Venice Biennale, Copenhagen, Helsinki, over 150 exhibitions and over 100 films

Oh my, the last blog post was back in May and now it’s December, the last day of 2019. I started writing this post in October, but then got snowed in with other commitments. Now it’s December and it’s been ages, seven months of time. It’s been quite some time! A lot has happened during that time, which means this is going to be an extortionately long post. After writing it and coming back to this point, it's over 10,000 words...

What’s been happening? I had the solo show in Copenhagen, which went well, and moved in with my partner, alongside continuing to make work and doing curating things. I had two duo shows, one in New York and one in London. I’m currently preparing for a solo show in February, and will be a part of a museum show in June in Seattle. I still work at GAO, and as a freelance art technician at Crown, both of which are going fairly well, sustaining me and my work. It’s (hopefully) not long term, but for now it’s okay. I’m starting to sell more of my work, which is of course fantastic, and I hope this continues growing so that eventually it will allow me to function as a full time artist/curator. We can all dream.

Let’s go back to May and see what’s been going on with my practice since then. I published my book, State of Affairs, through isthisit?, which seems so long ago now. It’s sold well since then, and was also a part of my show in Copenhagen. I feel happy with it, and it works as a nice companion piece to the video piece that I produced for Daata Editions. Link to view and buy the book is here - https://www.isthisitisthisit.com/state-of-affairs

I had the show with the Kennel Chaos artwork in New York at Galerie Manqué, which went super well, the artwork was sold. So that was great to hear. I wanted to make more of those, aluminium prints utilising the aluminium modular extrusion system, but the paintings have kind of taken over since then (as you will start to see).

Art Night happened, with all the works I commissioned through Daata Editions going live and being launched on the evening. A lot of people came throughout the evening, which felt really great, although it was a slightly different crowd of people that I’m used to. Due to it being a festival of sorts, lots of non-art people came, which was new to me. Either way, the works and press release for the online show are now online and can be viewed here - https://daata.art/play/playlist/bob-bicknellknight_2

My new video piece State of Affairs went live then too. Here’s the little text: Bob Bicknell-Knight’s State of Affairs compiles footage from the YouTube channel News Direct, in which daily news stories, from self-driving buses to social media bots, are transcribed into 3D rendered animations. Non-linear in presentation, the re-appropriated video work illustrates current and future modes of technological interface, from facial recognition software to drone surveillance. Executed in a dated Y2K aesthetic, the work is dystopic and utopic all at once. Akin to the unconscious rituals implemented while existing on the internet, opening tab after tab, clickbait after clickbait, State of Affairs mirrors the inconclusive narrative of our digital lives. The visual content is accompanied by a soothing, melodic soundtrack and augmented voiceover, forewarning of the future of gamified spaces and digital death. Link is here to watch and buy - https://daata.art/art/state-of-affairs

I also curated an online show for isthisit? in June, titled Please don't stand in the middle of the road waiting for me to get you on camera and featuring work from Aram Bartholl, Petra Cortright, Ben Grosser, Joe Hamilton and Pilvi Takala. Here’s the text:

The heat of a shining sun warms my face, slow cars and fast-moving bodies pass by as I make another journey through the city. It’s easy to zone out during these moments of heavy traffic, travelling down from Finsbury Park to Croydon during rush hour. Always a new route, a new side street, a new area to be unearthed and discovered.

People always stare, or attempt to pose nonchalantly as I pass by, some even attempt to chase me down. It’s rare, and always ends soon after it begins. Some people will do anything for their 15 seconds of fame.

It’s almost been three years since I first started, a total of 452 trips, blending into one another to become one long, ongoing expedition. Each day is a new journey, another series of high definition videos, GPS stamped and ready to be stitched together back at base.

I take pride in my work, enabling others to experience the streets of the city from thousands of miles away, relying on my due diligence when planning a trip to the capital. I like telling people about my work, my career. At first it felt like adopting an identity that wasn’t my own, but in reality I just had to be a more confident version of myself, becoming the Google Maps Driver I am today…

Please don't stand in the middle of the road waiting for me to get you on camera is an online exhibition featuring works by five international artists, including Aram Bartholl, Petra Cortright, Benjamin Grosser, Joe Hamilton and Pilvi Takala, curated by Bob Bicknell-Knight. The works presented consider how human beings are increasingly reliant on digital technologies, from navigating through offline environments utilising Google Maps to having a job as a micro-tasker, working for an online service where users pay to have a pretend girlfriend or boyfriend text them. The crafting of digital, online identities, to be monetised and utilised when traversing offline space has become increasingly prevalent due to the rise of social media sites, allowing everybody to be anybody in a world of hypercapitalism.

The exhibition takes its name from a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) with a Google Maps Driver. Throughout the thread the driver details their exploits, from sticking to the speed limit to being harassed at rest stops.

Here’s the link to the show if you’d like to see - https://www.isthisitisthisit.com/please-dont-stand

I also had State of Affairs shown in Times Square in New York, which was very cool. Pics are below. That was also in June.

The Venice Biennale was in June, which was a fantastic trip that hopefully (if I’ve kept the press releases) I will be documenting later.

I also went to Finland and Helsinki, going to a few shows there, so that was fun. More on that later.

Then in July another video piece commissioned by Daata Editions and The Bass Museum in Miami, titled Sleep Made Simple, was debuted in Miami as part of an online exhibition titled Joyous Dystopia with Jeremy Couillard, Keren Cytter, Elliot Dodd, Anaïs Duplan, Rosie McGinn, Eva Papamargariti and Scott Reeder. So it launched in Miami in July, and then it was subsequently shown in a duo show in New York in November. After that the piece, along with the other commissioned works, was shown on the wall of the New World Symphony in Miami during Miami Art Week earlier this month. Here’s a link to the trailer of that - https://vimeo.com/375653085

Then here’s a text on Sleep Made Simple, the new video piece: Bob Bicknell-Knight’s Sleep Made Simple is a series of seven individual videos, functioning as a succession of adverts for a fictitious unnamed company that promotes wellness and meditation, forewarning of the future of capitalism, digital healthcare and surveillance. The videos utilize iconography from Instagram and live news feeds, referencing how companies and corporations produce targeted ads for social media users based on complex data analytics crafted from likes, shares and machine-learning algorithms whilst the simple animation style alludes to stripped down advertising techniques and corporate training videos. Link to video here - https://daata.art/art/sleep-made-simple-i-vii

In August I had my solo show in Copenhagen, which went really well. The artists who run the space were incredibly lovely and supportive, introducing me to artists/spaces/curators in the city, alongside giving me their time and energy to put together the show. They made the experience truly great. Here’s the link to all the pics and the press release - https://www.bobbicknell-knight.com/state-of-affairs-exhibition - I think generally it went really well, if a bit stripped down, although without a real budget and it being in a different country it would have been quite hard to bring larger work. It felt consistent and I was generally very happy with the outcome. Plus in Copenhagen they have electric scooters which you can rent via an app, so that was pretty much the highlight for me of the entire trip.

