A classic stop-off point is Brick Lane, at Beigel Bake to be more precise, where apple strudel costs just 80p. From here I move on from some of the galleries in the east of London towards the west end and on the way encounter Hollybush Gardens in Farringdon. On show is Turner Prize winner, Lubaina Himid. The room is full of wall paintings extending onto some additional objects propped upright on the floor. It is fascinating that the original utility of these painted objects, such as piano lid, is still immediately recognisable.
Jogging west past Holborn, the Mayfair galleries are finally reached. David Zwirner on Grafton Street is hosting Andrzej Wroblewski, a Polish artist who oozes Eastern Block charm. His Chauffeur series features drivers with their back turned to the viewer. A Gauguinesque blaze of colour near the driver’s head appears to demarcate that area of the vehicle window where the subject’s own psyche has intervened into this external world.
Then doubling back slightly, for a reason I can no longer remember since this is a slightly stripped down and edited re-write, Sophie Von Hellermann has been exhibiting some lovely loose paintings at Pilar Corrias. Formally of Vilma Gold, which shut last Autumn, the artist has found a good replacement with this gallery on Eastcastle Street.
Lubaina Himid of Hollybush Gardens with a painted piano lid.
Jose Damasceno of Thomas Dane Gallery with a small intervention on the eyes of Brazilian money-prints.
Pier Paola Calzolari at White Cube who uses refrigeration units in his sculptures to produce pure whites.
Mel Bochner at Mazzoleni Gallery.
Andrzej Wroblewski at David Zwirner with an image from his Chauffeur series.
Roy Newell at Simon Lee Gallery with meticulously worked miniature paintings.
Michelangelo Pistoletto of Simon Lee Gallery with shelving images on his characteristic mirror backgrounds.
Jean Dubuffet at Timothy Taylor with one his familiar cellular-based sculptures.
Sophie Von Hellermann of Pilar Corrias with colourful paintings from the imagination.