Special Exhibitions – Page 5 – Symbols & Secrets

The Barbican is now presenting Encounters: Giacometti x Lynda Benglis, the third and final in a series of three exhibitions organised in collaboration with the Fondation Giacometti, Paris. Subtitled Back at Ya, the exhibition features a never before exhibited body of works by Lynda Benglis (b. 1941, Lake Charles, Louisiana) and historic works by Alberto Giacometti (b.1901-1966, Borgonovo, Switzerland), and will be a highlight of the Barbican’s Spring 2026 season.

I visited last Friday and was absolutely entranced by Benglis’s work, which I had never encountered before, so I enthusiastically recommend you come to see the exhibition too. You can find more detail here.

There follows some of the images I took but I suggest you first read a couple of reviews in order to give them context. Here’s a piece from the Pace Galleries and here’s one from East End Review.

There is a useful free guide to all the exhibits …

Here are some if the images I took. The first two are Giacometti’s Woman with Chariot, 1943-45 …

Here are my blogs on the first two exhibitions: Giacometti + Huma Bhabha and Giacometti + Mona Hatoum.

The Broadgate area near Liverpool Street has been substantially redeveloped so I popped in again for the first time in years to see if one of my favourite sculptures was still there. And hooray, it still is, and much more sympathetically sited than the last time I visited. Here it is, Leaping Hare on Crescent and Bell by Barry Flanagan (1941-2009) …

Barry tragically died from motor neurone disease at the age of 68. You can find a nice obituary from The Guardian newspaper here.

I came across the This Grief Thing pop up shop in the Barbican Centre last Saturday …

It’s in the Centre again this Saturday, 21st, and Sunday 22nd. You can read more on their website here.

Tower 42 went romantic on St Valentine’s Day …

Finally, little yellow flowers always cheer me up when the weather is miserable …

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Julia Phillips at The Curve: Inside, Before They Speak. Plus some waterfowl activity for light relief.

By The City Gent

On 5th February 2026

In Sculpture, Special Exhibitions

The Barbican is celebrating 20 years of commissioning for The Curve. You can read more here.

I visited Inside, Before They Speak last weekend, it runs until Sunday 19 April 2026.

Rather than cut and paste from it, I attach a link to the Exhibition Guide here: https://www.barbican.org.uk/exhibition-guides/julia-phillips-exhibition-guide

There follows some images from the exhibition which you can read about in the Guide and decide if you want to visit in person.

Drainer III …

Harmonizer …

Inseminator …

Fertilizer …

Suspended Interior I …

Mediator III …

One reviewer has written: ‘Writers often use the term ‘visceral’ metaphorically, to signify raw, instinctive emotions: but as applied to the current exhibition at the Barbican Curve, Julia Phillips’s Inside, Before They Speak, the term is used quite literally. The exhibition focuses on the Chicago-based artist’s almost obsessive interest in the body, particularly its insides – or viscera – and human conception’.

I have to say that there were a couple of times when I felt a bit queasy! But I’m still pleased I went.

Here are reviews/comments on the exhibition from Voice Magazine, East End Review and London Unattached.

And now on a lighter note, some lake activity.

Mr and Mrs Coot build a nest at the same spot every year …

‘Bottoms Up’ from the local ducks …

A rather exotic visitor …

And finally, I’m often intrigued by the stuff left lying around on the Estate …

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‘The Tides We Share’ at the Barbican Library.

By The City Gent

On 15th January 2026

In Art, Sculpture, Special Exhibitions

The Tides We Share is a dynamic group exhibition presented by the Persephone Collective, a group dedicated to uniting and promoting female artists. This exhibition brings together eight artists from diverse cultural backgrounds whose practices converge around themes of memory, identity, resilience, and transformation.

Rooted in an awareness of our interconnectedness with the natural world, their work also reflects a deep sensitivity to the environment – the cycles of earth, water, and body that shape both personal and collective experience. Through processes that engage organic forms and ecological metaphors, the artists invite viewers to consider how the body and the landscape mirror one another in states of flux, endurance, and renewal.

Through painting, mixed media, photography, installation, and poetry, The Tides We Share creates a powerful interplay between the tactile and the emotional, the personal and the universal. It offers a space where viewers can confront questions about how we frame and reframe our histories, identities, and relationships to the world around us. How do we reconcile the forces of preservation and change? How can we transform pain, memory, and identity into beauty and connection?

Here’s a selection of some of the works on display. I visited feeling fed up on a miserable, cold, wet day and came out smiling!

Abi Ola Swoosh 2 2025 …