As we shimmy and shake into the sparkling new year of 2024, it’s that time again to don our most artsy scarves and embark on a cultural safari across London. Yes, you guessed it, we’re talking about our Five Exhibitions To See In London In January 2024 – because what better way to shed those holiday pounds than by zigzagging through galleries, feasting our eyes instead of our stomachs?
First up on our Five Exhibitions To See In London In January, we’re tiptoeing into London’s PACE, where Chinese artist Mao Yan is showing off his latest brushstrokes. Mao’s been painting faces for over a decade, and let’s say he’s gotten pretty good at it. His portraits are so lifelike that you might try to strike up a conversation with one. But don’t expect much chit-chat back!
Next, as we continue our journey through our Exhibitions To See In London in January 2024, we head around the corner to Hauser & Wirth London, where Uman is making her London debut. Her work is like a world tour on canvas – born in Somalia, raised in Kenya, teenage years in Denmark, and now she’s painting up a storm in New York. Her works are a kaleidoscope of colour and culture, proving that you don’t need a passport to travel the globe.
Then, it’s off to Unit London, where the group exhibition ‘Worlds Beyond’ is ready to blow your mind. Five emerging artists from three different continents are showing us that art knows no bounds. They’re bending reality, stretching canvases, and probably the laws of physics, too, with their abstract masterpieces. A great addition to our five Exhibitions To See In London In January 2024.
Next on our Five Exhibitions To See In London, we’re diving into London’s Berntson Bhattacharjee for a solo show by Nigerian-British artist Sola Olulode. Her vibrant works are like visual poetry, telling stories that history often whispered. Love, gender identity, and a splash of colour – Sola’s got it all. It’s a bit like reading a riveting novel, but you know, without the words.
Rounding off our Five Exhibitions To See In London In January 2024, it’s over to Huxley-Parlour for a rendezvous with Ana Mercedes Hoyos’s first UK solo exhibition. ‘Los Fragmentos’ is a still-life fiesta spanning over two decades of work. It’s like time-travelling with a paintbrush, and let’s be honest, who hasn’t wanted to do that? So there you have it.
This curated list of Five Exhibitions To See In London is like a gym membership for your brain and soul, minus the sweat and tears. Whether you’re an art enthusiast or simply enjoy a good gallery visit, these exhibitions promise to offer a thought-provoking and enriching experience
So here is our Five Exhibitions To See In London In January 2024
Mao Yan: New Paintings
Pace is hosting an exhibition of new paintings by Mao Yan in London, displaying his artistic practice in recent years. Mao Yan is one of the most influential painters in China, renowned for his stunning portraits, which he has been creating for over a decade. His paintings reflect on the depth of expression in the traditional medium of painting, as well as the relationship between art and life. The forthcoming London exhibition will focus on Mao Yan’s new artistic phase, bringing together recent works of his most representative portraits and abstract paintings.
Mao Yan: New Paintings
19th January – 9th March 2023
PACE
5 Hanover Square
London
Uman: Darling Sweetie, Sweetie Darling
Uman’s first exhibition with Hauser & Wirth following the announcement of the gallery’s representation of the artist in equal partnership with Nicola Vassell Gallery, NY will open in London. Uman’s ebullient visual vocabulary reflects her expansive cross-cultural experiences. Born in Somalia and raised in Kenya, she emigrated to Denmark as a teenager and later to New York as a young adult. Now living and working in upstate New York, Uman paints lavishly detailed, opulently colored worlds replete with gesture, geometry and evocations of the sublime. While these works are executed primarily with oil paint, she also combines acrylic paint, oil stick and collage techniques.
Uman: Darling Sweetie, Sweetie Darling
30th January – 1st April 2024
Hauser & Wirth London
23 Savile Row
London
W1S 2ET
Worlds Beyond
Unit London is pleased to present a group exhibition with artists who are experimenting with abstraction through organic, mineral, and corporeal elements. ‘Worlds Beyond’ brings together five emerging artists from diverse artistic backgrounds spanning three continents. The series of artworks take inspiration from both immediate surroundings and the mental landscape, with forms extending beyond frames to go beyond boundaries and seep into the outside world.
Alison Reimus uses household items and found textiles to create familiar yet otherworldly spaces, bridging the gap between real and imagined worlds. Amy Hui
Li explores the body through her abstract visual language of using cellular forms which evoke veins and blood vessels. Meanwhile, complex and futuristic colours in the works of Ce Jian explore the boundaries between human and non-human worlds, while Fu Site uses shadow and reflection to add layers of mystery into his artworks.
Worlds Beyond
January 4th – February 5th, 2024
Unit London
3 Hanover Square
Mayfair, W1S 1HD
Sola Olulode at Berntson Bhattacharjee
Berntson Bhattacharjee is excited to announce an upcoming solo exhibition by Nigerian-British artist Sola Olulode. Olulode will showcase a series of new works that are sure to captivate audiences with their vibrant imagery and narratives.
Throughout history, the expressions of love and gender identity that deviated from the norm were often disregarded or suppressed, and even today, only a handful of well-known stories have gained recognition. However, Greek and Roman mythology provides a vast literary heritage that goes beyond the commonly known narratives. In this extensive body of work, Sola emerges as a storyteller who brings to life whimsical stories from the mythological universe, revitalizing queer gods and non-binary identities through a modern perspective.
Sola Olulode
18th January – 17th February 2024
Berntson Bhattacharjee
45 Berners Street
London W1T 3NE
Ana Mercedes Hoyos: Los Fragmentos
Huxley-Parlour are pleased to announce the first UK solo exhibition by acclaimed Colombian artist, Ana Mercedes Hoyos. The exhibition, Los Fragmentos, will present twelve works on canvas, made between 1988 and 2014, which focus on the artist’s prolonged engagement with the still-life genre. Hoyos emerged, alongside her contemporaries such as Luis Caballero, Beatriz González and Bernardo Salcedo, at the vanguard of Colombia’s cultural scene in the fractious political milieu of the 1960s.
Taking inspiration from disparate movements such as Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art, which had developed in the West in the previous decade, Hoyos and her peers sought to revolutionise the plastic arts in their own country, re-inventing along the way these movements’ visual languages, inflected by Colombian history and culture.
Ana Mercedes Hoyos: Los Fragmentos
1 December 2023 – 13 January 2024
HUXLEY-PARLOUR
3–5 Swallow Street
London W1B 4DE
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