After that I was in another group show at Galerie Manqué that was all about Mark Zuckerberg, showing a new painting of him in the wild. That was fun, alongside some great people including Sandra Araujo, Marion Balac, Carlos Carbonell, Ryan Garvey, Ben Grosser, Claire Jervert and Lane Twitchell.

From July to August I was also an online artist in residence with Digital Artist Residency, after winning an open call. I was awarded a small amount of money, alongside an opportunity to exhibit my work in a group exhibition alongside fellow residents Marc Blazel, Isabel Bonafé, Fionn Duffy, Alif Ibrahim and Sid Smith. I used the project to continue creating my digital/physical paintings. Link to my final outcomes in the group exhibition here, which was at OVADA gallery in Oxford in September/October - https://www.bobbicknell-knight.com/humachine-flux

In October I was invited by Harlesden High Street to select some works for their viewing room, from artists that they had worked with before and would work with in the future. It was okay, incredibly rushed, but ultimately visually it looked good, conceptually maybe not that great. However, I literally had two weeks to organise it, from being asked to ‘curate’ it to the show opening, so it was incredibly, almost comically, rushed. Pics and press release are here - https://www.isthisitisthisit.com/viewing-room

Also in October I was asked by It’s Nice That to write an opinion piece for their website, on digital art and how to monetise your digital practice. It was fairly short, a little under 2000 words, and very simple, only a beginners guide to the medium, but it was super fun to do and I was paid to do it, so a very positive experience over all. Link is here if you’d like to read - https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/how-to-deal-with-digital-art-bob-bicknell-knight-digital-opinion-141019

Another thing that happened in October, I was interviewed by the Tate for an upcoming mini documentary, commissioned by Tate Research and their project Reshaping the Collectible, speaking about how I work with the internet, both curatorially and in my artistic practice, alongside issues of ownership and commodification of the digital space. They came to my flat with various cameras and lights, filmed a bunch of my work and interviewed me about my relationship to the internet. It was fun, if not slightly daunting. It was supposed to be released last month in November, but it’s yet to be released. I’m really looking forward to it coming out. Here’s some pics.

In November I had my artwork Mark’s First published on the front cover of an amazing magazine called Revista ARTA, with the issue concerning art and digitiality. The issue features so many fantastic artists and writers including Josephine Bosma and Natalya Serkova, alongside reviews of exhibitions by Kate Cooper, Hito Steyerl and Jesse Darling. You can order a copy here - http://revistaarta.ro/en/shop/ Again, something I was paid for and it was a pleasure to be the face of.

During this time I’ve been making more paintings, working within the video game Horizon Zero Dawn to document various apocalyptic scenes, alongside making more Mark Zuckerberg trophy hunter works. So that’s just been moving forwards fairly slowly, perfecting my technique and how I make the work. A few photographs from recent work below.

I was also invited to write two press releases for different shows, one was for Salomé Chatriot and Samuel Fasse’s duo show at Nicoletti Contemporary. It was an okay experience, writing the press release went well and my name was on it, alongside a small bio, which I appreciated. However, the gallery took like 4/5 months to pay me, which is really not okay, especially when it was such a small sum, £200. Link here to read - http://nicoletticontemporary.com/2019/09/w-s/

The other press release was for Mathew Zefeldt and his show Vistas at Celaya Brothers Gallery. That was a fun one to do. Link here to read - https://90cce1e0-970c-4bca-a00a-ae7f338a3406.filesusr.com/ugd/25d9ea_6e06fe22f69e4c7384b3005f3a995c08.pdf

Also in November I had two duo shows, one at Galerie Manqué in New York with Erin Mitchell, featuring my video work Sleep Made Simple. It was nice to have another show there, although I would love to be able to actually go and see the space and meet the director if I’m in another show there at some point. Perhaps if I got invited to have a solo show there or something similar, then it would be worth the money/time invested to make the trip. Who knows, either way it would be nice, at some point - https://galeriemanque.tumblr.com/

The other duo show that’s still happening is with my partner, Rosa-Maria Nuutinen, is called The Big Four and is at Harlesden High Street. I’m really happy with how it turned out, mixing her drawing based practice with my paintings and sculptures. It’s on until the 15^th January, so do go if you’re in London. Here’s the press release:

Harlesden High Street is pleased to present The Big Four, a collaborative exhibition that considers the technological impact that humans have on the planet, concerning the Big Four tech companies (Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple) and how humans and new forms of technology continue to assist in major environmental change. The exhibition consists of new drawings, paintings and sculptural installations from Bob Bicknell-Knight and Rosa-Maria Nuutinen.

Within the show Bicknell-Knight exhibits a new series of sculptures, displayed on a large floor installation made from limestone rocks and ethernet cables, shaped like symbol for the world wide web. Developed to resemble a large battle like diorama, over 30 unique ceramic sculptures utilising the Big Four company logos are engaged in a number of small skirmishes atop the rocks, imagining a not so distant future where companies have created autonomous household pets, that play your favourite song, speak to you about your day and help you cook your dinner. These devices have now evolved, becoming hybrids of themselves, fighting one another on the battlefield. The installation functions as a battleground between the different tech companies, with each corporation having its own small army of sculptures. Alongside the sculptures a series of new paintings are also included, positioning the autonomous beings within various environmental spaces, juxtaposing their mechanical bodies with the natural countryside, having escaped from their homes to journey out into the unknown.

Nuutinen is exhibiting a new series of drawings, responding to Bicknell-Knight’s sculptures, imagining future scenarios whereby the pets have become fully autonomous, pulling themselves apart, forming gangs and ravaging the earth. Within the drawings, the autonomous beings become relics of our current world, where humans no longer exist but their technological creations continue to have an ongoing impact on the earth. Life is seen to continue forwards, with or without the presence of human beings. In one work, Member to wear your shower cap after Doom’s day, the Facebook logo is depicted relaxing in a Japanese hot spring, whilst in another, Bounty Hunter, the Apple logo is collecting body parts of other devices to hang on IKEA kitchen hooks. Link to all the pics and full press release here - https://www.bobbicknell-knight.com/the-big-four

I think that is almost everything. At the moment I’m planning for an upcoming solo show in February, which will be at Broadway Studio and Gallery in Letchworth Garden City, about half an hour outside of London. It’s going to be called Bit Rot. As it’s fairly big, is a lot closer than Copenhagen and has a budget, I had a bunch of installation like ideas, my first idea being to fill the gallery with sand, creating a Dune like experience within the gallery, with various objects embedded in the sand. Sadly that wasn’t feasible, so I’m now going to do a fairly simple exhibition, a number of paintings on the walls alongside various floor based sculptures on the floor, plus two videos shown on TVs hung on the aluminium modular extrusion system. Simple but hopefully elegant. Here’s a few Sketchup models, and a photograph of one of the floor based sculptures. It opens on the 27^th February and continues until April.

