Marlborough Gallery Private View 5 April: “The closing down sale” party of the year

On Thursday night, the long established Mayfair art gallery held what would be its last ever Private View…

The news of its closure struck newspaper headlines only hours before the gallery Private View opened to its guests. Even more shocking, their employees were informed only moments prior to the news hitting the headlines…and all turned up with a brave face. However, despite the acknowledgment of the doom and gloom of the gallery’s fate, the rooms were filled and a positive buzz hung in the air, while guests gulped down their glasses of Picpoul. There really was not a tear in sight. It was as if the colourful works of Shizuko Yoshikawa and Briget Riley outshone the dark future of the gallery looming ahead…

The exhibition, Possible Progressions, displays the geometric and Bauhaus-influenced works by the Swiss-Japanese artist, Shizuko Yoshikawa. The multi-coloured overlapping square shapes, akin to rubix-cubes, dotted about the gallery create a unique negative space for the viewer to engage with. Meanwhile in the upstairs gallery, a cosy and well-curated space of Bridget Rileys prints complements Yoshikawa’s works.

Across the hall in the light open room with large windows is another exhibition showing the work of the American painter, Nancy Haynes. Each of her abstract book-sized paintings are dedicated to a different author, such as Bernadine Evaristo. The exhibition runs until May 18.

The white flags of the Marlborough gallery will be waved at the end of June.