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AUBREY WILLIAMS: ELEMENTAL FORCE<br>
22 May - 26 July 2025
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<h2>
AUBREY WILLIAMS: ELEMENTAL FORCE<br>
22 May - 26 July 2025
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<em>Quartet No 5, opus 92</em>
(<em>Shostakovich</em> series - detail)</em>, 1981. Oil on canvas, 132 x 208 cm.<h2>
AUBREY WILLIAMS: ELEMENTAL FORCE<br>
22 May - 26 July 2025
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AUBREY WILLILAMS<br>
ART, HISTORIES, FUTURES<br>
</h2>NEW MONOGRAPH AVAILABLE IN OUR STORE


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AUBREY WILLIAMS: ELEMENTAL FORCE<br>
22 May - 26 July 2025
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<em>Towakaima I (detail), 1965.</em>, 1981. Oil on canvas, 122 x 153 cm.


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EDDY KAMUANGA ILUNGA<br>
EDITION PRINTS AVAILABLE IN OUR STORE
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<h2>EDDY KAMUANGA ILLUNGA<br>Available from our Book Store, £45.95 + P&P</h2>248 pages, 200 full colour plates throughout. Published by Rizzoli.<h2>DREAM NO SMALL DREAM: The Story of October Gallery<br>Available from our Book Store. £40 + P&P</h2>304 pages, full colour plates throughout. Edited by Gerard Houghton.
 

CURRENT EXHIBITION

22 May – 26 July 2025
Aubrey Williams, Towakaima I, 1965.
Oil on canvas, 122 x 153 cm.
© Estate of Aubrey Williams.
© Estate of Aubrey Williams.
Aubrey Williams, Quartet No 5, opus 92 (Shostakovich series), 1981.
Oil on canvas, 132 x 208 cm.
© Estate of Aubrey Williams.
October Gallery presents a solo exhibition by Aubrey Williams, comprising a selection of significant paintings, spanning the decades between the 1960s and 1980s. This exhibition explores Williams’ painterly techniques, investigating his highly individual approach.

Williams’ work can be viewed as a uniquely evolved expression of abstraction and a powerful contribution to post-war art. In displaying his intuitive grasp of the possibilities open to abstraction, these striking works deploy an entirely original use of colour. The range of paintings underline the breadth of Williams’ interests: ecology, cosmology, music and pre-colonial civilisations.

As the art critic and curator, Mel Gooding noted, ‘These effects of natural dynamics persist in Williams’ work in such a way as to become a characteristic expressive trope that is so utterly personal as to be signature.’ 

Aubrey Williams' distinctive contribution to 20th century British art is now recognised by his increasing prominence in significant international exhibitions. Tate Britain dedicated a room to works by this master of abstraction in their rehang of meaningful examples of British art in 2023 – 2024. Following The Earth Will Open Its Mouth, at the Museum Sztuki in Lodz, Poland, placing Williams’ canvases as a revelatory counterweight to Erna Rosenstein’s surrealist, impressionist art, a major exhibition, Feeling Color: Aubrey Williams and Frank Bowling has recently opened at The Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, in the United States.  

Last year, Paul Mellon Centre published Aubrey Williams: Art, Histories, Futures, the first major monograph on pioneering modernist Aubrey Williams.
 

 

NEWS, EVENTS & RECOMMENDATIONS


Photo: Aubrey Williams and Imruh Bakari. © Kuumba Productions/Imruh Bakari
FILM SCREENING:
MARK OF THE HAND AUBREY WILLIAMS (1987)
Wednesday, 2nd July, 2025
5.00 pm Paid bar open in the Gallery (free drop-in)
6.30 pm Theatre doors open
7.00 pm Film Screening (52 min)
Location: Theatre (2nd floor)
Entry: Free admission (booking required)

To coincide with the exhibition Aubrey Williams: Elemental Force, October Gallery will present a special screening of Mark of the Hand: Aubrey Williams, directed by Imruh Bakari. 

Visitors are invited to explore the exhibition Aubrey Williams: Elemental Force from 5 pm to 7 pm in the Gallery — a paid bar will be available (free drop-in). Doors to the screening will open at 6.30 pm. 