Also in April I’ll be curating a show at [Senne] in Brussels to coincide with Art Brussels. It’s an independent, non-commercial space that intends to present, once or twice a year projects of design and art characterized by their innovative aspects. The show will be titled Algorithmic Bias, and is still a work in progress. Link to their website here - https://senne19.com/ I went their for a meeting a month or so ago, which was very fun.

Other upcoming things include a small group exhibition in January called Depictions of Living, curated by Roshanak Khakban and Samuel Ivan Robert at Art Pavilion in Mile End Park. That opens on the 23^rd, link to Facebook event here - https://www.facebook.com/events/442044310048650/ I’ll be showing two paintings.

I’m also going to be in a museum show in June – August 2020 in Seattle at the Museum of Museums. The show is titled In Crystalized Time and is curated by Anthony White. I’m not sure what I’ll be showing for that, but one or two paintings from the solo show I think.

I think that might be it for now? I’m continuing to work with Zuckerberg trophy hunter works, and expanding the series to other tech billionaires, Mark’s friends and acquaintances. We’ll see how that goes.

Let’s move on to the larger portion of this blog post, documenting all the exhibitions I have seen. I have a huge pile of press releases to go through, and I know a few shows I went to didn’t have press releases, so unfortunately, I will never remember those. Anyway, in no particular order, here we go, beginning with Modern Nature at Drawing Room, featuring work by Alberto Baraya, Mark Dion, Simryn Gill, Derek Jarman, Hilma af Klint, Margaret Mee, Christine Ödlund, David Thorpe, Viktor Timofeev. Very plant based work, with my favourite being a beautiful mural by Timofeev of plant like creatures growing out of a labyrinth.

The Red Mansion Art Prize at the RA was good, featuring work by Ibrahim Cisse, Paula Morison, Alistair Debling, Rachel Cheung, Joe Richardson, Ant Hamlyn and Debora Delmar. I’m a big fan of Debora’s work, with printed fabric towels draped on seats.

Patricia Domínguez’s Green Irises at Gasworks was really great, lots of drone themed work, laser projections and lovely drawings. Thoroughly enjoyed.

We Sing The Body Electric at Gallery 46 was well curated, featuring work from Ingrid Berthmoine, Stine Deja, Enam Gbewonyo, Bex Ilsley, Laila Majid, Alix Marie, Juliette Mahieux Bartoli, Stacie McCormick, Marie Munk, Katarzyna Perlak, Cherelle Sappleton, Karolina Stellaki and Rebecca Wallis.

Gray Wielebinski at Seager was fun, with the whole gallery being filled with one sculptural work. It was good.

Tabita Rezaire’s Satellite Devotion at arebyte was well presented.

Mike Nelson’s The Asset Strippers at Tate Britain was visceral and weighty.

Going, Gone with work by Webb-Ellis and Richard Whitby at Jerwood. The Lost Ones, a 35 minute film by Richard Whitby, was fantastic. A number of people are trapped in a seemingly locked room, trapped in a bureaucratic hell. It was both hilarious and deeply distressing, as being trapped in a random waiting room is very familiar for most of us.

Nam June Paik at Tate Modern was good, although very institution like. Showing old posters of performance works that happened in 1980 is never very fun.

I, I, I, I, I, I, I, Kathy Acker at ICA was fine.

Benedict Drew at IMT gallery was fun, if a little mad.

Felix Bahret at GAO gallery was great, although I am bias as I work there.

Willem Weismann’s Down to Earth at Daniel Benjamin Gallery was great, I love Willem’s work and his beautifully crafted scenes portraying apocalyptic futures.

Hamish Pearch’s Nights at Soft Opening was beautiful, including crafted mushrooms and shipping containers.

The Underlying at arebyte by Ami Clarke was fun, although very complicated and technology layered, which I do appreciate.

Zombies at Peter von Kant was fine, featuring work from Dow Jones Architects, Alasdair Duncan, Machiko Edmondson, Dan Hays, Jane Hayes Greenwood, Realf Heygate and Daniel Shanken. I’m a big fan of Greenwood’s flower paintings.

Lydia Blakeley’s Hellhole at Plaza Plaza was good, featuring mini paintings of Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Swayze effect, featuring work from Hazel Brill, James Irwin and Tamara Kametani at Platform Southwark was good.

Sofia Mitsola’s Banistiri at Pilar Corrias was fine. I kind of like the work.

Cui Jie’s The Peak Tower at Pilar Corrias was more interesting, architectural utopian buildings painted on canvas.

Liz Calvi’s Shadow Screens at Seager wasn’t to my taste.

Michele Gabriele at Gossamer Fog was fun, sculptures of dinosaurs.

Maria Pinińska-Bereś’ Living Pink at The approach wasn’t my thing.

Mike Silva’s New Paintings, also at The approach, was surprisingly great, beautifully crafted paintings in a style I’m definitely a fan of.

Michael Andrew Page’s FYSSHYNGE at GAO Gallery featured some beautifully crafted and incredibly detailed drawings.

Mona Hatoum’s Remain to be Seen at White Cube was nothing I hadn’t seen before.

Puck Verkade at the Zabludowicz Collection was good, a new film featuring a live action housewife and a fly.

Foam Talent at Beaconsfield Gallery was fun, young artists and a lot of photographs. Featuring work from Sushant Chhabria, David De Beyter, Mark Dorf, Alinka Echeverría, Weronika Gęsicka, Wang Juyan, Thomas Kuijpers, Quentin Lacombe, Clément Lambelet, Namsa Leuba, Erik Madigan Heck, Alix Marie, Martin Errichiello & Filippo Menichetti, Wang Nan, Kai Oh, Viacheslav Poliakov, Ben Schonberger, Sadegh Souri, Harit Srikhao and Vasanth.

Debra Welch’s All Things Are Yours at Chelsea Space was very well presented. Office curtains being used as some sort of sculptural and installation like structure.

Pedro Neves Marques at Gasworks with an exhibition titled It Bites Back was quite fantastic, about viruses and reactionary politics.

Memory Palace at White Cube was fun.

Stuart Semple’s solo show at Bermondsey Project Space was fun, quite light and humorous.

Fay Zmija Nicolson at Zabludowicz Collection was a little too subtle for me.

Everything Must Go! At Assembly Point was fun, low cost works made by a nice community of artists. I bought a few prints by Tony Brooks and David Bassadone. It’s a shame, as Assembly Point has now closed.

The Real: Three Propositions at White Cube was good, with work from Peter Dreher, Konrad Klapheck and Des Lawrence. I love Lawrence’s work.

Soul of Calypso at Gossamer Fog, featuring work from core.pan, was good, 3D printed relic like sculptures.

Another Funny Turn by Sarah Cockings & Harriet Fleuriot at Block 336 was fun, more like a theme park than an exhibition, which is fun but busy.

The EY Exhibition: Van Gogh and Britain at Tate Britain was fine, utilising incredibly thick paint.

When Species Meet by Lydia Blakeley and Lucy Evetts was a nice pairing at Transition Two.

Steve Mcqueen’s Year 3 at Tate Britain was nice.

I wasn’t that into Amanda Moström’s Participating in a chair at Castor, it felt a little off.

