Longer days and the flowering of snowdrops: February brings small offerings of seasonal change. This month, discover five happenings to enjoy, from sustainable culinary collaborations to events exploring queer ecology.
Beyond Form: Lines of Abstraction, 1950-1970 at Turner Contemporary
Bringing together the works of over 50 artists, Turner Contemporary’s group exhibition presents abstraction as a radical and global language shared by women practitioners in the two decades following World War II. Through 80 artworks, predominantly sculpture, it will explore how abstract forms, materials and modes were used by women across the world to examine seismic political, social and cultural shifts. Guest curated by Dr Flavia Frigeri, it will include works by artists Mária Bartuszová, Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse and Hannah Wilke.
Beyond Form: Lines of Abstraction, 1950-1970 is on at Turner Contemporary from 3 February.
Soulscapes at Dulwich Picture Gallery
Through a collection of essential contemporary voices from the African Diaspora, Soulscapes is an ambitious exhibition showcasing new interpretations of landscape art. Questioning and redefining the genre’s Western tradition, more than 30 works spanning painting, photography, film, tapestry and college will consider the format through themes of belonging, memory, joy and transformation.
Soulscapes is on at the Dulwich Picture Gallery from 14 February.
Gill-to-Tail at Dinings SW3
Join Dinings SW3 in a relaxed and convivial setting for a series of culinary events celebrating sustainably sourced seafood. As Executive Chef Masaki Sugisaki collaborates with chefs from four coastal regions around the UK, expect every part of the menu to be ocean-conscious and thoughtfully considered. Guests include Roberta Hall McCarron of Edinburgh’s Eleanore and The Little Chartroom, whose cooking is informed by the waters and wilds of the Scottish landscape; Joe Baker of Pêtchi in Jersey, whose menu celebrates island produce cooked over fire; and Dan Cox of Crocadon in Cornwall, who spotlights seafood sourced from south-west shores.
Gill-to-Tail at Dinings SW3 runs until 17 April.
A Dash of Lavender at the Chelsea Physic Garden
London’s oldest botanic garden celebrates LGBTQI+ month with a programme of events that challenges the notion of the natural in people and plants. Through guided trails, exhibitions, poetry performances, creative workshops and more, it will explore the natural world’s non-binary and subversive characteristics, as well as the links between queer communities and the symbolism of flowering plants. The programme invites guests to question their thinking about what we consider to be natural when we are all a part of nature.
A Dash of Lavender is on at the Chelsea Physic Garden between 1 and 29 February.
Saul Leiter: An Unfinished World at MK Gallery
Now widely recognised as one of the most important practitioners of the post-war period, Saul Leiter, who photographed every day for sixty years, is renowned for the evocative collection images captured on the streets of his East Village neighbourhood in the 1950s and 1960s. After his death in 2023, Leiter left behind a remarkable number of black and white prints, colour slides, negatives and paintings, only a handful of which had been previously seen. His work is the subject of a major survey at MK Gallery and will be the largest exhibition of Leiter’s craft to take place in the UK.
Saul Leiter: An Unfinished World is on MK Gallery is on from 17 February.
Image 1: Rosemarie Castoro working on Brushstrokes in her studio, New York, 1972.
Image 2&3: Tawney At Work In Studio, New York, USA. 1966 Nina Leen / The LIFE Picture Collection / Shutterstock. Pochkhanawala, Pilloo, Atomic Couple 1. Collection of Lorenzo Legarda Leviste and Fahad Mayet, © Jhaveri Contemporary.
Image 4: Hurvin Anderson, Limestone Wall, 2020. © Hurvin Anderson. Courtesy the artist and Thomas DaneGallery. Photo: Richard Ivey.
Image 5 & 6: Dan Cox. Photo: Rebecca Dickson. Joe Baker, photo courtesy of Dinings SW3.
Image 7: Photo courtesy of Chelsea Physic Garden.
Image 8 & 9: Saul Leiter, Pull, c. 1960. Copyright: The Saul Leiter Foundation. Saul Leiter, Harlem, 1960. Chromogenic print copyright: The Saul Leiter Foundation.
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