diaries


Condo 2026: Critic’s Picks



Arts Editor: Victoria Comstock-Kershaw

January 2026
5 min read



It’s sometimes difficult to know how to judge a show in Condo. Is it solely down to the art, or is it the way the host space and visiting gallery create a new context together? The following shows, presented in no particular order, demonstrate in my humble but correct opinion the many kinds of “good” you can find across this year's exhibitions. This is less a definitive ranking than a small taxonomy of Condo success: sometimes it’s host/guest alchemy and the generation of a third thing; sometimes it’s simply two strong programmes sharing space; sometimes it’s a pairing that only makes sense once you’re in the room - and sometimes it’s just pure visual pleasure.

Phillida Reid hosting Corpus, Cambridge and Kurimanzutto, Mexico/New York. Photo courtesy of Phillida Reid.

PHILLIDA REID (HOSTING CORPUS, CAMBRIDGE + KURIMANZUTTO, MEXICO / NEW YORK) — MONILOLA OLAYEMI ILUPEJU, ROBERTO GIL DE MONTES, RICHARD WALKER.

Phillida Reid hosted my favourite visiting gallery at Condo last year (Ehrlich Steinberg from Los Angeles) and while I didn’t fall for every work in the presentation, I left with the sense that the gallery understands what Condo can do when it’s taken seriously. This year they’ve succeeded in not only hosting a good gallery, but in putting forward a programme that’s not only strong in and of itself but speaks extremely well to its guests. Ilypeju’s works are rich, creamy, lavish in the best way; strained and stimulated by Borremans-esque cropping and off-angles that pair deliciously with the velvety textures and clipped framing of Richard Walker. The combination is so tasty that it manages to uplift even the rather lacklustre contribution of Kurimanzutto and Gile de Montes, whose work I usually wouldn’t glance at twice but whose listless figurative symbolism manages to successfully straddle the space in between Ilupeju and Walker’s worlds.

Monilola Olayemi Ilupeju, Feet with Bust, 2025. Photo courtesy of Phillida Reid.

MODERN ART (HOSTING CRÈVECŒUR, PARIS) — ALEXANDRA NOEL, REMEDIOS VARO, BENJAMIN PÉRET, ESTEBAN FRANCÉS.

My first visit to Modern Art, who have immediately endeared themselves to me by having the best press release ever written, which I quote in its entirety now: “Modern Art is pleased to present a group exhibition of gallery artists.” That’s it folks! That’s all you need! No more of this nonsense about phenomenological liminality or quiet reflection or societal commentary or poems to dead Italians! Group show, eight artists, good art! Allegedly there’s more on the website but frankly that’s between God and Sam Talbot.

Modern Art hosting Crèvecœur, Paris. Photo courtesy of Modern Art.

It helps, of course, that of these eight artists many of them were very good; especially Forrest Bess, Frida Orupabo and, of course, Pope.L (RIP). Forrest’s oils in particular speak extremely well to the miniatures presented by Crèvecœur and Alexandra Noel, who is herself in conversation with three twentieth-century Surrealists. It’s so nice to see works made before 2000 in these kinds of spaces. I think this is a great example of when Condo just brings two good shows together in the same place; there is no narrative thorough-line, no grand synthetic combination of artistic ideals, just some good paintings and sculptures in a couple of big white rooms.

Modern Art hosting Crèvecœur, Paris. Photo courtesy of Modern Art.

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KATE MACGARRY (HOSTING CHRIS SHARP GALLERY, LOS ANGELES) — DEBORAH HANSON MURPHY, AIMÉE PARROTT.

Los Angeles once again provides the best visiting gallery of Condo. I was impressed by Chris Sharp’s programme at Place des Vosges in Paris in 2025, and impressed once more this year in London.

This is a great example of two artists that you wouldn’t think to pair together until you see them side by side, and then suddenly it’s the most glorious thing in the world. The contrast between Parrott’s light, translucent brushstrokes and Murphy’s unctuous, muted earthtones is exactly the kind of visual “argument” Condo is designed to stage. Seeing them together makes you notice what each is doing with pressure, weight, colour, density, and manages to drag out something new and exciting via juxtaposition and proximity. It’s a really yummy tempo, and a nice break from the overwhelming feeling that a lot of the two-artist-two-gallery shows have simply been chucked together and then reverse-engineered into justification by some poor intern who's been tasked with writing the press release.

Kate MacGarry hosting Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of Kate MacGarry.

THE APPROACH (HOSTING MARGOT SAMEL, NEW YORK) — HANA MILETIĆ (PLUS LEROY JOHNSON, OLIVIA JIA).

I don’t have a lot to say about this show apart from the fact that it just felt very exciting to me. I sort of rolled my eyes at Johnson’s works when I first saw photos, but up close they are delightfully technical and thoroughly detailed - they’re a little bit like mini Serras in that they make you want to approach and circle and step back and do it all over again to see how the apertures and angles change. Jia’s works are good in a different way; when I say they are flat I really don’t mean it as an insult, rather that her paintings feel flush, intense, deeply self-contained in their own heaviness. Her palette (which the press release describes as "nocturnal" and "somnulobatic" which even I will begrudgingly admit is very good art writing) juxtaposes the bright, almost adolescent hues of Johnson’s sculptures. I kept bouncing between the two: the sculptures make you move, the paintings make you pause, a sort of sensory tug-of-war that asks you to use your legs and your eyeballs. This is a show to be visited rather than seen.

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The Approach hosting Margot Samel, New York. Photo courtesy of The Approach .

HONOURABLE MENTION (NON CONDO SHOW)


EMALIN, MEANS OF REPRODUCTION. GROUP EXHIBITION OF ARTIST MERCHANDISE CO ORGANISED BY STANISLAVA KOVALCIKOVA AND JEPPE UGELVIG.

This one isn’t strictly Condo - I got it confused with Emalin’s (also very good) showcase with Peter Freeman, Inc. - but it’s getting an honourable mention because I liked it so much, and if you’re exploring Condo it’s very nearby. You should check both out, but this one especially!

TEXT AS TEXTURE BABYYYY. Pierre D’Alancaissez gave this 2 stars over at petit poi, saying it turns “critique itself into a commodity” but I think this is actually its strongest area. The whole point of this show is that capitalism and industry can sell anything to anybody, and indeed it does. There’s a lot of formal juxtaposition (CDs, beer boxes, vending machine panties) going on that succeeds at being both aesthetically and narratively interesting; the logo-isms here are sophisticated rebukes to the soft, everpresent tyranny of the Instagram infographic, the tube advert, the classroom poster. What makes it feel so right for Condo is that the format already foregrounds circulation and context. Galleries swap space because hosting already has the structure of a transaction: space, attention, footfall, cachet. This is just its logical conclusion.

Emalin, Means of Reproduction. Group exhibition of artist merchandise co-organised by Stanislava Kovalcikova and Jeppe Ugelvig. Photo courtesy of Emalin.

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