Exhibitions

Women Defining Women in Contemporary Art of the Middle East and Beyond is still on view at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles, United States until September 24, 2023

This exhibition presents works by artists who were born or live in what can broadly be termed Islamic societies. Depicting a breadth of inventively and often ideologically conceived women’s imagery, the works bear witness to rapidly shifting political developments and often accelerated social transformations taking place in lands extending from Africa to Western, Central, and Southern Asia, as well as in diasporic communities. Across generations and working in different media, the artists share a common sense of identity not exclusively Middle Eastern but certainly female, expressing both personal and universal concerns. Included in the exhibition are around 75 works by 42 artists in a variety of media, most of which are in LAMA’s collection, with several newly acquired works on display at the museum for the first time.

Simone Brewster: The Shape of Things is still on view at NOW Gallery in London, United Kingdom until September 24, 2023

The Shape of Things is an emotive display of objects that gain significant personal meaning from the tension and interaction between itself and its audience. The exhibition presents a diverse range of works from furniture to painting, jewellery and sculpture that investigate the hidden linguistics behind design that are inherently entwined with societal norms and ideas of race, gender, equality and more. The Shape of Things encourages the viewers to reconsider their perception of everyday objects and the way we interact with them. Celebrating Brewster’s multidisciplinary approach to design and architecture, the boldly-coloured and geometric design envelops the viewers in an immersive display of colour and form. The viewers are also invited to use stamps designed by Brewster to create new designs inspired by her strong visual language.

Denzil Forrester: We Culture is still on view at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami, United States until September 24, 2023

We Culture brings together twenty paintings and a dozen drawings from the Grenada-born artist’s first seven years of production, 1978 to 1985. One of the preeminent British and Caribbean painters of the last few decades, Forrester has become an important influence on a generation of younger artists. Arriving in London at the age of eleven, Forrester grew up alongside the expanding presence of Rastafarian culture in England, as dub reggae music took root during the late 1960s and 1970s. This exhibition includes paintings that portray the clubs where Forrester spent his nights making sketches that he would reference to create large, boldly colored paintings at his studio the next day. Alongside these vibrant paintings, the exhibition also features works that relate to the death of Winston Rose in 1981. A friend and neighbor of Forrester’s in London’s East End, Rose died under unexplained circumstances while in police custody.

Art Fairs

The Armory Show 2023 will open at the Jacob Javits Center in New York, United States from September 8-10, 2023

This edition will host more than 225 galleries representing over thirty-five countries and presenting the work of more than eight hundred artists. The core section of the fair will be dedicated to major international galleries. A separate “Solo” section will feature one-person displays of work by emerging, established, and historic artists. Among the works on view here will be a handpainted bronze and resin figures by Mary Sibande. The fair’s “Presents” section will be reserved for galleries under ten years old. The show’s curated sections this year include “Focus,” which will center marginalized narratives in solo and dual-artist presentations, and “Platform,” which will center large-scale installations and site-specific works, forming the nucleus of the fair.

Performances

Barby Asante: Declaration of Independence will take place at the Stratford Tube station in London, United Kingdom on September 17, 2023

The performance reflects on how declarations, policies and legislations impact our everyday lives. The ongoing project, by London-based artist Barby Asante, brings together women and non-binary people of colour and acknowledges how they are often at the forefront of struggles for equity and social justice. A recurrent form and key concept within the work is the circle, as drawn from West African communing traditions. Asante’s circle provides space for dialogue amongst the performers and audiences, to commune, witness, share knowledge, and imagine futures that foreground equity and social justice. By telling their stories, and sharing experiences through performance, the work explores the potential to question existing dominant narratives, reflecting on how the political affects the personal.