The Resistance Island from Rosana Antolí at The RYDER Projects was a little too neon-y.

Olafur Eliasson at Tate Modern was too clickbait-y for me.

Jamian Juliano-Villani exhibition Let's Kill Nicole at Massimo De Carlo was fun, although seeing the paintings in the flesh was a bit of a shame, lots of flat surface that felt a bit too mechanical for me.

Liam Gillick at Maureen Paley wasn’t so great, it felt like a show that demanded too much of your time and energy.

Jerwood Collaborate! at Jerwood, featuring work from Array, Keiken + George Jasper Stone, Languid Hands and Shy Bairns, was fun. I’m always a fan of Keiken and what they’re doing with regards to artificial intelligence and digital based work.

Corey Hayman at Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art was great.

Larry Achiampong and David Blandy’s The Grid at Copperfield Gallery was fun, although lots of work that I had already seen at previous shows of theirs. A fun grid like structure within the gallery space though.

Nevine Mahmoud at Soft Opening was quite brilliant, luscious sculptures that were beautifully crafted.

Amalia Pica at Herald St wasn’t to my taste.

Max Ruf at Herald St was a bit too paint filled for me.

Sarah Morris at White Cube was dull.

Zhou Li at White Cube was also a bit dull, but not as dull as Morris.

Sidsel Meineche Hansen at Chisenhale was a show I thought I would love, but in reality it felt a little tired and treading concepts that I had seen before, but done better. AI and human/robot labour, surveillance and gaming tropes. The title, Welcome to End-Used City, was a good one.

William Blake at Tate Britain was fine.

Hana Miletić at The approach was a little too fabric focused for me.

Ubiquitous Surfaces at Seager featured work from Ara Güler, Artıkişler Collective, Berkay Tuncay, Kerem Ozan Bayraktar, Lara Ögel, Larissa Fassler, Oddviz Collective, Serkan Taycan, Sevgi Ortaç and Erdal İnci. A favourite work of mine was from Erdal Inci, titled Centipedes.

Derek Mainella's Comfort Zone was fun, some very well painted pieces.

Alice Morey at The Ryder was a good use of the space, but the work wasn’t really for me.

Michael Simpson’s New Paintings at Blain Southern was surprisingly great. I’m not usually into ‘paintings hung on the wall in a white cube space’ but the scale of these works, alongside the conceit being directly tied to the scale, worked very well. Here’s a snippet from the press release speaking about the content of the work; A ‘leper squint’ is a feature built into the walls of medieval churches which allowed sufferers of leprosy and other ‘undesirables’ to view sermons while remaining outside. In Simpson’s paintings the squint appears as a rectangular aperture placed high up on outer walls with various architectural means to reach it. They invite the viewer to approach yet their structure frustrates the desire to see what might lie beyond. Just really great, and works made to scale.

Henning Strassburger at Blain Southern was dull.

Bill Viola was also at Blain Southern, in a viewing room like space with no press release. The works, however, were fantastic. Various people, filmed from above, with their entire bodies floating under water. Not quite drowning, but just lying there and living. They were truly wonderful works, that I could definitely see in my house if I were rich.

Senesi Contemporanea’s the form springs featured work from Oliver Durcan, Lucas Dupuy, Stevie Dix, Valerian Goalec, Realf Heygate and Mimi Hope. I’m a fan of Oly and Realf’s work, but otherwise it wasn’t too exciting of a show.

Bloomberg New Contempoaries at South London Gallery was fine, with my favourite work being Xiuching Tsay.

Emii Alrai at Vitrine used the gallery’s window space well. I was a fan.

Tim Brawner at Union Pacific included some really nice paintings, inspired by fairytales.

Blair Whiteford at Union Pacific, however, was less fun and more boring.

Jonathan Baldock at Stephen Friedman Gallery was fine, I like his work, although the Maske series has become slightly tiresome, especially in this show where there were over 40 or 50 displayed. A bit of an overload.

Dayanita Singh at Frith Street Gallery was nice, actually.

Rhys Coren’s Shape of Story at Seventeen was okay, a little too spotlight-y for me.

Mark Handforth at Modern Art was fun, with the main focus being candles slowly burning on a trash can.

Richard Ayodeji Ikhide at Zabludowicz Collection felt a little too institutional like for me.

ULTRA: Art for the Women's World Cup at J Hammond Projects, featuring work from Lydia Blakeley, Juno Calypso, Emma Cousin, Emmely Elgersma, Georgia Lucas-Going, Rosie McGinn, Rhiannon Rebecca Salisbury and Gray Wielebinski, was a solid, football themed exhibition. Not for me, really, but I appreciated what it was doing.

Wandsworth Artists’ Open House Youth Showcase at RCA was fun, with work from Kelly Mosquera, Salma Nassef, Anna Woodward, Pietra Galli and Sam Cottington. I’m a fan of Pietra’s work, ceramic based objects with embedded speakers.

Serena Korda at Bosse & Baum was great, ceramic sculptures that echoed a sound piece from within. Fun work.

Melike Kara at Arcadia Missa was fine.

Victoria Adam's confidences at Seventeen was surprisingly beautiful, and incredibly subtle.

Larry Achiampong & David Blandy’s The Grid at Seventeen, the companion show to Copperfield’s similar show, was also grid focused. It was good, but, again, nothing I hadn’t seen before.

Sarah Derat at Castor was good, rubber carved and cut into, like Egyptian mythology and typology.

Realf Heygate at Peter von Kant was good, beautifully crafted paintings.

Wong Ping’s Heart Digger at Camden Arts Centre was one of my favourites of the year, with amazing animated video works that are incredibly weird and politically moving. I would highly recommend heading to his vimeo channel to check out his work - https://vimeo.com/mrwongping

Borna Sammak at Sadie Coles was a little too much.

Dracula's Wedding at Rodeo was fun, featuring work from Antonakis, Alex Bag, Matt Copson, Alex da Corte, Rachel Harrison, Richard Hawkins, Karen Kilimnik, Takeshi Murata, Stefan Tcherepnin, John Waters and Jason Yates.

My Head is a Haunted House at Sadie Coles, the companion show to Rodeo’s, was featuring work from Ed Atkins, Sue de Beer, Larry Clark, Matt Copson, Alex Da Corte, Tom Friedman, Robert Gober, Richard Hawkins, Lonnie Holley, Cameron Jamie, Mike Kelley, Tetsumi Kudo, Daniel Lopatin and Nate Boyce, Mary Ellen Mark, Megan Marrin, Sam McKinniss, Marianna Simnett, Haim Steinbach and Claude Wampler. Alex Da Corte’s work continues to interest me, alongside Marianna Simnett and the wolf and swan.

Dora Maar at Tate Modern was fine, with her documentary photography being my favourite.

The AI: more than human exhibition at Barbican was sadly a little too clickbait esque for me.

Jef Cornelis at Goldsmiths CCA was fine, a bit too TV-y for me, although I did appreciate being given free tea to watch TV with.

