National Mourning

I saw some new exhibitions that started in the week after the Royal funeral.

First of all, at the small StolenSpace Gallery near Brick Lane, they have the Queen’s image overlaid with the names of their 2 new collections.

Buried Beneath The Surface looks like this:

I Used To Be Happy looks like this:

Because we are a free country, in the street outside we can also see signs of dissent:

At South London Gallery they also have 2 new shows, rather larger. In the old Fire Station is a full exhibition of work by Rene Matic, Upon This Rock. Matic was previously included at SLG in the Bloomberg New Contemporaries show in 2021.

Pictures in Gallery 1:

From the guide:

In Gallery 2:

Closer:

In Gallery 3, the video Many Rivers:

Gallery 4, with the vitrines that include a newspaper with the death of the Queen as a headline:

Over at the Main Gallery, In The Name Of The Father by Simeon Barclay:

We do indeed start by seeing the back of a huge boulder blocking the entrance:

Behind the rock:

From the side:

“What You Make Of It (Trace)” (2022) from different angles:

Two views of “Iceberg” (2022):

“Higher Purchase” (2022) is a wooden wall dividing the room, with 8 doors in it, although only 1 is open (round the back it is clear that none of the others could be opened). There are mirrors above the doors on both sides.

The doors all have different labels on them. From left to right:

Behind the door:

In this image, the canvas on the left is “Portrait in a landscape (black and yellow)” (2022), the neon sign is “Johnnys” (2022), the canvas on the right is “Portrait in a landscape (black and green)” (2022), and the entire grey surface underneath them is “Drift (Duck and Move)” (2022):

“Inheritance tracks (Odds and Evens)” (2022) from 2 sides:

And from face on, you can also see “Arc of a Diver” (2022) in the corner (the bucket and rope):

Up near the ceiling there are also footballs placed around the gallery:

All jolly good fun.