A Josef Albers exhibition in black and white sounds like a conceptual gag. Albers, after all, is the colour man. His book Interaction of Color even has its own iPad app. A lot of what we understand about colour we understand because Albers made us understand. But, as Albers understood, you can't understand colour if you don't understand black and white.
'Joseph Albers: Black and White' at the London's Waddington Custot Galleries, produced in association with the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, brings together 50 works to explore Albers' adventures in monochrome. The exhibition covers paintings, works on paper, glassworks, photographs and engravings on vinylite, including a set of six Treble Clef gouaches from the 1930s as well as six Graphic Tectonic drawings from the 1940s and Structural Constellations from the 1950s that make clear that Albers was as much a master of line as colour.
It also includes Blick Aus Meinem Fenster Stadtlohn, his oldest extant drawing from 1911; Steps, a glass construction from his time at the Bauhaus; a number of photo collages and photographs taken during the Josef and Anni's numerous trips to Mexico; and eight monochrome versions of his Homage to the Square paintings. It's all there, as they say, in black and white.
'Structural Constellation', c. 1950
Study for 'Graphic Tectonic', c. 1941-42
Pyramid of the Magician, Uxmal, Mexico, 1952
Tenayuca, Mexico, 1937
'Homage to the Square', 1962
Colour study for 'Homage to the Square', c. 1950
ADDRESS
Waddington Custot
11 Cork Street
London
-
Fendi celebrates 100 years with all-out runway show at its new Milan HQIn the wake of Kim Jones’ departure, Silvia Venturini Fendi took the reins for a special co-ed A/W 2025 collection marking the house’s centenary, unveiling it as the first act of celebrations within Fendi’s expansive new headquarters in Milan
-
‘Leigh Bowery!’ at Tate Modern: 1980s alt-glamour, club culture and rebellionThe new Leigh Bowery exhibition in London is a dazzling, sequin-drenched look back at the 1980s, through the life of one of its brightest stars
-
Inside the unexpected collaboration between Marni’s Francesco Risso and artists Slawn and SoldierNew exhibition ‘The Pink Sun’ will take place at Francesco Risso’s palazzo in Milan in collaboration with Saatchi Yates, opening after the Marni show today, 26 February
-
‘Leigh Bowery!’ at Tate Modern: 1980s alt-glamour, club culture and rebellion
The new Leigh Bowery exhibition in London is a dazzling, sequin-drenched look back at the 1980s, through the life of one of its brightest stars
-
‘Yay, To Have a Mouth!’: a London show explores our oral fixation, from Freud to fairytalesThis group show at Rose Easton gallery in east London, created in collaboration with Ginny on Frederick, uncovers our fascination with the mouth
-
High low culture and the sickly sweetness of Tootsie Rolls: Derrick Adams in LondonDerrick Adams plays with themes of Black Americana in ‘Situation Comedy’ at Gagosian London.
-
The Barbican as muse: composer Shiva Feshareki on bringing the brutalist icon to life through musicFor the last two years, British-Iranian experimental composer and turntablist Shiva Feshareki has been drawing on the Barbican’s hidden history as a gateway for her new piece. She talks to Wallpaper* about her Brutalist muse
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been doing this weekA taste of the dolce vita in London, some permanent artwork and a new eyeshadow palette – it's our editors' picks of the week
-
'We need to be constantly reminded of our similarities' – Jonathan Baldock challenges the patriarchal roots of a former Roman temple in LondonThrough use of ceramics and textiles, British artist Jonathan Baldock creates a magical and immersive exhibition at ‘0.1%’ at London's Mithraum Bloomberg Space
-
Discover Rotimi Fani-Kayode's fluid photographs of the queer male body, on show in London‘Rotimi-Fani Kayode: The Studio – Staging Desire’ at Autograph ABP celebrates the work of the Nigerian-born photographer
-
Saatchi Gallery is in full bloom with floral works from Vivienne Westwood, Marimekko, Buccellati and more‘Flowers – Flora in Contemporary Art & Culture’ at Saatchi Gallery, London, explores the relationship between creatives and their floral muses, and spans from fashion and jewellery to tattoos
