South London Gallery

10/11/2024

“We must open our eyes and develop a means of resistance. All films are political. They carry a message. Cinema is a language. If you make a good film, you are understood by society.” - Gadalla Gubara

🎥 On Wed 13 Nov, join us for a film screening event exploring the work of Sudanese filmmaker Gadalla Gubara (1920-2008) and the recent history of Sudan. Curated by Black Cinema Project

Book now: https://www.southlondongallery.org/events/south-by-south-sudan/

08/11/2024

Artist Nairy Baghramian is interested in opposites, such as masculine and feminine or inside and outside. She always thinks about how they come to exist and considering the spaces between the two positions.

Baghramian aims to challenge accepted hierarchies and blur dividing lines. Her work encourages us to think about how opposing ideas exist in conflict, harmony, and in between the two.

04/11/2024

Have you ever wondered how artists develop new work? 🤔

Join us this Wednesday at The Conch, a forum for artists to present work in progress and receive feedback from the audience.

This edition of The Conch brings together presentations by artists Aoibheann Greenan, Raheel Khan, Aniela Piasecka.

Book now: https://www.southlondongallery.org/events/the-conch-november-2024/

02/11/2024

We're hiring! The SLG is recruiting for a temporary Communities & Learning Programme Manager.

The role is responsible for managing Art Block programmes for children and young people, including after-school sessions Weds-Friday. Art Block sessions include artist-led activity, free play, games, cooking and socialising.

Find out more and apply by 18 Nov: https://www.southlondongallery.org/jobs/communities-learning-programme-manager-temporary/

01/11/2024

"My experience has been that artists are often expected to do the right thing, hold the right opinions, and take the right positions. I find this concerning, as it implies the existence of a binary notion of good and bad art. That is not the essence of what art is about. " - Nairy Baghramian

27/10/2024

Nairy Baghramian's sculptures remind viewers of body parts, explore binaries and opposities and are often made in collaboration with other artists.

Find out more about Baghramianand how she works over on the SLG Journal: https://www.southlondongallery.org/journal/who-is-nairy-baghramian/

24/10/2024

Join our football team! ⚽ Represent the SLG and stay warm this winter with one of our football scarves.

The scarves were designed by the young people who attend Art Block, a free space based on Sceaux Gardens Estate for local children and families to make things, be creative, and play.

The young people worked with artist duo YARA + DAVINA on the design, taking inspiration from their personal and collective goals.

Shop now: https://shop.southlondongallery.org/collections/gifts/products/yara-davina-art-block-football-scarf

23/10/2024

Film Africa London’s biggest celebration of African & African diaspora cinema, returns to the SLG from 26 Oct - 2 Nov.

We’re so excited to share this beautifully curated series of short films.

See the full programme and book now: https://www.southlondongallery.org/whats-on/events/events-film-talks/

20/10/2024

Planning for half-term? Join us for free creative activities for families!

👕 Sat 26 Oct, 11am-1pm: Express yourself and design a t-shirt, taking inspiration from your own cultural heritage and identities. And model it in your own photoshoot! https://bit.ly/3NwyFnl

🧩 Wed - Sun, 12-6pm: As part of our current exhibition, artist Nairy Baghramian has designed a table that children are invited to draw on. 'Jumbled Alphabet' explores children's toys, puzzles and ideas around expectations to fit in. In the Fire Station, get hands-on with her work through art that you can touch! https://bit.ly/4eNvkMJ

🍁 Every Sat & Sun, 12-6pm: Explore our green spaces with our free, self-guided garden worksheet. https://bit.ly/3Yf9AlR

18/10/2024

This photo of a grumpy girl is at odds with idealised expectations for children to look happy and smile for the camera.

In the title of the work, 'Jumbled Alphabet', artist Nairy Baghramian hints at playing games and perhaps, a sense of misunderstanding or being misunderstood.

She says: "The work’s title, Jumbled Alphabet, is an allusion to the game in which jumbled letters of the alphabet are reordered to form meaningful words. While the reference to childhood is explicit in this work, the frown of its subject, the girl, contradicts the stereotypical child portrait. The girl’s grumpy and rebellious expression seemingly urges us to stop our cognition from becoming automated and ensuring an orderly arrangement (i.e., it urges us not to play by the rules)."

11/10/2024

The title of our current exhibition, Jumbled Alphabet, hints at puzzles or things being misplaced.

Nairy Baghramian's sculptures are made of marble, cast aluminium and walnut wood. They take over the Main Gallery at the SLG, the artist says, “as if somebody left the space without cleaning it up. You don’t know if there is an order, or if things are already out of order.”