Issy Wood’s All The Rage also at Goldsmiths CCA was great, been a fan of her paintings for some time.

Tenant of Culture at Nicoletti was good, although I prefer their previous, shoe based work.

The Greatest! Greatest Exhibition at APT Gallery, curated by Jake Major and Daisy Latham with Lowri Heckler, Stanley Tilyard-French, Alastair McClymont and Dr John Fass, Simon Handy, Beth Mellet, Idle Institute, Scott Kibblewhite, Ahmad Salahat, Gwenllian Spink, Neil Zakiewicz and Julijonas Urbonas. It was a fun, albeit slightly oddly conceited, show.

Ceel Mogami de Haas at Seager was fun, marble based works. I enjoy Seager's program, another space that I would like to show at, at some point in the future. Who knows.

Little Dark Fantasy by Felix Treadwell at Union was nice works, but a little sparse and simple.

Caspar Sawyer at Gossamer Fog wasn’t for me. A little too techy.

Our Way[s] of Life at Austrian Cultural Forum London, featuring work from Albin Bergström, Alexandra Wanderer, Ann Muller, Calvin Z. Laing, Catharina Bond, Gašper Kunšič, Julien Segarra, LA GEORGETTA, Lukas Janitsch and Rosie McGinn, curated by Elliott Burns and Pita Arreola Burns.

Ripe Beings at White Crypt with Olivia Brazier, Charlotte Edey, Magdalena Kita, Shana Moulton, Hannah Regel, Amy Steel, Lise Stoufflet and Alicia Tsigarides. A great group show of female artists exploring organic bodies and femininity.

David Kowalski’s Die Farben & The Last Pictures from Earth at bo.lee gallery was nice, lots of mini paintings that were quite lovely and soft, subtle.

Young Monsters at Lychee One, featuring work from Neil Haas, Irvin Pascal, Glen Pudvine and Gray Wielebinski, was fine. Pudvine’s work I do like, but had already seen at the degree show.

Fleas in my Scales by Giovanni Vetere at Union was a solid show, nice ceramics in a red sand coral reef like environment.

Wolfgang Tillmans at Maureen Paley was dull.

Ze Aya at Seager was okay, I’m not so into the paintings, but the ashtray works were nice, and surprisingly cheap too. If I was a smoker I would probably buy one.

Radouan Zeghidour at Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix was good, although super messy and full of a range of liminal materials.

Sable Elyse Smith at Carlos/Ishikawa was a solid, incredibly simple show. I was kind of half into it.

Shana Moulton at The Zabludowicz Collection was fun and pink filled. The videos on display felt painfully honest with one of those ‘I could totally do that’ aesthetic that’s much harder to create than one would originally assume. It was generally a fun, very nice exhibition that I returned to a few times.

Ma Jianfeng at GAO Gallery was fine, a bit too cardboard heavy for me.

A Good Crisis, an exhibition by DIS at Project Native Informant was good, simple but well executed and well produced videos.

Joanna Piotrowska at Tate Britain was nice, blue carpeted floor and old projector reels.

Hal Fischer’s The Gay Seventies at Project Native Informant was fun, the documentation of a bench over a 24 hour period in San Francisco. Very good, very beautiful, stories.

Four Walls 003 with Rosie Grace Ward, Alexander Carey Morgan, George Stuart and Heyse Ip, was fine, although it had one of those press releases that apologises for being a press release and questions the idea of a press release. The type of press release that’s more about the curator than about the artists, which I kind of disdain. The work, though, was nice.

Salomé Chatriot and Samuel Fasse’s duo show at Nicoletti Contemporary was good, although it felt very quiet and a little muted.

Donna Huddleston’s The Exhausted Student at the Drawing Room felt a little like a group show in a solo show, with the artist having multiple different styles crammed into one space. A little odd.

Florian Meisenberg at Zabludowicz Collection was fun, in their VR focused room, where you manipulated a shape and added textures to it. Kind of fun, but kind of like a VR demo or tutorial. Fun, as someone who doesn’t have a VR device to play around with, but in an art context I was disappointed.

Roseanne Watt’s Raaga at Broadway Gallery was fun, costume based video works.

Transformer: A Rebirth of Wonder at 180 The Strand, featured work from Doug Aitken, Sophia Al-Maria & Victoria Sin, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Donna Huanca, Juliana Huxtable, Evan Ifekoya, Dozie Kanu, Quentin Lacombe, Lawrence Lek, Jenn Nkiru, Chen Wei and Harley Weir & George Rouy. It was good, with a high budget, but it felt a little reduced, a little tuned down.

I also went to a few degree shows over the summer, Goldsmiths, both MA and BA being one. A few of my favourites include Lydia Blakeley with more lovely paintings, Axel Balazsi with IKEA inspired sculptures that were fantastic, Perce Jerrom with a installation based, toxic masculinity influenced artwork and beautiful Disney like drawings by Xavier Robles de Medina.

I went to the Slade MA show, but don’t remember much from it aside from Johnny Izatt-Lowry and his amazing paintings, seen through a dreamlike blur of a filter. They were super lovely and very well priced. I would definitely have one.

I also visited the BA show at Chelsea, which had one or two good works involved. One of my favourites was Sebastian Chaumeton with some nice ceramic based sculptures.

The CSM degree show also happened, which was fine, I don’t think I fell in love with anything in particular, which is a shame.

I also went to RCA Battersea, with some favourites being Grace Woodcock, Samuel Capps and Xiuching Tsay.

Alongside this I went to the Royal Academy, favourites being Débora Delmar (of course) and Daniel Burley, who has an upcoming show at GAO.

So, moving away from London and to Copenhagen. I went to a few shows, including Zoom with your feet (make friends) at Overgaden, featuring work from Ditte Johanne Bertelsen, Pia Angela Rasmussen & Louise Lyngh Bjerregaard, Carl Johan Jacobsen, Theodor Præst Nymark Jensen, Ida Blichfeld & Emma Gram Heegaard, Mads Hilbert and Rikke Winterbottom.

Nour Fog, also at Overgaden, was great. Ceramic based artworks with smoke machines embedded. Very fun.

Arken had a fantastic solo show on by Patricia Piccinini, an artist who I’ve admired for a while but never seen up close. They’re – mostly – silicon sculptures of future, speculative science fiction like creatures, half human, half pig, etc. It’s very cool work, with incredible craftmanship and heavily embedded in biotech.

Time Matters at Gether Contemporary, featured work from Yves Klein, Haroon Mirza, Claudia Comte, Paul Gadegaard, Amalie Jakobsen, Nat Bloch Gregersen and Lea Guldditte Hestelund. Mirza had a nice piece included.

Kunsthal Charlottenborg has a fantastic program, with two great shows occurring whilst I was there, one was Europa Endlos with work from Monica Bonvicini, Jeremy Deller, Daniil Galkin, Sara Jordenö, Šejla Kamerić, Bouchra Khalili, Jimmie Durham, Fischli Weiss with Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Olafur Eliasson and Wolfgang Tillmans. Lots of EU based artworks that were very topical.

