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May 31, 2026 — No Comments

Flare-Up Goldsmiths CCA Review: London’s First Crip Art Survey

Last updated: 31 May 2026

By Tristan ยท Arts, exhibitions and creative culture

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

Cool Factor: 5/5

I went to Flare-Up at Goldsmiths CCA on a hot day in late May, and I left certain it is one of the shows everyone should see this year. This Flare-Up Goldsmiths CCA review is my first-hand account of the most ambitious group show on illness, disability, neurodivergence and Deafness that a London institution has yet staged. Nineteen artists. One former Victorian bathhouse, its galleries carved out of the old water tanks and plant rooms. A premise built on the flare itself: the symptom that intensifies, the burst of light, the surge of sound.

Curated by Natasha Hoare and Mariana Lemos, Flare-Up runs from 21 May to 16 August 2026 at Goldsmiths CCA in New Cross, and entry is free throughout. What follows is what I actually saw and felt walking the galleries, a short explainer on crip art for anyone new to the term, the works that floored me, an honest account of what did not quite land, and why it still earns a full Ice cold score from me.

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Published by Tristan in Art Lovers, Arts & Culture, Reviews
Tags: angela de la cruz, art, Contemporary art, crip aesthetics, crip art, derek jarman, disability art, Exhibitions, freestylers, goldsmiths cca, group exhibition, jesse darling, london, mariana lemos, reviews
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April 24, 2026 — Comments are off for this post.

Cecily Brown Serpentine Review: Picture Making Is a Belated Homecoming Worth Your Afternoon

Last updated: 24 April 2026

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

Cool Factor

★★★★☆

4 out of 5

Cecily Brown is one of the most successful British painters alive. She's shown at the Met in New York, toured retrospectives across the United States, and regularly sells paintings for millions. Yet somehow, until now, she'd never had a museum show in the city where she was born and raised. Cecily Brown Serpentine South's Picture Making is that belated homecoming. It's free, it's in Kensington Gardens, and it's worth your afternoon. Mostly.

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Published by Stiv in Art Lovers, Artists, Arts & Culture, Reviews
Tags: art, Cecily Brown, Exhibitions, Free London, Kensington Gardens, london, Painting, reviews, Serpentine

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