February, that revered month where love isn’t just in the air but practically commandeers it! This is the time for roses to blush redder and chocolates to taste sweeter, as dinner dates become the chessboard where romantic gambits are played. But let’s not forget, it’s also the time when the art world, in its own refined way, whispers sweet nothings to its admirers. Now, should you find yourself in a bit of a pickle, having neglected to secure a dinner reservation or the perfect token of affection for your significant other, fear not.
London, in its grand, artistic embrace, offers a splendid Plan B. Why not lead your beloved on an enchanting journey through the capital’s vibrant art scene? With our Five Exhibitions to See in London in February 2024, you can turn a potential faux pas into a cultured escapade of love and art! First up on our list, we head over to London’s Southbank for “When Forms Come Alive: Sixty Years of Restless Sculpture” at The Hayward Gallery.
This playful and lively exhibition highlights the ways artists have been inspired by movement, flux, and organic growth, spanning over 60 years of contemporary art, this unique exhibition will include a range of energetic sculptural forms that seem to ooze, undulate, blossom, erupt, and sprawl in the gallery space, inspiring fluid and shifting realms of experience that will surprise viewers at every turn.
Next, in five exhibitions to see in London in February 2024, we’re heading over to HOFA Gallery for Anne von Freyburg‘s “Papillotage.” An oscillating movement intended to interfere with pictorial coherence, Freyburg’s discipline consciously centralizes the woman as the subject rather than the object. Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, has mainly been at the forefront of the idolized female form, which is still today intertwined with mainstream culture.
After taking in Freyburg’s oeuvre, following in our five exhibitions to see in London in February 2024, we head over to Pangolin London for “A Journey from Adversity to Artistry” by Peter Oloya, an artist in residence at Pangolin London, whose journey is as inspiring as his work. This exhibition is a culmination of his residency and features a new body of work. Highlighting his remarkable talent and the profound narratives he brings to life through his art, this show resonates far beyond cultural boundaries.
We then explore notions of memory and perception against the visual chaos of twenty-first-century life in a selection of new paintings with Diana Copperwhite‘s “ONOMATOPOEIA” at Flowers Gallery.
Lastly, we encounter the work of American photographer Joel Meyerowitz with Dialogues at Huxley-Parlour. This showcase highlights his extraordinary imagery and the enduring, experimental use of colour throughout his photography. This was our list of five exhibitions to see in London in February 2024, a mixture of mediums of expression that can double up as romantic dates for your significant other in the month of love.
When Forms Come Alive: Sixty Years of Restless Sculpture
The Hayward Gallery will present When Forms Come Alive, a playful and lively exhibition highlighting the ways in which artists have been inspired by movement, flux and organic growth, from a dancer’s gesture to the breaking of a wave, or from a flow of molten metal to the interlacing of a spider’s web.
Spanning over 60 years of contemporary art, this unique exhibition will include a range of energetic sculptural forms that seem to ooze, undulate, blossom, erupt and sprawl in the gallery space, inspiring fluid and shifting realms of experience that will surprise viewers at every turn. When Forms Come Alive will bring together works that engage in a dynamic and urgent exploration of physical experience in contrast to a world in which everyday encounters are increasingly digitised.
When Forms Come Alive: Sixty Years of Restless Sculpture
7th February – 6th May 2024
Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX
Full price standard: £18
Concessions available & Southbank Centre Members go free
Anne von Freyburg: Papillotage
An oscillating movement intended to interfere with pictorial coherence, Anne von Freyburg‘s discipline consciously centralises the woman as the subject rather than the object. Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, has mainly been at the forefront of idolised female form, which is still today intertwined with mainstream culture.
This series urges Freyburg to supersede tightly controlled boundaries placed on female attributes. Her objective is to free oneself from these limitations reflected by her unrestrained and unapologetic use of colour, shape and medium that is not limited within a restrictive frame or canvas.
Anne von Freyburg: Papillotage
2nd February – 14 February, 2024
HOFA Gallery London
11 Bruton Street
Mayfair
London W1J 6PY
Learn more
PETER OLOYA: A JOURNEY FROM ADVERSITY TO ARTISTRY
Pangolin London are thrilled to introduce Peter Oloya, our extraordinary artist in residence, whose journey is as inspiring as his work. This exhibition is the culmination of his residency and features a brand-new body of work. Highlighting his remarkable talent and the profound narratives he brings to life through his art, this show resonates far beyond cultural boundaries.
Born in Uganda in 1979, Peter Oloya was abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army as a child where he endured the horrors of being a ‘boy soldier’. Despite this harrowing experience, Oloya’s spirit remained unbroken, and he managed to escape after being wounded in a fierce battle.
Returning to his forever-changed hometown, Oloya turned to the wisdom imparted by his grandmother who was a potter. With unwavering determination, he embraced art as a means of self-education and emotional healing. From making and selling toy cars as a child to working as a DJ, he earned the funds necessary to pursue his education, ultimately graduating from Makerere University in Fine Art. Beyond his artistic pursuits, Peter has also set up a charity supporting former child soldiers and abducted girls
through drawing and sculpture.
PETER OLOYA: A JOURNEY FROM ADVERSITY TO ARTISTRY
17th January – 2nd March 2024
PANGOLIN LONDON
Kings Place
90 York Way
London N1 9AG
Diana Copperwhite: ONOMATOPOEIA
Flowers Gallery is delighted to present Irish painter Diana Copperwhite’s first solo exhibition with the gallery. This selection of new paintings marks an extension of the artist’s lauded use of abstraction to explore notions of memory and perception against the visual chaos of twenty-first century life.
The exhibition shares its title with Copperwhite’s touring show that took place at Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick and Galway International Arts Festival between March and July 2023. Painting for Copperwhite is a means of systematizing information, which she describes as “giving the unseen world visual form.”
Diana Copperwhite: ONOMATOPOEIA
10th January 2024 – 17th February, 2024
Flowers Gallery
21 Cork Street
London
W1S 3LZ
Joel Meyerowitz: Dialogues
Huxley-Parlour is delighted to announce a new exhibition of work by American photographer Joel Meyerowitz, his fourth with the gallery. The exhibition, which coincides with an important display at Tate Modern, explores Meyerowitz’s unique approach to colour and light. For the exhibition at Huxley-Parlour, Meyerowitz presents his work in pairs in order to reveal unexpected parallels in his imagery, while highlighting the enduring, experimental use of colour throughout his oeuvre. Meyerowitz terms the pairs featured in Dialogues ‘relational’ images; as each pair is visually linked by light, colour or composition
This curatorial concept links the two exhibitions at Huxley-Parlour and the Tate. Both use pairings to investigate the development of colour in the artist’s work, as well as his characteristic use of complex compositional structure and unresolved, non-hierarchical imagery.
Joel Meyerowitz: Dialogues
18th January – 2nd March 2024
HUXLEY-PARLOUR
3–5 Swallow Street
London W1B 4DE
This was our Five Exhibitions To See In London In February 2024
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