*Please note there is no disabled access to the Theatre on the 2nd floor. 
Photo: Aubrey Williams and Imruh Bakari. © Kuumba Productions/Imruh Bakari
New catalogue:
AUBREY WILLIAMS: ELEMENTAL FORCE
Available now from our online store - £7.50 (+ P&P)
Exhibition catalogue published by October Gallery to accompany the exhibition Aubrey Williams: Elemental Force. Colour plates throughout with an essay by Gerard Houghton. 12 page softcover.
OCTOBER GALLERY at AFRICA BASEL
16 – 22 June 2025
VIP day 16th June, 2025
October Gallery, London, is pleased to participate in the debut edition of Africa Basel, 2025, with a presentation of striking works by international artists James Barnor, Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, Alexis Peskine, Zana Masombuka, LR Vandy, Owusu-Ankomah and Xanthe Somers. The presentation comprises painting, sculpture and photography and vibrant ceramic works.
James Barnor, AGIP Calendar Model, 1974.
Digital silver gelatin fibre based print, 70 x 70 cm.
Alessandro Wang © Museum of Art Pudong. Courtesy of the Artist
EL ANATSUI: AFTER THE RED MOON
Museum of Art Pudong, Shanghai, China
30th September, 2024 – 7th October, 2025
El Anatsui: After the Red Moon has begun its highly anticipated world tour, making a global debut at the prestigious Museum of Art Pudong (MAP), Shanghai, where it will be on display until October 2025. El Anatsui’s cascading metal sculptures have dramatically transformed MAP's entrance lobby and Hall X, offering visitors an immersive experience of his masterful exploration of history, materiality and transformation. This global tour marks a significant milestone in Anatsui's career, and we congratulate him on this extraordinary achievement, which continues to captivate audiences around the world.

This exhibition was originally conceived and commissioned as the Hyundai Commission: El Anatsui: Behind the Red Moon for Tate Modern's Turbine Hall, London in 2023.
Installation view of El Anatsui: After the Red Moon, 2024.
Alessandro Wang © Museum of Art Pudong. Courtesy of the Artist
Photo: Jonathan Greet, 2014.
Obituary: Kwesi Owusu-Ankomah
Born: October,1956 – Died: Thursday 6th February, 2025.
All the directors and staff of October Gallery, London, were immensely saddened to learn that our dear friend, the artist Kwesi Owusu-Ankomah, fondly known as ‘Brother’ to all his friends, passed away on the 6th of February, in Ghana. He was 68 years old.
Owusu Ankomah
Photo: Jonathan Greet, 2014.
Photo by Kevin Todora.
AUBREY WILLIAMS at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
15th March – 27th July, 2025
Texas, USA
The Modern presents Feeling Color: Aubrey Williams and Frank Bowling, an exhibition celebrating the contributions of these two artists to the evolution of abstract painting in the late twentieth century. 

The show highlights Aubrey Williams’ dynamic exploration of abstract forms alongside Bowling’s painterly and experimental approach. Together, their works offer a powerful reflection on the impact of abstraction in modern art. 
 
Feeling Color presents works from Williams’ expansive series Shostakovich (1980–81), and The Olmec-Maya and Now (1982–88), as well as other works on canvas and paper. 
Exhibition View of Feeling Color: Aubrey Williams and Frank Bowling. Courtesy of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Photo by Kevin Todora.

 

VISTING OCTOBER GALLERY

Bloomsbury, London

October Gallery has been instrumental in bringing to worldwide attention many of the world’s leading international artists, including El Anatsui, Rachid Koraïchi, Romuald Hazoumè, Nnenna Okore, Laila Shawa and Kenji Yoshida. The Gallery promotes the Transvangarde, the very best in contemporary art from around the planet, as well as maintaining a cultural hub in central London for poets, writers, intellectuals and artists, and hosts talks, performances and seminars, see www.octobergallery.co.uk/events

The rich diversity of art presented is an inspiration to collectors and enthusiasts. Institutions such as the British Museum, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany; Neue Galerie, Kassel, Germany; Setagagya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan have all collected works from October Gallery.

Founded in 1979, October Gallery is a charitable trust which is supported by sales of art, rental of the Gallery's unique facilities, grants from various funding bodies and the active support of dedicated artists, musicians, writers and many friends from around the world. The Gallery’s Education Department is inclusive of all ages from under 5’s to PGCE student and delivers a wide range of provision, see www.octobergalleryeducation.com

October Gallery is open from 12:30 to 17:30 pm, Tuesday to Saturday.
The Gallery is closed during official holidays and the entire month of August.

October Gallery Cafe is open from 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm, Tuesday to Friday.


 

ACCESSIBILITY

There are two steps at the main entrance, each has a rise of 160mm and a 310mm tread (no handrail). The main entrance push door is 750mm wide.
Assisted or ramp access at the Gallery’s main entrance is available upon request.

Chairs can be found in the Gallery space.
The refectory is fully accessible by wheelchair.
Access to the courtyard has a 100mm ramp down coming from the corridor door.
There is also an accessible toilet in the Courtyard.

October Gallery is a Grade II listed building and therefore has no lift access to rooms above the ground floor. This includes the Theatre, the Clubroom and the first floor.

We welcome all visitors and will do our best to accommodate specific needs. Please do let us know in advance if there is anything in particular, we can help with. Call + 44 (0)20 7242 7367 or email gallery@octobergallery.co.uk preferably a day in advance.




GCC2024
October Gallery Education supported by: