Our guide to London Gallery Weekend

Gray Wielebinski at Nicoletti

At Nicoletti Gallery in Shoreditch, Gray Wielebinski’s Bring Me Men is all about manufacturing American masculinity, from military enlistment campaigns to Abercrombie and Fitch. Depicting the flotsam of Americana across a number of works, the exhibition denotes masculinity as pure theatre, pure performance.

Jemila Isa at Maureen Paley

The legendary Maureen Paley and her three (!) galleries are all taking part in LGW this year, but it is her tiniest space nestled in the Rochelle School, Shoreditch, that I am looking forward to the most. Jemila Isa’s Dreams Lost Upon Waking was inspired by a dream she had in 2017 and her retrospective on its fallout nearly a decade later. Infused with Haitian folk spirituality and art history, Dreams Lost Upon Waking is a vivid and haunting show made up of oil paintings and sculpture. 

Andrew Heard at Amanda Wilkinson

At Amanda Wilkinson in Farringdon, Andrew Heard’s I Want to be Good is the first exhibition of the late post-pop artist’s paintings in over three decades. Moreover, a talk with the curator and others next Friday at the Tate Modern will serve to develop the show, discussing the underdiscussed artist’s legacy and the history of British pop art and queer culture.

Sara Cwynar at The Approach

Typically, most LGW shows open before or during the weekend, however Sara Cwynar’s Baby Blue Benzo at The Approach in Bethnal Green is sadly closing on Sunday, making it high on my list of priorities for a viewing. At the forefront of the show is the eponymous film (2024), which is a vibrant documentary about how value is arbitrated under capitalism and how photographic advertising generates desire.

Alvaro Barrington at Emalin Helmet Row

Emalin opened their Helmet Row gallery only in April, so this Alvaro Barrington show is a great opportunity to check out the new space, if you haven’t already. This exhibition presents a new body of work by the artist which studies the crack cocaine epidemic and its effects on the Black American community in the late 20th century. Combining various mediums, 92-01 'In Livin Color' opens on Saturday evening, in the Clerkenwell outpost.

Terry Winters at Modern Art

Terry Winters is an American post-minimalist painter, whose exhibition Along the River at Modern Art in Mayfair serves as a culmination of his forty-year study of abstract art. In these rich, dense paintings, space and perception is dissected beyond mundane conception, almost to a point of looking molecular. A great opportunity to bear witness to this iconic painter.

Kaja Stumpf at Blue Shop

I feel very lucky to live essentially on the doorstep of Oval’s Blue Shop Gallery, now more than ever with Kaja Stumpf’s Chaos carry me Gently, a wonderfully meditative collection of oil paintings making a blazon out of the female form. Moreover, on Saturday at midday the artist will be in conversation with the gallery director, discussing her works.