Exhibitions

American artist Marina Adams presents the first instalment of her two-part solo exhibition at Stephen Friedman Gallery in June 2021. Thirty paintings on paper, all measuring 12 x 9 inches, are exhibited together in the gallery’s Viewing Room. Spanning over five years of her artistic practice from 2016 to 2021, these works reveal Adams’ bold exploration of colour and form on a condensed scale. This is Adams’ first solo exhibition at the gallery following the announcement of her representation in April 2020 and culminates with ‘Wild Is Its Own Way’, a presentation of large-scale paintings in September 2021.

Yinka Shonibare CBE RA presents ‘African Spirits of Modernism’ in June 2021, the British-Nigerian artist’s seventh solo exhibition at Stephen Friedman Gallery. Drawing on themes of human hybridity and transformation, these new works juxtapose icons of European Classical antiquity with African artefacts from Picasso’s own collection. The exhibition comprises quilts that explode with colour and polymorphous forms; three hand-painted sculptures depicting mythological creatures and a new series of African masks that explores the artist’s own identity as a “post-colonial hybrid”. These new works are accompanied by an historical archive which captures Paris’ burgeoning interest in African art during the 1920s.

Stephen Friedman Gallery is pleased to present Leilah Babirye’s first solo exhibition in the UK and Europe in June 2021, following the announcement of her representation in April 2020. This much anticipated show brings together the largest ceramic works produced by the artist to date, alongside towering wooden sculptures, masks and vibrant works on paper. Babirye’s powerful works are a testimony to her fiercely intelligent approach to the transformation of found materials. Her oeuvre examines the legacies of British colonialism in Uganda and traditional clan systems, encompassing progressive ideas regarding alternative forms of kinship, community and LGBTQI activism.

Stephen Friedman Gallery is pleased to present ‘Multiple IV’, its fourth annual exhibition of editions by gallery artists. For the first time, the gallery will focus on an individual artist by presenting a body of unseen works by Scottish sculptor and printmaker Claire Barclay. Discussing the show, Barclay explains: “This exhibition brings together unique print works that have evolved over the last three years from improvised screen and relief printing processes. My sculptural mindset has very much influenced these works; layered cut-out shapes and objects seemingly float within the boundaries of the paper whilst attention is drawn to the material quality of ink built up on their surfaces.” This project precedes a major solo exhibition of Barclay’s work at The MAC, Belfast in 2022.

Stephen Friedman Gallery’s third solo exhibition by pioneering Japanese artist Jiro Takamatsu opens in September 2021. This presentation examines a fertile period of Takamatsu’s practice from the ‘70s and early ‘80s, focusing on a selection of paintings and drawings from his celebrated ‘Space in Two Dimensions’ series. The exhibition aims to elucidate Takamatsu’s innovative experimentation with space, line, form and colour and is on display during Frieze London.

American artist Marina Adams presents the second instalment of her two-part exhibition at Stephen Friedman Gallery from September 2021. ‘Wild Is Its Own Way’ focuses on new and recent large-scale paintings created over the last two years. Expansive in scale, Adams’ work explores colour, form and movement in a bold unabashed fashion. This presentation of Adams’ paintings continues during Frieze London and follows Adams’ highly acclaimed solo exhibition at Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Dallas, Texas in autumn 2020.