Cathy's Art Diary

Engaging exhibition at the Hayward Gallery of installations by Chiharu Shiota. The works involved woollen threads being used to cover and distort everyday objects. The first room you encounter is filled with red threads with keys attached and a door in the centre. The web like threads alter the shape of the room. I loved a box with a dress in made to look misty with black threads which then linked to a maze like Installation hung with notes and letters. The final room was beds distorted by black thread. My only moan would be people taking each other’s photos and doing selfies although that said I did take a lot of pictures although not with me in them! Closed 2 May 2026 Reviews Times Guardian Evening Standard  

Moving e xhibition at the Hayward Gallery of work by Yin Xiuzhen. The work was moving as it was made of discarded clothing. From the first room showing the installation “International Flight” showing a baggage reclaim area with a fabric plane above and her portable city sculptures I was hooked. The portable cities are cityscapes in suitcases made from clothes from that city. The next section looked how Beijing had changed since the 1980s. The space was dominated by an adapted minibus lengthened with old clothes. As you got close you saw the detail of the old shirts and tops. The room also included her piece where she set 30 years of her clothing in concrete in a suitcase. The final room had a selection of works including some ceramics and wonderful bookcases with the books covered in old clothes. I loved the idea that clothes contain a memory of the person or place. Closed 4 May 2026 Reviews Times Guardian Evening Standard

Revelatory exhibition at White Cube Bermondsey of new works by WangShui. I say revelatory not for the art which was calming but for the fact the gallery has windows!! I’ve been going for years and never seen windows! The light was needed as the abstract works were painted on metal and changed as you walked round them and the light changed. Again I found the blurb impenetrable but liked the art. Closed 29 March 2026

Magical exhibition at White Cube Bermondsey of installations by Klara Hosnedlova. The first you came across was a huge hanging made of hemp with a bone like insert. When you got closer you realised there was an image in the centre of the bone. I assumed it was an exquisite painting but later realised reading the press release that it and images in the next room were fine embroideries. The second room was an installation with rocks in the centre surrounded by raised platforms which you were invited to walk on. From underneath came a soundscape. At either side there were more bone like structures with more of the beautiful pictures which also featured on the platforms. I found the piece stunning but wasn’t too sure what it meant. The blurb was a bit impenetrable if lyrical! “Echo is not only an exhibition but an instance that already anticipates the next – seeding a refrain for the as-yet-unknown future.” Closed 29 March 2026

Beautiful exhibition at Eames Fine Art of prints made from Klimt drawings in 1915. These were delicate drawings of women both clothed and naked dream with a few expressive lines. Weirdly despite being in black and white your eye imagined Klimt’s colours in them. There was a good narrative about how Klimt used drawing and describing how and why the prints were made. The prints were collotypes and the blurb explained the process. Most movingly the original drawings had been in the collection of August and Serena Lederer that was later seized and largely destroyed by the Nazis in 1938 so most of the originals are now lost. Thank you to the chap looking after the gallery for a warm welcome and a good conversation about the work. Closed 29 March 2026

Charming outdoor exhibition in Soho Square of this year's images on a project to document New Year's day over 24 years. I have seen a few iterations of this project and have been fascinated by them. On the first day of the year 24 artists have each been recording an hour of the day. Each year then move on an hour. I've seen at how those 24 artists who studied together at Central St Martins have spread around the world and how the images have become more domestic. I sadly noted that next year will be the last year of the project. Please can someone put on a larger exhibition next year to sum it up. I'd love to know more about the artists and maybe either compare their work as they move through the day or to match an hour over all 24 years. This year's favourite has to be this dog with a dummy! Closed 16 March 2026