Marking the start of the new year and bringing with it a buzz of fresh energy to the capital, Condo returns to London this year, the jewel in the crown of the city’s gallery calendar. Started in 2016 by Vanessa Carlos, founder of her eponymous east London gallery Carlos/Ishikawa, Condo was envisioned as a large-scale exhibition designed to foster new dialogues through expanding networks of galleries and artists internationally. Taking its name from ‘condominium’, this temporary exhibition invites London-based galleries to host their peers from all over the globe, from Margate to Guatemala. This year’s edition features 49 international galleries across 22 spaces, spanning the breadth of the city. Hosts share their spaces with visiting galleries, either co-curating an exhibition or dividing the spaces between them, providing a unique opportunity for cross-cultural exchange. There is an emphasis on resource sharing and community building with participating galleries often linked by a shared curatorial vision. This is a perfect – and rare – chance to witness some experimental exhibition-making from further afield.
Below, read more about five of the best Condo London exhibitions to visit.
Mother’s Tankstation hosting P·P·O·W (New York) – Erin M Riley
The Dublin and London-based gallery Mother’s Tankstation has a mission to positively contribute to the greater discourse of society at large. In their Bethnal Green space, they co-present Erin M Riley with P·P·O·W, a New York staple that has championed contemporary artists like David Wojnarowicz and Martin Wong, who explore issues of race, gender and sexuality, since 1983. Fantasy and trauma collide in the solo exhibition Look back at it by Riley, who explores personal and public histories. Bringing together old and new, combining traditional craft techniques with selfies, newspaper clippings and official documents in complex tapestries, Riley switches between vibrant flowers reminiscent of idyllic American homesteads to self-reflective and intimate mirror selfies, which resonate with the grungy internet aesthetic familiar to those of us old enough to remember Myspace and Tumblr. Source images are digested through the loom, transposed in a way that anonymizes but leaves behind the familiar essence of contemporary life mediated through being online.