25/04/2025, 10:20 SHOWNews: Your Weekly Arts Bulletin | SHOWstudio
SHOWNEWS: YOUR WEEKLY ARTS BULLETIN
BY C H R I ST I N A D O N O G H U E O N 1 4 A P R I L 2 0 2 5
Your weekly guide to the exhibitions, talks and cultural events to have on
your radar this week.
EXHIBITION
As It Was, So It Is by Yulia Mahr at Serchia Gallery
Yulia Mahr needs no introduction. Not only an artist with an interesting perspective (we're aware there are many) Mahr falls more into the category of 'quiet revolutionary'- a term aptly supported by her artistic output that taps into stories of struggle, strength, vulnerability and resilience. Last year saw her present Unbecoming at Wehrmuehle
Museum, which SHOWstudio reported was 'a study of the ethereal and the unsightly as inseparable' that saw 'Mahr turn inwards and reach into the depths of herself, resurfacing with a set of themes that are underpinned by the rhythmic ebbs and flows of the natural world.' Balancing Mahr's tightrope of references while building on her previous body of
work that forms beauty in places we least expect, the Hungarian-born artist's latest exhibition As It Was, So It Is at Serchia Gallery reflects on notions of impermanence tenfold, as seen through Mahr's own uniquely introspective lens.
Spotlighting three distinct bodies of work, the exhibition draws on Mahr's photographic and sculptural works, all of which span a myriad of interconnected themes from attempting to 'evoke inner psychological states' to questioning the ethics of the morally dubious practice
of collecting embryos and stillborn infants for nineteenth-century museum displays. Heartbreaking, beautiful, profound and real, this is Mahr unmasked. In 2024, the artist told me her 'one guiding principle' is that 'I should be as raw and honest as I can be and talk about things that I can never talk about in a normal conversation', consider her mission
accomplished with As It Was, So it Is.
As It Was, So It Is by Yulia Mahr at Serchia Gallery is on view by appointment only until 20
April 2025.
BOOK LAUNCH
Faith in Arts by Atelier Éditions at Tenderbooks
This week, Plinth magazine published an op-ed titled Awkward at the Reading Night, charting the rise of London's art literary scene that's crept into 'local bars, restaurants, pubs, dim basements and even clothing shops after hours' with 'people pouring out of venues onto the street'. Indeed, they're onto something. SHOWstudio even curated its own poetry night titled I, Too for Black History Month last October during Frieze Week as part of our SHADOW-BAN programming as have Sadie Coles since adopted the idea of literary events which form the backbone of the gallery's newGargle series. But is this really new? Or have the Instagram cool kids only just tapped into a literary scene that's always thrived in London's basements? We'll leave that up to you to decide but if we're sure on anything, it's that Tenderbooks have been doing small-scale poetry nights, readings and collaborative launches for as long as we can remember and their one next week on 22 April - held in celebration of Atelier Édition’s Faith in Arts series - is certainly not one to miss.
As an ongoing series of chapbooks published in collaboration with the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, Faith in Arts introduces newly commissioned images and texts alongside international archives and BMC’s art and literature collection to a new audience. Volumes thus far have explored John Cage and Robert Rauschenberg and the
series' latest features the Benedictine monk, poet and graphic artist Dom Sylvester Houédard, in collaboration with Lisson Gallery. What's even more special is that Tenderbooks is the only UK bookstore stocking the series in its full entirety so consider this the cross-cultural literary collaboration of dreams.
Atelier Éditions at Tenderbooks is open to everyone on Tuesday 22 April, 18:00 - 20:00
GMT.
'Heaven And Reverb' by Evie Mae Jacobs for 'Sentire: You Are the April Sky'
EXHIBITION
Sentire: You Are the April Sky at Upsilon Gallery
What does it mean to feel? An impossible question that demands an impossible answer - yet that hasn't stopped Upsilon Gallery from waxing lyrical on the subject, and their latest exhibition Sentire: You Are the April Sky is a testament to their findings (as well as a diverse
array of artist interpretations). Featuring work by Ava Grauls, Diane Chappalley, Epona Smith, Evie Mae Jacobs, Guan Guan and Hannah Lim, the delicate balance between intuition, corporeality, perception, and identity is explored as is the 'ephemeral moment'honoured. But what does this mean?