There was also an overwhelming installation by Jesper Just, a piece that I had unfortunately already seen a few years ago at the Palais de Tokyo, although still very cool.

I also went to Tranen, which was a very cool space that I have wanted to visit for some time. It’s a small gallery space embedded within a fantastic library. Each artist selects a book list for their exhibition, alongside it being visited by multiple visitors due to it being based within the unique library environment. So yeah, a very cool space accompanied by a great show by Sif Itona Westerberg, featuring carvings of hybrid animals. That's a space that I would aspire to have a show at, a very exciting space with a fantastic curator.

George Rouy at V1 Gallery was nice, solid work. I’m kind of into the work, kind of.

Kingsley Ifill, also at V1 Gallery, was fine, although I was more interested in the space, an old butcher shop.

SUPERFLEX at Cisternerne was quite fantastic, with neon and abandoned, flooded toilets, in a former water reservoir. Very cool, and you had to put on wellies to go in, as the place had been flooded.

Going to the Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center was great, a huge building with three different shows occurring within. Claudia Comte had a show on, featuring fallen trees and a lovely carpet.

Wu Tsang also had a show on, that I was less into.

Donna Huanca also had one, which, again, I was less into. I love the performances but the paintings aren’t really my thing, a little too abstract.

I’m sure we went to others, but, as it’s been many months and I may have lost press releases since then, I think that might be it. Another trip was to Brussels, where I went to a few shows. The first was at IMAL, a new digital focused museum like space, with a show – kind of – inaugurating their new building. My favourite work was from Yann Leguay, small stone sculptures turning technology into relic like artworks. Very cool.

Harold Ancart’s solo show at Clearing was amazing, simply due to the scale of the work, alongside the building being quite awesome. It was a huge, converted barn like structure that was an amazing space for a gallery. Also it had a furnace embedded in one wall of the space.

Sean Landers at Rodolphe Janssen was great. He has been painting a character in his works, called Plankboy, for many years. I really loved them, influenced by religious tales and various other political issues.

I recently went to Margate to see the Turner Prize, which was fine, I was most into the work of Tai Shani, although all the artists involved, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Helen Cammock and Oscar Murillo, weren’t to my taste. Hamden’s work is well researched but asks a lot from the audience, alongside Cammock’s work too, whilst Murillo is just 100% dull and just not good.

The Reception Was Brilliant at Open School East was fun, not on my list at all, but I saw a flyer at a different gallery whilst in Margate and I decided to go. It had work from Rosie Carr, Jemma Cullen, Emily Demetriou, Elouise Farley, Rhona Foster, Laurène Gitton, Holly Hunter, George McGoldrick, Annie Nichols, Harilay Rabenjamina, Bryony Rose, Connor Sansby and Jules Varnedoe. I really liked a lot of the work. For a degree show like experience it was well presented and considered.

I visited Crate Space for their Micro Residency exhibition, which was fine, featuring work from William Hughes, James Mccoll & Sara Jackson.

Nearby was Limbo, with an odd series of micro shows, featuring work from a number of artists. It was odd, with no press release, so was kind of a lost cause and a bit of a shame. Printing out a press release, even if it’s literally one to hand to individual visitors, does not take that much time to do.

Going to Carl Freedman in Margate was a very odd experience, simply because it was the only commercial space that I visited whilst I was there. It had a group show, curated by Zoe Bedeaux featuring work by Elmer Batters, Zoe Bedeaux, Marianne Berenhaut, Polly Borland, Louise Bourgeois, Leigh Bowery – Fergus Greer, Martin Soto Climent, María Ezcurra, Shirin Fakhim, Enam Gbewonyo, Gary Hume, Allen Jones, Sarah Lucas, Turiya Magadlela, Pierre Molinier, Daido Moriyama, Senga Nengudi, Polly Penrose, Ma Qiusha, Man Ray, Roman Stańczak and Ulay. The theme was artists that work with tights, and I did not enjoy it, although the building and gallery space was quite beautiful.

A while ago over the summer I went to Split in Croatia on a family holiday, and I was able to go to a few exhibitions whilst I was there. I visited The Museum of Fine Arts, where they had a number of exhibitions on, showing both contemporary work and pieces from their collection. A show of work by Luka Kedžo was on display, which was kind of interesting, featuring lots of floor based vinyl and subtle interventions within the space. It felt modern and contemporary, something I wasn’t really expecting when entering the museum.

Also in the museum was a show by Katarina Ivanišin Kardum of mostly paintings concerning birds, alongside sculptures of birds that had been covered in plastic sheets. They were kind of interesting actually.

Next door at Galerija Kula, basically one very tall room in one of the rooms of a castle, was Peter Halley and Lauren Clay and their exhibition Qube. I wasn’t really into it.

The final space in Split was The Meštrović Gallery, basically a huge house that’s dedicated to the work of Ivan Meštrović. I’m not sure I’d call it a museum, more a mansion with art on the walls. The space was slightly more interesting than the work.

I also visited The Meštrović’s Crikvine, a ‘a sacral and artistic ensemble formed on a ruined farmed estate with the remains of the building of the Capogrosso family from the 16th century’.

That was everything in Split. My partner is from Finland, so whilst visiting her there I went to a few shows in Helsinki. Marika Mäkelä at Galerie Forsblom, featuring very intricate wood based work that I wasn’t that interested in.

TM Galleria had work by Andrew Colbert, Taru Happonen and Santeri Lehto on show. I liked Lehto’s work, consisting of offcuts of wood from the studio that had been made into various wild flower wall based sculptures.

Jussi Niskanen at Sisak was uninteresting.

The Pro Artibus Foundation had a solo show on by Nina Katchadourian, titled The Recarcassing Ceremony, featuring Playmobil figures. Here’s some text from the press release; In the so-called Recarcassing Ceremony the Playmobil figures Matti and Steven Båtsman, who have drowned in the sea, are brought back to life through various rituals. The work gives a nuanced view of the boundlessness of the children’s creativity, and also of the fascination with catastrophes, while simultaneouly evoking a sense of what rich, diverse and surprising things can be dealt with through play.

The final space was Kiasma, containing a number of interesting shows. One of the less stimulating was a large installation from Shoplifter, basically colourful artificial hair that was the essence of ‘please take a picture in front of my art’, which is fine, but also not for me.

Then there was a show from Iiu Susiraja, self portraits of herself in various situations and outfits, full of humour and warmth. They were fun. The older work was a lot more exciting than the new images.

The Stage Is Yours was a group show with artists Christian Falsnaes, Lee Mingwei, Amalia Pica, Sasha Pirogova and David Shrigley, displaying a number of works which the viewer would activate in some way. I was not interested.

The final exhibition at Kiasma, and the final part of my trip to Finland, was a small room from Alma Heikkilä, focusing on bacteria, climate change and mass extinction. It was nice, very earthy, like the work Tenderpixel used to exhibit, before it closed forever.

