“Gardening gives one back a sense of proportion about everything—except itself,” author May Sarton (1912-1995) wrote in her book Plant Dreaming Deep (1968), a journal about discovering a love of tending to the land. For Carly Glovinski (previously), the sentiment incidentally frames something of a raison d’être for the artist’s remarkable large-scale floral installation at MASS MoCA.
Glovinski was especially moved by Sarton’s book The House by the Sea (1977), which traces the author’s move from New Hampshire to the seacoast of Maine. The vibrancy of gardens spurred the artist’s fascination with flowers, culminating recently in an expansive work titled “Almanac.”
Celebrating the diversity and dynamism of blooms, the piece explores ideas around placemaking and the passage of time. “For Glovinski, the garden is a metaphor for collapsed time and perishable memories,” says an exhibition statement. Along with Sarton, the artist also draws on poet Emily Dickinson’s love for plants, channeling literary reflections on connecting with the simple pleasures—and sublime chaos—of nature.
“Almanac” takes its name from the annual guide that forecasts weather and a provides calendars for astronomical events, tides, and planting. The piece took more than a year to complete and comprises hundreds of pressed flower paintings made with washy acrylic paint applied to both sides of semi-transparent mylar. The gestural brushstrokes on translucent material evoke a sense of lightness and delicacy, like real petals blown up to larger-than-life size. Above the installation, she’s labeled segments with the months the blooms appear.
Glovinski references pressed blossoms that she has grown, harvested, or collected from friends, nodding to Emily Dickinson’s love of the practice. (The poet created a stunning herbariumcontaining 424 specimens collected around her home in Amherst, Massachusetts.) “By observing, tending, and preserving flowers, ‘Almanac’ becomes both a visual record of the seasons and a commentary on the labor of care,” the museum says.
Spring has arrived, and with it comes a fresh wave of exhibitions sweeping through London’s galleries. This season, shows delve into everything from nature’s hidden structures to the dynamic tension between opposing ideas that shape how we live, think, and feel. Whether you’re craving quiet reflection or bold confrontation, we’ve selected these exhibits for their promise to spark curiosity and conversation.
In October 2024 Jure Kastelic had his debut solo exhibition ‘Musical Chairs’ with Carl Kostyál in Milan. Now, back for his second instalment in London, Kastelic continues to explore the push and pull of opposing forces—ideas that shape how we live, what we desire, and how we assign value to things. At its core, his practice asks: what holds value in a world where everything feels increasingly diluted? Drawing from both analogue and digital influences—including online forums, classical painting, and economic theory—Kastelic crafts surreal, dreamlike scenes that reflect the tensions of life in late capitalist society.
A key figure in the Arte Povera movement, Giuseppe Penone has spent over five decades exploring the profound connection between humans and nature. Thoughts in the Roots brings together works from 1969 to the present, highlighting his poetic use of natural materials such as wood, bronze and marble. Set both within the gallery and in the surrounding park, the exhibition reveals the hidden structures and rhythms of the natural world through Penone’s quietly powerful sculptures and installations.
Serpentine South Gallery, London | 3 Apr – 7 Sep 2025
From the series Afro Hair and Beauty Show, 1998-2003 | Courtesy of Eileen Perrier and Autograph
For over 30 years, Eileen Perrier has used portrait photography to connect people and celebrate the power of being seen. Drawing on her dual Ghanaian and Dominican heritage, she blends 19th-century European and contemporary African studio styles to explore identity, belonging and representation. Often working in makeshift studios and community spaces, Perrier’s portraits centre shared experiences—from family ties to beauty salons—highlighting individuality while bridging cultural and social divides. This first retrospective brings together key series from her career, featuring three generations of her own British Ghanaian family, and her recent work on the pressures faced by teenage girls.
Installation View, Rose Wylie: When Found becomes Given, David Zwirner, London, 2025
Featuring recent single- and multipanel works from Rose Wylie, When Found becomes Given, the show blends personal, historical and imagined narratives across time and space. Wylie’s bold, seemingly playful style belies a deep and witty exploration of how images are composed and perceived. Her layered approach often involves reworking motifs and mixing unexpected elements to create visual echoes that challenge traditional perspective and storytelling.
Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo’s first UK solo exhibition features new, finger-painted portraits that celebrate Black identity with authenticity and joy, while challenging stereotypes through powerful, intimate works. The exhibition also includes an immersive recreation of Boafo’s childhood courtyard in Ghana, designed with architect Glenn DeRoche, reflecting themes of community and memory. Key works like Self-Portrait with Cacti (2024) invite reflection on space, identity, and shared creativity.
Gagosian Grosvenor Hill, London | 10 Apr – 24 May 2025
Paul Feeley, Untitled, 1962 | Courtesy of The Artist and Waddington Custot
Building on Waddington Custot’s 2019 exhibition Colour Is, The Shape of Colour continues to explore the transformative power of colour in shaping how we perceive art and space. Spanning works from the 1950s to today, the exhibition examines how artists use colour and form to blur the lines between painting and sculpture. Featuring pieces by Josef Albers, Vanessa Jackson, David Annesley, Sheila Hicks, and others, the show reveals how colour can create spatial illusions, challenge perception, and turn flat surfaces into vibrant, multidimensional experiences.
Waddington Custot, London | 22 April – 29 May 2025
Francine Hampson and John Ried are the owners of Mudpuppy Studios, a production pottery studio producing functional ware. The studio wares are mainly thrown on the potter’s wheel with alterations and additions done by hand building. The clay is high fire stoneware fired in a 15cu. ft. gas kiln introducing salt/soda at 2350F. The effects are spectacular but unpredictable. The wares are sold locally on Salt Spring Island through the Waterfront Gallery or Artcraft/ Wintercraft shows.
Being on an island do you ever feel cut off from the rest of the world?
Francine: I don’t. I had some really good advice from the first year I lived here. An old, old, woman who had lived here over 40 years, My advice to you is to get off the island at least once a month. Because if you don’t you’ll go cuckoo. So I don’t get cabin fever. We are coming a going and doing different things and getting around.
John: I don’t feel that need to get off the island. In fact I think I have become more of a recluse. I kind of like it on the island. It has everything I need. There’s over 400 musicians on this island and I have two musical groups that I play music with and then I’ve got my studio time. I am also quite involved in the community and a lot of people recognize me around the island, so I really don’t need to go off the island.
How is the access to ceramics supplies?
Francine: Well, we don’t have a ceramics supplier on Salt Spring. We are too small. But Vancouver Island, which is where the city of Victoria is. It’s one of the largest islands in the world and in Victoria is Victoria Clay Arts but then we drive up that island in the other direction there’s Vancouver Island Pottery Supply in Parksville, British Columbia.
John: And we use Amazon. I recently had some Raku gear delivered from Toronto, so that is always a possibility.
Because it is a tight knit community do you ever feel competition among artists?
Francine: I don’t feel that at all because I work in salt-soda and I do high-fire. It’s not very common here. Most people are doing cone 6 or lower, electric firing.
John: I think it’s more a supportive community than a competitive community. I think everybody just networks and if you have an issue you can ask somebody else and everybody is really forthcoming with information. That is the beauty of a small community.
