Yelena Popova (b. 1978 Urals, Russia) is based in Cambridge for the year ahead at the Girton College residency. Her paintings are quickly associated with constructivism given the formal quality of her translucent geometric layers. These elusive paintings, however, are the entrance doorway to a distinct practice encompassing video and installation.
Caragh Thuring’s (b. 1972) exhibition at Thomas Dane Gallery opens today. A few weeks ahead of the opening, Thuring welcomed a small group into her studio. Her work was still in the final stages before completion. I was impressed to see an artist being open and candid about her working and thinking process at that nerve-wracking stage when things are coming together. A few paintings still unfinished were in the studio.
I visited Barcelona last weekend. The reason was a true contemporary art pilgrimage to a chapel perched on top of the Montserrat mountains, one hour away from the city. Sean Scully (b. 1945) unveiled his permanent installation in Santa Cecilia church in June 2015. Scully has taken over the small Romanic chapel and conflated art and spirituality with his symbolic use of colours and the simplicity of his brushstroke.
Preparations for Frieze London are in the air. I am crawling the city day and night so that you don’t have to! I am bringing you a selection of the most exciting exhibitions in London’s commercial galleries. The coming weeks are packed with openings and events. Stay in the loop!
“I called some paintings perspectives but I’m not interested in perspective; I called some butterflies but I don’t think they are butterflies; I call my sculptures masks but they are not masks.” —Mark Grotjahn