The final trip I made in the past however many months was to Venice for the biennale. I loved the main exhibitions, although I think someone who wasn’t already interested and highly invested in that kind of work probably enjoyed it a lot more than I did, due to not knowing about the work beforehand. An artist that has really stayed with me is Alex Da Corte, creating neon filled video installations, with work in the biennale all focused on Mister Rogers, the American TV show host.

Other favourite works in the main show include Jon Rafman and Dream Journal, which continues to interest me, alongside Ed Atkins (of course), Antoine Catala, Ian Cheng, Jesse Darling, Shilpa Gupta, Anthea Hamilton, Ryoji Ikeda, Arthur Jafa, Christian Marclay, Avery Singer, Hito Steyerl, Sun Yuan and Peng Yu and Anicka Yi.

As for the pavilions, obviously the Lithuanian Pavilion was fantastic, performance and capitalism, with artists Lina Lapelyte, Vaiva Grainyte and Rugile Barzdziukaite.

Other favourites include Angelica Mesiti at the Australian pavilion, with a red carpeted floor and hand movements.

The Nordic pavilion was also very solid, including biological inspired artworks, with work from Ane Graff, Ingela Ihrman and nabbteeri.

The final pavilion I’ll speak about, although I’m sure I enjoyed many others, is Laure Prouvost for the French pavilion, featuring a nice carpet and a film that (I felt) was a little too much focused on the Venice Biennale, rather than making a work that will be current in other exhibition spaces. Also, it was very much not a disability friendly exhibition, making you enter the pavilion by walking down a narrow, rocky path, and then going up through a series of stairs. It was a fun experience, but if you’re physically disabled you’re fucked.

Aside from the biennale, I went to a number of other galleries and spaces, the first being the Future Generation Art Prize, including work from Emilija Škarnulytė, Gabrielle Goliath and Cooking Sections, Monira Al Qadiri, Yu Araki, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Kasper Bosmans, Madison Bycroft, Alia Farid, Rodrigo Hernández, Laura Huertas Millán, Marguerite Humeau, Eli Lundgaard, Taus Makhacheva, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Sondra Perry, Gala Porras-Kim, Jakob Steensen, Daniel Turner, Anna Zvyagintseva and Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme.

I know that I went to a bunch of others, but there was either no press releases, or they have been lost/forgotten after continually delaying writing this blog post. The final space I’ll write about is the  Punta della Dogana, with works from Etel Adnan, Berenice Abbott, Giovanni Anselmo, Lucas Arruda, Hicham Berrada, Louise Bourgeois, Charbel-joseph H. Boutros, Constantin Brancusi, Nina Canell, Vija Celmins, Tacita Dean, Edith Dekyndt, Liz Deschenes, Trisha Donnelly, Simone Fattal, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Roni Horn, Ann Veronica Janssens, Lee Lozano, Agnes Martin, Julie Mehretu, Ari Benjamin Meyers, Philippe Parreno, Alessandro Piangiamore, R. H. Quaytman, Carol Rama, Lala Rukh, Stéphanie Saadé, Anri Sala, Rudolf Stingel, Sturtevant, Tatiana Trouvé, Wu Tsang, Robert Wilson and Cerith Wyn Evans. My favourite was a collaborative piece between Philippe Parreno and Etel Adnan. Here’s a link to a video piece of the installation/video work - https://vimeo.com/332256362 - A film by Parreno plays, and once it ends the lights go up and you see paintings by Adnan.

So, after 159 photographs of exhibitions, lets move on to films, TV and maybe a video game or two. I have over 130 to get through, so I’m going to be running through them all very quickly. Let’s begin with Louis Theroux: Mothers on the Edge, which was terrifyingly bleak.

Victor & Valentino was good, a fun TV show about two brothers exploring legends of Latin America.

Us, by Jordan Peele, was fantastic, although I preferred Get Out.

See You Yesterday was fun, but not so great. It felt a little weak.

It's Bruno! was a surprisingly funny TV show about a man and his dog.

Fighting with My Family was great, featuring the Rock and a fantastic, real, plot about wrestling.

Lunatics by Chris Lilley was okay, although I prefer his older work.

What We Do in the Shadows (the TV show) was fun, like the film but with famous actors.

Captain Marvel was a solid film.

Greta was fun, creepy and very well acted.

Ken Jeong: You Complete Me, Ho was fine, a stand up Netflix film.

Rilakkuma to Kaorusan is a beautiful Japanese animation about a woman working in an office, who lives with 2 stuffed bears and a chicken. It’s so wonderful and highly recommended.

The Perfection was a solid film, with twists and turns. Yeah, a solid film.

Mary Poppins Returns was fun.

I Am Mother was fun, about a robot mother figure raising a child in an apocalyptic world. It was solid sci-fi.

Booksmart was beautiful.

The Chef Show is a lovely TV show, hosted by Jon Favreau and Roy Choi, basically just cooking and chatting with celebrities. It was super nice and relaxed.

Murder Mystery was quite crap.

Years and Years was fantastic TV, about a – very – near future UK that sees a fascist government and prime minister come into power (literally what is currently happening in this fucking country), accompanied by the banks dying, tech improving and everything else slowly being more and more disastrous. It reminded me of early Black Mirror, though even better slightly as it was part of an overarching series, rather than just singular individual episodes.

Aggretsuko is a slightly odd animation about an accountant who has anger issues, preferring to bottle up her rage, letting it out by singing at a karaoke bar.

Good Omens was a surprisingly fun, very PG tv show about an angel and a demon, trying to influence a young boy.

The remake of Shaft was a little weak, although Samuel L. Jackson is always fun.

Shazam! was fun, a comedy superhero film that worked.

Tau was fine, AI house, etc. You kind of know the plot already.

Anima was a solid short directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. If you have 15 minutes to spare please do take a watch.

Legends of Chamberlain Heights was a crappy animated TV show that I’m unsure why I watched.

The Happytime Murders was pretty trashy.

Missing Link was a beautiful handmade animation about bigfoot. Very good.

Rocketman was fun. Thoroughly enjoyed its positivity.

Aziz Ansari: Right Now was okay.

Departures was a lovely little film, featuring Asa Butterfield and Maisie Williams. Very teen but very lovely.

If Beale Street Could Talk was quite beautiful, and terribly sad.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children was not good.

Long Shot was actually quite great. Politics, etc with Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen.

The Great Hack was slightly eye opening, although if you have followed the Cambridge Analytica scandal you kind of know everything already.

Avengers: Endgame was solid.

Twelve Forever was a beautiful animation about a young girl who wants to be 12 forever. Very lovely and well built world.

Otherhood was not so good.

Lion was fantastic, google maps as detective tool.

A Simple Favour was pretty crap. At this point in the blog, with 80 or so more films to write about, I am slowly reverting to one word reviews. It is now simply becoming an archive of everything that I have seen, rather than me reviewing them in any capacity.

Infinity Train, yet another lovely animation about a young girl exploring an endless train. Very good.

Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling was fine.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum was, of course, amazing.

