Unit London is hosting a retrospective and memorial show to honor the late Tom French, the brilliant young painter who lost his battle with cancer on Christmas Day 2019. “Transcend” offers a riveting set of mostly monochromatic works, 16 in total, from the artist, who was born in 1982. The show runs Jan. 30 through Feb. 29 at the space.
On the show, the gallery says, “Transcend brings together two of Tom’s long-standing bodies of work: the Parallax and Duality paintings. Tom’s work emphasises art’s ability to transcend a definitive visual experience and intellectual conclusion by creating an illusory framework for interpretation. Both sets of work are monochromatic, figurative combinations of photorealism and abstraction that depict a psychological landscape as well as material space. They are comprised of technically tight charcoal drawings, occasionally enhanced with acrylics, oils, spraypaint and even gold-leafing.”
See more on the gallery’s site.
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In Barry McGee’s current show at Perrotin’s Hong Kong gallery, titled “The Other Side,” the artist creates a new immersive environment that blends his love of retro patterns, lettering, advertisements, and comic strip characters. The show runs through Nov. 9 at the space. McGee was featured in Hi-Fructose Vols. 
Houston-based artist Ana Marietta paints and draws animals with exaggerated human features to create sympathy for her subjects. Looking at a raven with wide eyes glassy with tears, or a frowning pelican dimpled with warts, one feels the animal's deep sorrow. The creatures appear to look outward however, suggesting their sadness comes from the environment, as opposed to any personal ailments directly. Their anthropomorphic deformities hint at something unnatural, an effect explained only by human behavior and intervention.