GWA Newsletter: July
The best things to see, read, listen to and do this month
Dear Readers, Summer is here. Scroll on for your guide to the best shows, listens, reads, events, artists, and more. But first: some updates – including a special bonus episode of the GWA Podcast: an exhibition tour of Emily Kam Kngwarray at Tate Modern!
On Substack: Your Summer Reading List
Click here to discover a plethora of novels, short books, non-fiction, and memoirs to keep you stimulated this summer.
On Substack: Summer Artworks
Be transported to some of the most iconic summer scenes by women artists. Click here!
In The Guardian: Jenny Saville at the NPG
For The Guardian I wrote about looking at Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting through the eyes of teenagers. Amazingly, the exhibition is free for anyone 25 and under. A preview:
“…the exhibition was swarming with teenagers. Equipped with notepads and sketchbooks, scribbling down words like “expressive”, “daring” and “beautiful”, the budding art enthusiasts seemed enraptured by Saville’s portraits: from blemished backs and wounded faces to colossal closeups of girls and fleshy nude women. I got talking to an art teacher and her sixth formers and we discussed how Saville’s bodies are the antithesis to the idealised forms we see online today; and how stunned we were by the landscape of textures that can exist within a single cheek.”
The GWA Podcast: Emily Kam Kngwarray
For a special bonus episode of the GWA Podcast, step inside the magical world of Emily Kam Kngwarray with an exhibition tour of her new show at Tate Modern.
This is the first large-scale presentation of Kngwarray’s work ever held in Europe and a celebration of her extraordinary career as one of Australia’s greatest artists. Amazingly, Kngwarray was only in her late 70s when she began painting properly, making c.3000 paintings before the end of her life!
And wow – these are some of the most dazzling and vibrant paintings I've ever witnessed: filled with rich colours that range from dry and dusty to oceanic; and textures that could be a constellation of stars, the scurrying footprints by animals, or the sacred grasses blowing in the wind.
As told by curator, Kelli Cole. Tune in!
This is a potential new format for the podcast. Let me know what you think?
Now for my July recommendations…
Enjoy Katy. Xoxo
16 exhibitions to see in the UK:
Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting, National Portrait Gallery, London, until 7 Sep
Emma Talbot: How We Learn To Love, Compton Verney, Warwick, until 5 Oct
Emily Kam Kngwarray, Tate Modern, London, until 11 Jan
Alien Shores: landscape, once removed, Curated by Susanna Greeves, at White Cube, London, until 7 Sep
Lubaina Himid with Magda Stawarska: Another Chance Encounter, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, until 2 Nov
Carol Rhodes: Sites, Alison Jacques, London, until 9 Aug
Aubrey Levinthal: Mirror Matter, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, until 13 Sep
Francesca Mollett: Annual Honesty, Modern Art, London, until 19 Jul
Summer Exhibition 2025, Royal Academy, London, until 17 Aug
Solange Pessoa: Pilgrim Fields, Tramway, Glasgow, until 5 Oct
Connecting Thin Black Lines 1985 - 2025, ICA, London, until 7 Sep
Erin O’Keefe: A Whole Thing, Seventeen Gallery, London, until 19 Jul
Liverpool Biennial 2025, Liverpool, until 14 Sep
Gala Porras-Kim: The categorical bind, Sprüth Magers, London, until 26 Jul
Emma Amos at Alison Jacques, London, until 9 Aug
The Power of Drawing: Marking 25 Years of the Royal Drawing School, Royal Drawing School, London, until 26 Jul
10 exhibitions to see outside the UK:
Anna Maria Maiolino: Je suis là. Estou Aqui, Musée Picasso Paris, until 21 Sep
Firelei Báez, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, until 21 Sep
Anicka Yi, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, until 7 Sep
Nicola L., Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, until 14 Sep
Amy Sillman: Alternate Side (Permutations #1 32), Dia Bridgehampton, New York,
Christina Kimeze: Long Loops, Hauser & Wirth, West Hollywood, until 4 Oct
Push Me, Pull You, Thomas Dane, Naples, until 27 Sep
Cindy Sherman: The Women, Hauser & Wirth, Menorca, until 26 Oct
Louise Giovanelli: A Song of Ascents, HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark, Austria, until 28 Sep
Vija Celmins, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen, Switzerland, until 21 Sep
6 books + articles to read:
Andrew O’Hagan - Joan Didion on the Couch, via LRB
Wangechi Mutu interviewed, via FT
Vija Celmins: The Real and Its Double, via ArtReview
John Clegg - An Opinionated Guide to Literary London
7 shows to listen to:
Lubaina Himid via A brush with…
Rachel Jones via Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud
The Infinite Yayoi Kusama, via Dialogues
Rebecca Solnit and Carole Cadwalladr, via London Review Bookshop Podcast
Jenny Saville via This Cultural Life
Katherine Rundell via This Cultural Life
Lynn Hershman Leeson on art, technology and science, via Artforum
4 things to do in London:
Painting Country: The Vision of Emily Kam Kngwarray, Tate Modern talk, 9 Jul
Deborah Levy in conversation, National Portrait Gallery, 11 Jul
‘The Triumph of Art’ in Trafalgar Square, 26 Jul
5 artists to know
Sally Mann (b.1951)
Gala Porras-Kim (b.1984)
Mary Stephenson (b.1989)
Helen Levitt (1913–2009)
Rene Matić (b.1997)
That’s it from me! Happy GWA’ing. Thank you for reading this Substack. If you think someone else might enjoy this too, please spread the word and share this article. If you have any feedback — or your own July recommendation! — please comment below.
https://substack.com/@marlenesosebee/note/c-132917857?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=25zmul
I went to see the Jenny Saville exhibition on Thursday and it was swarming with teenagers then, too! Loved it. Want to listen to her on This Cultural Life now – thanks for the link.