London’s most exclusive district is set once again to host the Mayfair Art Weekend between 29 June-1 July – four days of free talks, tours, pop-ups and events across 60 galleries and auction houses. The weekend will properly kick into action on Friday with the Gallery HOP!, an after-hours pass for over 35 galleries across Mayfair and St James’s, sponsored by Sipsmith and Fever-Tree. With a gin and tonic in hand, gallery goers can choose one of four curated walks from gallery to gallery (which are also available through the rest of the weekend, sadly minus the gin).
Hassan Hajjaj, a highly collectable artist, can be seen at Talisman in the Age of Difference, held at the Stephen Friedman Gallery until 21 July. Curated by British artist Yinka Shonibare MBE, the works exhibited pay tribute to a heritage of art which explores and drives political change, both in Africa and among the diaspora.
For those who love all things canine – or simply appreciate the movement and spirit captured in any of Sophie Ryder’s masterful, folkloric creations – the British sculptor is holding DOG SHOW at the Hignell Gallery. The exhibition features 24 new portraits of the artist’s own four beloved hounds in a variety of media including charcoal and pastel drawings, bronzes, steel cutouts and a wire sculpture.
The globally renowned Christo, orchestrator of a raft of spectacular ‘wrapping’ projects and plus-sized installations, has unveiled his latest work, The Mastaba – a 20-foot-high solid block of coloured barrels floating on the Serpentine in Hyde Park. The nearby Serpentine Gallery will be hosting a complementary 50-year retrospective of Christo’s iconic collaborations with his late wife, Jeanne-Claude, and the Stern Pissarro Gallery will showcase their preparatory work for these projects. They’ll be extending their opening hours especially for the weekend.
The late Polish artist Caziel took early inspiration from the works of Gaugin, Cézanne and Matisse, and after the Second World War went on to exhibit alongside Picasso in France. By the 1960s his work was purely abstract, making use of simple shapes in repetitive patterns. You can find his work exhibited at the Musee National d’Art Moderne in Paris and the Vatican Museum in Rome – and at Whitford Fine Art, his representing gallery, during the weekend.