The Secret Life of Pets 2 was okay, I preferred the first one. The world building in that was good, but the plot of this second was just felt a bit basic. Cat scenes were fun though.

Invader ZIM: Enter the Florpus was fine.

Fahrenheit 11/9 was a very good documentary about Donald Trump, gun violence and a water epidemic. Very good.

I then watched Michael Moore’s other film in the series, Fahrenheit 9/11, which was equally exciting.

And then I watched Bowling for Columbine. I got a little obsessed with his documentaries.

The Meg was trash, trashy fun.

Steven Universe: The Movie was beautiful, of course.

Late Night was a solid Mindy Kaling film, with Emma Thompson, who is equally great.

Archibald's Next Big Thing was fun, although kind of annoying as a character.

Yesterday was very lovely and just generally quite heartwarming.

Donut County was a lovely video game about controlling holes in the floor, swallowing up various objects and people.

Spider-Man: Far from Home was very fun.

Tall Girl was pretty bland entertainment.

Plus One was not so great, incredibly painfully predictable.

I really did not like The Beach Bum at all. Very boring and just painful to watch. Matthew McConaughey in a terrible film.

I finally watched Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, which was of course hilarious and highly recommended. A tv show about the filming of a tv show within a tv show.

Nathan Barley was ultimately painful to watch, obviously that was the point, but still.

Unbelievable was truly depressing, amazing, but depressing. Never doubt anyone.

Toy Story 4 was good, although really not needed for the series. It was the perfect trilogy until this arrived.

The Last Kids on Earth was, fine? I don’t really remember it, which means I wasn’t so into it.

Between Two Ferns: The Movie wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be.

Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw was okay, I do enjoy Jason Statham, and of course The Rock, but it still is ultimately crap.

The Politician was actually quite a cutting show. Very funny and recommended, even if it was being advertised on the side of a bus.

In the Tall Grass was fine.

My So-Called Life was a very enjoyable 90s tv show. Very good, very teen and very enjoyable.

Strange Hill High was an odd animation.

I of course enjoyed Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, although not my favourite Tarantino film. Also quite nicely slotted into history.

The House That Jack Built was super bleak, with a weird ending.

Stuber was fine, Kumail Nanjiani is enjoyable.

Plebs was a vaguely funny program about 3 men living in ancient Rome. Kind of funny, kind of crap, very BBC.

Midsommar was amazing.

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie didn’t need to be made, I was happy with Better Call Saul.

Both seasons of Succession were amazing. One of my favourite tv shows of the year.

I'm Still Here was painful to watch.

Absolute Power was very well put together, like W1A but for PR firm.

Living with Yourself was very enjoyable, Paul Rudd is great, as always.

I actually really enjoyed The Angry Birds Movie 2, it was as good as the first one, which I thought wasn’t going to be very good either.

Bigfoot is a sometimes very sad, comedy animation about bigfoot, although after he has been discovered and has been famous. Now he just lives in the woods, in a caravan, getting drunk and thoroughly depressed. It’s odd, dramatic and quite good.

Parasite was an amazing. I would highly recommend just watching it, without reading anything about it or watching a trailer. Just jump in and enjoy. Super tense.

Dolemite Is My Name felt like Eddie Murphy was returning to his previous, very good acting, self. Solid, enjoyable film.

You're Not a Monster was a nice IMDB mini series about a therapist who only had monster clients. Literal monsters. Fun, quick ten minute episodes that worked well.

The Morning Show was magnificent, truly cutting and just so bleak at times. Really good.

The Peanut Butter Falcon was super heart warming and lovely. Zack Gottsagen and Shia LaBeouf had fantastic chemistry.

The Last Black Man in San Francisco, again, was so lovely and sad. Some wonderful scenes, especially the skateboarding.

I really loved Modern Love, the first episode made me cry. Just wonderful, really well written, fantastic acting and just so fantastic. I want more.

Green Eggs and Ham was a fun riff on a simple story. Enjoyable for sure.

I watched the entirety of Peaky Blinders, which I did enjoy a fair amount. Not quite Boardwalk Empire, but still a fair watch.

The Mandalorian was solid, Star Wars themed action. It felt gritty, and it also brought us baby Yoda.

Joker was well done, a solid Joker origin story, exploring mental illness and the Batman origin story too.

Another origin story I enjoyed, Klaus, the story of how father Christmas came to being. Really good animated film that took me by surprise.

Gemini Man was trash. Utter trash.

Horrible Histories: The Movie - Rotten Romans was fun, but a little too PG for me. I was not the target audience.

The live action remake of Lady and the Tramp was just bad and too weird. Dogs mouths moving.

The Day Shall Come just made me sad. It was a comedy, but just too real and too depressing, even if it was farcical.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile was fine.

I really enjoyed Hustlers, good acting with a strong true story. Constance Wu is really good.

Downton Abbey was fine, although I was less connected to it as I have never watched the series.

Let It Snow wasn’t that great, a crap christmas film that I didn’t really enjoy.

I felt that The Laundromat was fine, I expected more from Meryl Streep.

Oh my The Irishman was the dullest film I have ever seen. So boring and so long.

Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator was eye opening, even though I don’t do yoga it was still really interesting to both learn his method and to find out about how much sexual harassment has been enacted by him.

Ad Astra had an obvious story with a fantastic soundtrack and visuals. Very much Apocalypse Now in space, which is not to say I didn’t thoroughly enjoy it, but the plot just wasn’t up there. The space buggy scene was my favourite.

I felt that Doctor Sleep was a worth sequel to The Shining, and I do love Ewan McGregor.

American Factory was an interesting dive into American factories being revitalised and taken advantage of by Chinese business.

Demon Seed was a very weird, incredibly sexist 70s film about AI. Very odd, very unpleasant.

I enjoyed Barry, a tv show about a hitman who discovers acting. Very funny and enjoyable.

Jingle All The Way was a solid Christmas film.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold was very funny and a solid film, if I was young I would have loved it.

Zombieland: Double Tap was unenjoyable.

Ready or Not was dumb fun.

I really liked Uncut Gems, Adam Sandler being amazing accompanied by the best soundtrack by Oneohtrix Point Never. Such a good film.

Big City Greens was an okay animation, although I have seen so much better.

I thought Jojo Rabbit was well done. Taika Waititi is always good.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was an enjoyable end to the saga. I want more films and tv from the star wars universe.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood was a fantastic, lovely film, that I really enjoyed, even though I'm very much not American and had no idea who Mr Rogers was until I watched the Alex Da Corte video in Venice. Tom Hanks was fantastic.

And my final film was Knives Out, a really great detective film by Rian Johnson. It felt incredibly consistent and very well made. It was funny, it was serious, and it was packed full of fantastic people.

Sooo that’s the blog post, super long coming in at 10,000 words. I don’t do resolutions, but if I did one of my main ones would be to update my blog more, so that I don’t end up having a literal pile of press releases when I get around to writing it. I’m looking forward to what 2020 will be for me, and am really thankful to all the artists that have worked with me, as well as the collectors, curators and other people who have supported me in my practice this year.