thinking about Raving by McKenzie Wark. – Henry Gibbs

Until 16th August 2024 at ICA, The Mall, St. James’s, London SW1Y 5AH

Yoko Ono, ‘Music of the Mind’, Tate Modern

My highlight is from Grapefruit, a series of instructions written on paper: “Borrow the Mono Lisa from the gallery. Make a kite out of it and fly. Fly it high enough so the Mono Lisa smile disappears. (a) Fly it high enough so the Mono Lisa face disappears. (b) Fly it high enough so it becomes a dot. (c)” – Emma Ralph

Until 1st September 2024, Tate Modern, Bankside, London SE1 9TG

Trophy Lives (book), by Philippa Snow

Reading a piece of writing by Philippa Snow is like riding a rollercoaster blindfolded. The twists and turns are unforeseen; the drops stomach-shifting; the rush addictive; the highs and lows intense and indistinguishable; the giggles and gasps inexorable. I know this because Snow is a Plaster columnist and because I gobbled up Trophy Lives (her latest extended essay) in one sitting. What’s the difference between art and celebrity? Is Kim K just as much an artist as Koons or Abramović? Only Snow could pull this off. I want another ride. – Harriet Lloyd-Smith

mackbooks.co.uk

‘The Blue Hour’, Union Pacific

The ‘blue hour’ falls when the sun sets and the sky is still light. In folklore and mythology, this is a time of transformation. But you don’t have to believe in that to recognise that people change when the sun goes down. Our moods and desires shift as we change out of our work clothes and reflect on the day passed and the night to come. As this group show explores, perhaps our personalities and behaviours aren’t as fixed as we think. With sculpture and painting by Niklas Asker, Antonia Brown, Adam Easton, Kim Farkas, Nova Jiang, Sang Woo Kim and Danny Sobor. Opening Saturday 6th April, between 6–8pm, just in time for sundown. – Jacob Wilson

Until 11th May at 15 West Central Street, London, WC1A 1JJ

Albert Oehlen, ‘New Paintings’, Gagosian

Despite the immense success Albert Oehlen has had over the years, it is thoroughly refreshing to see an artist continue to experiment and maintain creative integrity. His ‘New Paintings’ at Gagosian, Grosvenor Hill, showcased a fresh style of cubist backdropping, adding yet another feather to his creative cap. – Arthur Aldridge

Until 11th May 2024 at 20 Grosvenor Hill, London W1K 3QD 

Karol Radziszewski, ‘Filo’, Auto Italia

‘Filo’, Auto Italia’s forthcoming survey of works by Warsaw-based artist and archivist Karol Radziszewski looks fascinating. His painted portraits depict ‘queer people from Central and Eastern Europe who faced discrimination or persecution, because of their views on sexuality, identity and politics, or were overlooked in mainstream canons of queer history.’ Also on view will be a collection of rare photography, printed matter and ephemera from the artist’s own Queer Archives Institute tracking ‘Filo’, one of the first underground queer magazines in central Europe. – Laurie Barron

12th April – 9th June 2024 at 44 Bonner Road, London E2 9JS

‘Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence’, V&A

Sitting at my desk in the dreary, drizzly depths of February, I’m already longing for summer in the city. So I was happy to learn of the V&A’s Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Independence exhibition, which surveys the relationship between modernist architecture and tropical climates. Unsurprisingly, I am a fan of the brutalist style. But I often remember a university lecturer vocalizing that slick concrete structures appear much sexier when paired against hot blue skies rather than gray, densely populated urban environments (like here). I’m curious to observe if this is true… – Laurie Barron

2nd March to 22nd September 2024 at V&A, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL

Zineb Sedira, ‘Dreams Have No Titles’, Whitechapel Gallery

I can’t wait to see Zineb Sedira’s ‘Dreams Have No Titles’. The show was previously at the Venice Biennale in 2022. The gallery space has been turned into a film set of real and fictional scenes. You can walk through Gillo Pontecorvo’s Battle of Algiers (1966), Luchino Visconti’s L’Etranger (1967), Ettore Scola’s Le Bal (1983) and Sedira’s Brixton living room. – Emma Ralph

Until 15th May 2024 at 77-82 Whitechapel High St, London E1 7QX

Francis Picabia, ‘Women: Works on Paper 1902-1950’, Michael Werner

An artist of “unusual artistic strategies”, Picabia is associated with Dadaism, Cubism, Impressionism, Pointillism, Surrealism and even Futurism. Some would call him insatiable. Maybe all the best artists are. “In the making for the last fifteen years”, Michael Werner presents 40 works on paper made throughout Picabia’s 50-year career. Co-owner, Gordon VeneKlasen tells me: “The gallery has a close relationship with the work of Francis Picabia that stretches all the way back to the 1960s. Michael Werner used to travel with Georg Baselitz on the student bus to go and see works by Picabia.” I wish I was on that bus. – Henry Gibbs

23rd February – 11th May 2024 at 22 Upper Brook Street, London W1K 7PZ

‘Some May Work as Symbols: Art Made in Brazil, 1950s–70s’, Raven Row

Works from four major Brazilian museum collections are making their way to Raven Row’s exquisite Spitalfields townhouse in an exhibition curated by artistic director of MAM Rio, Pablo Lafuente, which brings together a group of pioneering Brazilian artists working in the mid-twentieth century. Among new names to me, I’m very excited to see works by some of my favourite artists including Lygia Clark, Rubem Valentin and Lygia Pape. – Laurie Barron

6th March – 5th May 2024 at 56 Artillery Lane, London E1 7LS

‘When Forms Come Alive’, Hayward Gallery

At every turn, I fight the urge to get my phone out and Insta everything. It’s all so shiny and big and theatrical. Everyone’s pointing at something; children charge around and enjoy the art theme park; I do too. When I find EJ Hill’s rollercoaster, I forget I’m not actually in one. There is some epic work here: Eva Fàbregas’ bulbous, candy-coloured intestines, Holly Hendry’s pastel pipework; Ruth Asawa’s pendulous hangings; and Franz West’s baby pink Epiphanias an Stühlen (which now looks a little too close to the viral structure of Covid-19). – Harriet Lloyd-Smith

7th February –⁠ 6th May 2024 at Hayward Gallery, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX