Condo London brings together a collaborative exchange of 49 galleries from 28 cities, converging across 22 London galleries in the capital. From Hong Kong and Guatemala City to Chicago and Beirut, the programme unites global perspectives in an intimate exchange of ideas, offering a rare opportunity to explore international galleries and artistic practices all gathered in one city. Vanessa Carlos, founder of Condo and director of Carlos/Ishikawa, tells Dazed, “This year has been particularly exciting for younger galleries – there’s a lot of fresh energy. It’s not just about what’s familiar, but about discovery.”
Since 2016, Condo has taken place in cities worldwide, including Athens, São Paulo, New York, Shanghai and Mexico City. In their Whitechapel location, Carlos/Ishikawa is hosting Seoul-based gallery Jason Haam, showcasing works by Moka Lee, Sable Elyse Smith, Jihyoung Han, Jungwook Kim, and Mike Lee.
In Farringdon, Amanda Wilkinson Gallery and Glasgow’s Kendall Koppe explore the erotics of transformation and queerness through the works of the late American photographer Jimmy DeSana (1949-90) alongside paintings by Greek artist Sevina Tzanou. DeSana’s subversive photographs from the Suburban Series (1979-80) are rooted in New York’s 1970s and 80s punk and No Wave scene. Chairs, ladders, and coat hangers entwine with human limbs in compositions that feel both absurd and deeply intimate.
Meanwhile, Tzanou’s painterly abstractions and burlesque-injected performances interrogate the materiality of femininity. “The curation process was intuitive – both artists are tied to nightlife culture and ideas of the body in flux,” Amanda Wilkinson explains. “DeSana’s work is seminal, and his queer perspective feels as fresh as ever. It’s really great showing his work alongside Sevina, whose practice really probes femme and queer performance – the works really play to each other.” The exhibition’s seduction lies in its refusal to settle into a single narrative, queering the familiar and turning the mundane into something charged and transgressive.
Nearby, Ginny on Frederick presents Photocopy Dream II with Good Weather (Chicago), showing Raque Ford’s ongoing dance floor and stage installation alongside two of Kiki Xuebing Wang’s intricately detailed and delicate paintings titled “Beautiful Mother I & II”. Personal narratives are at the heart of the show, explored through collaged poetry and interactive performances that invite visitors into a space of dialogue and exchange.
Brunette Coleman is participating in Condo for the first time, partnering with New York’s Francis Irv. Together, they present Rachel Fäth’s steel ‘Locker’ sculptures alongside Zazou Roddam’s salvaged material assemblages. “There’s a kinship in the formal qualities of their works,” the gallerists Anna Eaves and Ted Targett explain, “but their approaches are distinct. Together, they open up questions about preservation, memory, and reinvention.”
In Bethnal Green, mother’s tankstation is in partnership with New York’s P·P·O·W displaying traditional large-scale hand-woven tapestries made from dyed yarns that mimic pixelated photographs, Windows PC displays and screenshots from the internet. Brooklyn-based artist Erin M. Riley’s work confronts personal trauma, addiction, and the complexities of modern womanhood, using labour-intensive traditions to mediate on resilience and recovery.
Also addressing themes of resilience, identity and social critique, are the sculptural works by Janet Olivia Henry and paintings and works on paper by Cynthia Hawkins at Hollybush Gardens with Gordon Robichaux (New York). The two artists met in the 1970s at Just Above Midtown (JAM) in New York, a gallery that recently opened a survey exhibition on its legacy for African American artists and artists of colour at MoMA. Henry describes her work as a “social commentary” using Barbie dolls and miniature forms to create scenes that critique American culture, while Hawkins explores themes of identity and representation.
At Soft Opening, the entry exhibition space is enveloped in dim light, centring on a monolithic, museum-like vitrine illuminating Joanne Burke’s meticulous bronze and silver sculptures. The works are created through a process rooted in the ancient practice of hydromancy – a form of divination that interprets the colours, ripples, and movements of water. Burke reimagines this tradition by dropping molten wax into cold water, where the interaction between fluidity and resistance shapes her designs. The resulting sculptures are both delicate and elemental, with curved, elongated forms.
The labour-intensive woven aspects of Burke’s work resonate with Kern Samuel’s sewn and quilted canvases, presented by Derosia (New York). Samuel’s pieces incorporate folds, embroidery, and layered textiles, celebrating the interconnectedness of material, history, and process.
Alongside Condo, galleries across London are opening up ambitious projects. Alongside Public Gallery’s Condo presentation with Martins & Montero (Brussels/São Paulo) and The Breeder (Athens), the gallery opened its expansion into a neighbouring space in the Middlesex Street Estate, next to Petticoat Lane Market, with a group exhibition titled 00:00:01. The exhibition preserves the original wall furnishings and carpet of the former textile shop. Highlights include South African artist Igshaan Adams’ woven tapestries, created in collaboration with asylum-seeking craftswomen and Palestinian-Malaysian artist Mandy El-Sayegh’s site-specific installation in the window vitrine of paintings and collected objects that blur the boundaries between art and everyday life, with a text questioning: “So how do we talk NOW?”
Through its global scope, intimate format, and focus on experimentation, Condo reminds us of the power of dialogue and exchange in an increasingly fragmented world – a vital shift in a world that increasingly demands adaptation and reinvention.
Condo London runs until 15 February 2025 at galleries across the city.