Be among the first to wine and dine at Ploussard

A new wave of independent wine bars is shaping London’s streets – and the latest opening that’s caught our eye is Ploussard. Aptly named after the French red-grape varietal from the Jura region, this small neighbourhood spot in Clapham Junction, south-west London, serves low-intervention bottles with seasonal small plates – a point-scoring combination we’re still not tired of. You may already be familiar with the brains behind this business, head chef Matt Harris and front of house Tommy Kempton, who founded Other Side Fried, a chicken venture with outposts in Brixton and Kennington. Here, however, they are doing things differently – there’s not a burger or wings in sight. Instead, the menu will feature dishes include lamb and anchovy crumpet, broad beans with ricotta and wild pesto, and burnt-bay custard tart with poached rhubarb. Yum. As for the design? They’ve done it themselves and its a delight: cosy wooden booths meet a soft-pink and deep-burgundy colour scheme. It’s a yes from us. Open 1 April.

Pictured: Work in Progress (detail), 2023 © Kudzanai-Violet Hwami. Courtesy of the artist and Victoria Miro

Kudzanai-Violet Hwami: ‘A Making of Ghosts’ at Victoria Miro

From powerful nudes of the Black body to subversive self-portraits, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami’s vibrant paintings are as bold as they are beautiful. We were delighted to hear, then, that from 14 April to 13 May, a new portfolio of work by the artist will be on display at Victoria Miro in north London. Titled ‘A Making of Ghosts’, the exhibition will include a series of large-scale pieces and suspended family photographs, which explore themes such as grief and memory. Born in Zimbabwe in 1993, Kudzanai-Violet relocated to South Africa at the age of nine, before moving to the UK at 17. Speaking about her art, she said: “With the collapsing of geography, time and space, no longer am I confined in a singular society but simultaneously I am experiencing Zimbabwe and South Africa and the UK.” As a queer artist, Kudzanai-Violet’s investigates subjects such as geographical dislocation and representation, as well as sexuality, gender and spirituality. This particular collection has been crafted predominately using collage (combining layers of photographs and paint), a process that “has given me absolute freedom as a strategy,” she says. A much-needed tonic over April.

Pictured: (top) Ed XIII, 2023; Ed XIV, 2023; (bottom) Camp VI, 2023 © Maki Na Kamura. Courtesy Michael Werner Gallery, New York and London

Maki Na Kamura at Michael Werner Gallery

Maki Na Kamura’s art is arguably the perfect blend of abstraction and figuration, past and present, memory and imagination. The Osaka-born, Berlin-based creative has long been inspired by historical Japanese art and its influence on European painting – pore over her own and you might spot references to traditional masters: Luca Signorelli, Nicolas Poussin, Jean-François Millet and Albrecht Dürer. But look a little closer at Maki’s latest work and you may start to notice another, more surprising influence in the form of ATEEZ, the K-Pop boy band known for their vibrant choreography. This series of exquiste paintings – on display at Michael Werner Gallery from 21 April to 4 June – showcases Maki’s fascination with the contrast of classical and contemporary cultures alike, as she captures the movements of ATEEZ with her energetic brushwork. Fluidity is key to her wonderfully original work, which developed under the eye of German neo-expressionist painter Jörg Immendorff. Maki describes her work as “Caspar David Friedrich plus Hokusai minus Romanticism minus Japonisme”. It’s every bit as intriguing as it sounds.