Ming Smith: On the Road
Nicola Vassell Gallery, 2nd May – 15th June 2024
Ming Smith: On the Road is a selection of photographs from the artist’s archive that encapsulate the arc of her photographic exploration. Throughout her career, Ming has sought and probed new subject matter, making formal innovations from 1970 to 1993.
Encompassing previously unseen vintage and contemporary prints of images captured during her travels around the world, On the Road embodies the spirit of adventure and curiosity that exemplifies Ming’s oeuvre. Urban existence, nature’s quietude, family intimacy, popular culture, military life, and jazz milieus; all these are explored beneath Ming’s lens.
Nan Goldin: Sisters, Saints, Sibyls
Gagosian Open, 30th May – 23rd June 2024
In 1958, Nan Goldin’s elder sister, Barbara Holly Goldin, was sent to a psychiatric detention centre at age twelve. She spent time in and out of such facilities for the next six years. Barbara was accused of “acting out, open defiance, sexually provocative behaviour, association with undesirable friends, [and being] loud and coarse in speech.” Reports state that she went on dates with an older Black man, appeared to be confused about her sexual identity, and refused to shave her legs. Barbara stirred up a perfect storm of middle-class, mid-century fears around race, sexuality, and gender roles.
Sisters, Saints, Sibyls (2004–22), a film work by acclaimed artist Nan Goldin, brings Barbara’s story to the fore, as well as charting the course of Nan’s own rebellion. Presented by Gagosian, Sisters, Saints, Sibyls features a series of off-site projects that allows audiences to experience these remarkable artworks in unusual contexts. The exhibition is on view at the former Welsh chapel at 83 Charing Cross Road, London, from 30th May to 23rd June 2024.
Dayanita Singh
Frith Street Gallery, Golden Square, 17th May – 29th June 2024
Over the last 40 years, Dayanita Singh has created pioneering works that cross genres, explore the boundaries of photography and expand perceptions of the photographic image. She continues to liberate the medium from tradition, creating interconnected bodies of work replete with both poetic and narrative possibilities.
To create these works, Dayanita draws on her extensive and ongoing pictorial archive that is constantly in motion and continuously refined. Particular to this exhibition is an examination of Dayanita’s architectural photography, including a major series of wall-based pieces as well as a structural installation.
Arpita Shah: Nalini
Duff House, selected dates until 14th July 2024
Spanning India, East Africa and the UK, Nalini explores the connected histories of Arpita Shah’s mother, her grandmother and herself. The exhibition reveals ancestral intimacies across space and time, and explores how their histories, memories and bodies are intertwined. Nalini is a personal journey for Arpita, which has allowed her to reconnect with the past through her maternal lineage and explore how migration, distance and loss have shaped their lives. The artist herself was born in India, grew up in Saudi Arabia and Ireland, and now lives in Scotland.
Louder than Hearts, Women Photographers from the Arab World and Iran
Middle East Institute, 9th May 2024 – 4th October 2024
Louder Than Hearts features the work of ten women artists from the Arab World and Iran who capture the resilience, strength, beauty, and creativity of women in the region, often in the face of great adversity.
The leading Egyptian, Iranian, Jordanian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Saudi, and Yemeni photographers represented in the show explore a diversity of experiences and narratives, told by women across a vast geographic area. Each project is deeply personal, yet together, these works underscore the shared humanity of women, weaving together variable threads while providing insight into the artists’ perspectives.
Featured artists: Rehaf Al Batniji, Tasneem Alsultan, Thana Faroq, Tanya Habjouqa, Shiva Khademi, Heba Khalifa, Safaa Khatib, Rania Matar, Newsha Tavakolian, Carmen Yahchouchi.
