What to See Across the UK This May

Maia Ruth Lee | Primary, Nottingham | 21 March – 31 May

Travelling through Kathmandu International Airport on a visit to her parents, artist Maia Ruth Lee observed the ways that Nepali migrant workers secure their luggage from tampering and examination. In her first UK solo show, ‘Human Life in Motion’ at Primary, the artist presents five new sculptures from the series ‘Bondage Baggage’ (2018–ongoing), inspired by these methods. Made during the artist’s residency at Primary earlier this year, the works comprise items of luggage tied together with rope, canvas and other materials. – Cathy Wade

Nazanin Noori | Auto Italia, London | 10 April – 22 June

In 2022, Jina Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, stopped by authorities in Tehran for allegedly not wearing the hijab to government standards, died after being severely beaten whilst in police custody. Amini’s death sparked the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ protests, calling for an end to the systemic oppression of women and girls within contemporary Iran.

At Auto Italia, Iranian artist Nazanin Noori’s first UK exhibition, ‘THE ECHO OF PROTEST IS DISTANT TO THE PROTEST’, responds to this recent political history. At the front of the gallery, THE PARTY OF GOD / WELL DID WE LIVE (2024) features the Farsi phrase معذرت (I’m sorry) in yellow acrylic against a green industrial tarp curtain, inverting the colours of the Hezbollah militant group’s flag. With this work, Noori posits the notion that despots might one day apologize, although the alternative future she envisions is an uneasy hypothetical – one that remains unrealized and is, perhaps, fundamentally unattainable. – Kimi Zarate-Smith

TM Davy | Carl Freedman Gallery, Margate | 27 April – 22 June

Go to any national gallery in Europe and, in the wood-panelled trenches of baroque-era painting, you are likely to find a work by Trophime Bigot. For 30 years in the early 17th century, Bigot divided his time between France and Italy, depicting figures illuminated only by candlelight. These are strange, sensual works – largely overlooked by scholars and critics today – in which every event in history and religion occurs at night, from the Descent from the Cross to the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. 

Every time I see an exhibition by TM Davy, whose ‘Tine Mara’ is now on view at Carl Freedman in Margate, I think of Bigot. Since his 2014 solo show at Eleven Rivington in New York, Davy has painted the enigmatic faces of friends, fellow artists and his partner, Liam, lit by candle. ‘Tine Mara’ – the artist’s first UK solo exhibition – opens with nine technically accomplished portraits that build on these earlier works, showing figures once again captivated by candlelight. – Andrew Durbin

Mahtab Hussain | IKON Gallery, Birmingham | 20 March – 01 June

In August 2024, at a time when British cities were blighted by racist riots, Birmingham’s Muslim community braced itself as rumours spread of a far-right rally. Although the march never materialized, such fears were rooted in a dog whistle-laced political climate that had long fuelled incidents of racist violence. Set against this backdrop, Mahtab Hussain’s ‘What Did You Want to See?’ at IKON Gallery, Birmingham, presents a polyvocal examination of fear, hate and resistance centred within the British South Asian Muslim community to which the artist belongs. Through photographic, video and installation works, Hussain documents how community members have made space for themselves and their faith within their city whilst confronting the UK’s stifling, racist landscape. – Matthew Maganga

Arpita Singh​​​​​​​ | Serpentine North Gallery, London | 20 March – 27 July

A cluster of small, lemon-yellow islands – each shaped exactly like Cuba – hovers in a milky body of water. Standing between this trio of Cubas, a soldier raises his gun, ready for combat. This straggling fighter watches as, ahead of him, a squadron of his khaki-clad brothers-in-arms attacks an array of drowning victims, their blood-red arms waving for help. Dotted throughout this scene of oceanic carnage are an unexpected array of pink blooms, leaves and trees – signs of life amidst so much trauma. Evoking a militaristic strategy board game, replete with figurine soldiers spread across a map to plan warfare, Arpita Singh’s painting My Lily Pond (2009) is at once absurd, turbulent and beautiful. – Vaishna Surjid

^{Main image: Maia Ruth Lee, ‘Human Life in Motion’ (detail), 2025, exhibition view. Courtesy: the artist and Primary, Nottingham; photograph: Reece Straw}