RA Magazine's pick of the week’s art events (28 Jun - 4 Jul)

Eduardo Paolozzi: Collaging Culture
Pallant House Gallery, 6 July 2013 - 13 October 2013
The highly influential Royal Academician Eduardo Paolozzi is the subject of a major survey at Chichester’s Pallant House Gallery from next weekend.

_{Eduardo Paolozzi, 'Real Gold', 1949 Printed papers on paper, Tate, Presented by the artist 1995 © The Trustees of the Eduardo Paolozzi Foundation}

Paolozzi’s place in the history of art was assured from the early 1950s, with his series of Bunk collages that put him at the vanguard of the British Pop Art movement, but this show hopes to demonstrate the full range of his contributions of the visual culture of the second half of the twentieth century, including his celebrated sculptural figures, surreal films assembled from still images, science-fiction influenced screenprints and lesser-known works of ceramics, jewellery and textiles.

In Lines and Realignments
Simon Lee Gallery, until 28 August
The Confederations Cup and its accompanying mass protests set Brazilian society and culture in the spotlight this week. Although less acclaimed in this country than its gold-and-green clad football team, Brazil’s contemporary art scene is developed and diverse, with its Bienal de São Paulo influential since 1951 and a homegrown gallery scene with increasing international reach.

_{Documentation of Cildo Meireles’ 'O Sermão da Montanha: Fiat Lux', 1979 Courtesy of the artist; Photograph by Luiz Alphonsus}

Taking as its starting point a performance work by the conceptual art pioneer Cildo Meireles (who had a memorable survey show at Tate Modern in 2008), a group show at London’s Simon Lee Gallery presents a selection of its young artists from this week, including São Paulo-based Marcius Galan, whose site-specific installation of nails sculpts light and shadow in the gallery space.

_{Milan Knižák, 'Destroyed Music', 1963-1979 Vinyl records Courtesy of Kontakt. The Art Collection of Erste Group and ERSTE Foundation} Sounding the Body Electric
Calvert 22, until 25 August
Calvert 22 off Arnold Circus in Shoreditch, London, is an outpost for the art of Russia, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics, and well worth a visit if you are in the area for its ambitious exhibition programme.

Those interested in sound art will enjoy their latest show, which looks at Eastern European artists’ experimentation in this area from the 1960s. Fluxus artist Milan Knizak, for instance, comes into focus for his ‘Destroyed Music’ series, in which the Czech produced music from scratched or warped records that he salvaged.

Bold Tendencies
Continuing on my theme of group shows, it would be remiss of me to not highlight that this weekend sees the opening of Bold Tendencies, an annual exhibition of site-specific contemporary sculpture in the bizarre but brilliantly conceived environment of a Peckham car park.

To get a flavour of what’s in store, read my blog from last year here. This year’s ten sculptors include emerging artists Ruth Proctor, Cecile B. Evans and Jimmy Merris. I’m looking forward to seeing what the latter comes up with, known as he is for sardonic lo-fi videos of futile or silly actions (see www.economicdownturn.org.uk)

_{Thomas Houseago, 'Rattlesnake Figure (aluminum)' 2011. Installation view, 'The Beat of the Show (Outdoor Sculpture)', Inverleith House, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2011 © Thomas Houseago. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Alex Delfanne} Thomas Houseago at St James’s Church
St James’s Church on Piccadilly has a long history of connection to the Royal Academy and contemporary art (an annual service is even held there for artists to mark Non Members Varnishing Day for the Summer Exhibition).

Of late it has teamed up with gallery Hauser & Wirth to show a rotating programme of sculptures in its outdoor space, Southwood Garden. Leeds-born Los Angeles-based Thomas Houseago, one of my favourite contemporary sculptors, has installed Rattlesnake Figure (aluminum) for the summer.

Cast in metal from a block of wood shaped by the artist’s chainsaw, the work is a characteristic twist on ‘primitivist’ art stylizations – the standing figure’s form is reminiscent of a totem-pole relief or the more modernist works of Jacob Epstein.

Sam Phillips is a London-based arts journalist and contributor to RA Magazine

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