💫 Free to visit at the South London Gallery until 12 January 2025

10/10/2024

Goodnight! is a new limited edition artwork created by artist Helen Marten exclusively for the SLG. 💥

Goodnight! is a multi-layered work, with 2D and 3D elements housed within a bespoke frame. The central image is created by the artist from a drawing of women dancing in checked pyjamas, retranslated in a blend of coloured pigment, watercolour, acrylic and graphite powder. Around this depiction of joy and comfort are further motifs of daily preoccupations: trees, beds, tables, notepaper, a cocktail.

Helen Marten works across sculpture, painting, video and writing to create work that questions the stability of the material world and our place within it. Alluding to ideas, systems and experiences, her work sets out to articulate complex ideas about the way in which we exist in and understand the world around us.

https://shop.southlondongallery.org/products/goodnight-2024-helen-marten

09/10/2024

Hoda Afshar's series titled 'In Turn', was made in response to the feminist uprising that began in Iran in 2022, following the death of Jina Amini who had been arrested by Iran's morality police for not wearing the hijab properly. The photographs are a tribute and a testament to collective action and collective grief.

The women in the series are, like Afshar, Iranian Australians who have watched the protests unfold from afar. Dressed in black, they cluster together and braid each other's hair. This is a direct allusion to the images on social media of women in Iran defiantly discarding the veil, and to a practice common among Kurdish female fighters who plait each other's hair before heading into battle against the Islamic State.

In Untitled 7, two doves are released. Often a symbol of peace, here they also reference grief felt by so many in Iran. When protesters are killed, their family and friends release birds into the sky. The twines of a plait are referred to as pichesh-e-moo in Farsi, meaning the turn or fold of the hair. A revolution is a turning point, but it is never without loss.

🕊️ Untitled 7 (From the In Turn series) is a new limited edition artwork made by Hoda Afshar exclusively for the SLG.

https://shop.southlondongallery.org/collections/limited-editions/products/untitled-7-from-in-turn-series-2024-hoda-afshar

05/10/2024

Made from materials such as marble, wood, metal and resin, Nairy Baghramian's sculptures often respond to the surrounding environment, engaging with architecture and people. At first they appear to be abstract but they are often suggestive of parts of the body, hinting at joints, gestures, limbs, skin and teeth.

What do you see? 🤔

03/10/2024

"Baghramian is always looking for openings. For ways of letting the outside in."

Want to find out more about artist Nairy Baghramian? To celebrate her colourful exhibition at the SLG, The Guardian have done a deep dive into her practice and past work. Have a read:

The Iran-born sculptor’s colourful new London show continues her practice of playing with convention and collaboration

27/09/2024

It's Family Space tomorrow! Join us on Sat 28 Sept from 11am - 1pm for a free creative workshop for families.

Make and take home your very own pine cone bird feeder with artist and educator Tanya Nonthando Wilson! 🐦

https://www.southlondongallery.org/events/family-space-sep-2024/

27/09/2024

NOW OPEN! Nairy Baghramian: Jumbled Alphabet 🧩

Made from materials such as marble, wood, metal and resin, Baghramian's sculptures explore connections between art and other creative industries, such as interior design, dance and theatre. At first they appear to be abstract but they are often suggestive of parts of the body, hinting at joints, gestures, limbs, skin and teeth.

The artist’s 'Misfits' series, disrupts the idea of children’s building toys in which pieces fit together perfectly. 'Misfits' celebrates the beauty of things that don’t fit, and the creativity found in what’s considered “dis-functional”. The series recognises the magic of being an outsider and seeing the potential in imperfection.

💫 Open 27 September - 12 January, free to visit at the South London Gallery

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Image: Nairy Baghramian: Jumbled Alphabet, 2024. South London Gallery.
Photo: Jo Underhill

Lead Exhibition Donor: SP Lohia Foundation
Exhibition Donors: The Garcia Family Foundation, Lubaina Himid, Henry Moore Foundation and ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen
Gallery donors: Marian Goodman Gallery, Hauser & Wirth and kurimanzutto

21/09/2024

Want to know what it's like working at an art gallery?

Artist and educator Tanya Nonthando Wilson has been working with the SLG team from 2023-2024. As the Residents’ Programme Assistant, she has worked with young people, artists and colleagues across departments to deliver a variety of activities and events.

We spoke to her at the end of her traineeship about her highlights from her time with us:

Meet artist and educator Tanya Wilson, who has just completed a traineeship at the South London Gallery.