If you're familiar with Erwin Blumenfeld's 1937 series of vintage gelatin silver prints titled Voile mouillé (Wet Veil), you may have some idea of how photography and art can communicate a fleeting moment or feeling sans words - a reference laid bare in Jacobs' own portrayal. Yet what relates her work with the rest of the art on show is this overarching
synergy that sees each artist visually unstitch the word 'sentire' (to feel); a term defined by Italian writer and poet Alda Merini as a 'direct and deeply intimate experience of existence, often in contrast to the external world, yet inseparably connected to it'. Life is made up of a series of moments, most forgettable, some hauntingly indelible - with those moments that are hard to shake split into even tinier fragmented frames, imperfectly raw yet beautifully abstract in their own unique way. This is where the show's roots are anchored, in the beautiful mundanity of life that makes it worth living. What does sensitivity look like? What does connection look like? Sentire: You Are the April Sky may not have a definitive answer, but does that even matter? Asking to describe what it means to feel is like asking 'How
long is a piece of string?' and that's exactly the point.
Sentire: You Are the April Sky at Upsilon Gallery (64 Grosvenor Street) is open to the public
until 31 May.
EXHIBITION
Living Receipts by Franklin Collins at Incubator
We all experience touch. Daily. Hourly. Minute by minute. But how often does its fleeting impermanence leave a mark? A physical trace that means you're confronted with history while suspended in the present? Seldom, I should imagine. Yet thanks to Franklin Collins' exhibition at Incubator, brilliantly titled Living Receipts, that's all about to change.
Through sculpture and works on paper, Collins explores the 'quiet yet enduring traces of touch and presence' that mark every object around us - using wood as her primary medium to communicate the act of imprinted gestures. What lies at the heart of Collins' practice -
and Living Receipts in particular - is the notion of 'tactile erosion': a collaborative process amongst humans that sees materials around us shaped not by one singular moment but many collective ones, giving way to the negative space that traces the human form over time, therefore absorbing the memory of human touch entirely. Whether this physical form
is the imprint of a hand, the gentle pressure of a forehead or the resting place of a shoulder is up to you but the artist also asks for work itself to 'resist closure and remain open to further interaction'. It's important to note that you don't always need to get up close and personal with an object - or a person - to leave a mark, but sometimes, that's okay too. We are all walking collages of experiences and memories, why should objects be
any different?
COMPETITION
Celebrating 250 Years of Wedgwood's Jasperware
Not many brands make it to 10 years, let alone 20, let alone 250 - Wedgwood on the other hand? Consider it water off a duck's back. Not only were they founded in 1759 but one of the brand's signature materials titled Jasperware - a form of stoneware with a matte ‘biscuit’ finish that's still flying off store shelves today thanks to its ever-increasing popularity - is celebrating its 250th anniversary this year. Quite a feat for a luxury fine bone china and porcelain brand that has never gone out of fashion. Seeking an appropriate way to celebrate this landmark occasion while also honouring the future of creativity, Wedgwood is launching a new generative AI tool appropriately named Jasper 250, giving people the
power to customise their own Jasperware masterpieces.
Built by the digital agency XXII Studio, Jasper 250 elaborates on Wedgwood's 'one-of-a-kind' ethos by letting those who own Jasperware make it exactly that - an objet d'art unique to them through the power of customisation. In addition to this, Wedgwood are also asking those who use the tool to submit their AI works to an expert panel as part of a
design competition, by way of sharing them on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok using the hashtag #JASPER250. If you need even more of an incentive to submit your own Wedgwood, it's worth noting that a 3D-printed version of the winning design will be acquired by the V&A Wedgwood Collection and shown as part of a free display celebrating
the anniversary in June titled Unpacking the V&A Wedgwood Collection: Jasper 250. The winning piece will sit alongside the Collection’s holdings of more than 175,000 objects.