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Top 10 events in London

 

Recommended- John Armleder: Quicksand - The show was inspired by the presence of many of the artist's works in the collections of Nicolai Frahm and Frank Cohen, and, using them as a starting point, develops multiple dimensions of Armleder's art through his own intervention in both planning and installing the exhibition route. John Armleder has been a key figure on the contemporary art scene since the early 1970s and, despite the fact that critics, younger artists and the market have widely acknowledged his influence, he remains a difficult figure to define or classify within a movement. Until 1 September. http://dairyartcentre.org.uk

Recommended- Ellen Gallagher: AxME - Ellen Gallagher is one of the most acclaimed contemporary artists to have emerged from North America since the mid-1990s. Her gorgeously intricate and highly imaginative works are realised with a wealth of virtuoso detail and wit. This is her first major solo exhibition in the UK, providing the first ever opportunity to explore an overview of her twenty-year career. Gallagher brings together imagery from myth, nature, art and social history to create complex works in a wide variety of media including painting, drawing, relief, collage, print, sculpture, film and animation. The exhibition explores the themes which have emerged and recurred in her practice, from her seminal early canvases through to recent film installations and new bodies of work. Until 1 September. www.tate.org.uk/modern

Recommended- Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure - Explore the musical pastimes of the 17th-century Netherlands through this exhibition combining the art of Vermeer and his contemporaries with rare musical instruments, songbooks and live music. For the first time the National Gallery’s two paintings by Vermeer, A Young Woman standing at a Virginal and A Young Woman seated at a Virginal are brought together with Vermeer’s Guitar Player, which is currently on exceptional loan from the Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood House. Three days a week visitors can experience live performances in the exhibition space by the Academy of Ancient Music, bringing the paintings to life with music of the period. Music was one of the most popular themes in Dutch painting, and carried many diverse associations. In portraits, a musical instrument or songbook might suggest the education or social position of the sitter; in scenes of everyday life, it might act as a metaphor for harmony, or a symbol of transience. The exhibition displays 17th-century virginals (a type of harpsichord), guitars and lutes alongside the paintings to offer unique insights into the painters’ choice of instruments, and the difference between the real instruments and the way in which the painters chose to represent them. From 26 June until 8 September. www.nationalgallery.org.uk

- Sebastião Salgado: Genesis - The world premiere of Sebastião Salgado: Genesis unveils extraordinary images of landscapes, wildlife and remote communities by this world-renowned photographer. Until 8 September. www.nhm.ac.uk

- Giorgio Casali Photographer - Domus 1951 – 1983 Architecture, Design and Art in Italy - For over thirty years the photographer Giorgio Casali (1913-1995) chronicled the achievements of Italy’s greatest post-war architects and designers through the striking imagery he produced for the magazine Domus. This large exhibition presents a selection of works from the vast collection of the Archivio Progetti, housed at IUAV University in Venice. In their subtlety and sophistication, these masterful images reveal why Casali’s vision came to be so valued by figures such as Marcello Nizzoli, Gio Ponti and Ettore Sottsass Jr. Until 8 September. www.estorickcollection.com

- Rainforest of the Sea - Coral reefs are one of the most biologically diverse habitats on earth, as such they are often referred to as the “Rainforest of the Sea”. This stunning photographic exhibition by our Aquarium curator Jamie Craggs focuses on two islands off the north east of Borneo. It highlights the incredible diversity of life within the coral triangle but will also provide some insight to the threats that are facing coral reef habitats worldwide. Coral reefs take up less than 0.1% of the oceans floor yet 25% of all marine life are found on reefs. The coral triangle is a hot spot area for this diversity and encompasses Borneo, The Philippines and Indonesia. It is estimated that a square metre of coral reef from the coral triangle contains the same number of species as a hectare of Amazonian rainforest. Until 15 September. www.horniman.ac.uk

- Visions of the Universe - Visions of the Universe tells the story of astronomical imaging – from the earliest drawings done by hand to the latest pictures from Hubble and the Mars Curiosity rover. The exhibition brings together some of the best astronomical photographs ever made and showcases over a hundred captivating images of stars, planets, galaxies and many other celestial highlights. From ethereal images of deep space to close-up views of our planetary neighbours, Visions of the Universe features photographs from NASA, the Russian space programme and some of the greatest telescopes in the world, as well as highlights from the last four years of the Royal Observatory’s highly successful Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. Until 15 September. www.nmm.ac.uk

Recommended- Life and Death - Pompeii and Herculaneum - Preserved under ash, their rediscovery nearly 1,700 years later provided an unparalleled glimpse into the daily life of the Roman Empire. From the bustling street to the intimate spaces of a Roman home, this major exhibition will take you to the heart of people’s lives in Pompeii and Herculaneum. Until 29 September. www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

Recommended- Mexico - A Revolution in Art, 1910-1940 - 'Mexico: A Revolution in Art, 1910 – 1940', will examine the intense thirty year period of artistic creativity that took place in Mexico at the beginning of the twentieth century. The turmoil of the revolution between 1910 and 1920 ushered in a period of profound political change in which the arts were placed centre stage. Often referred to as a cultural renaissance, artists were employed by the Ministry of Public Education on ambitious public arts projects designed to promote the principles of the revolution. The exhibition will explore this period both in terms of national and international artists. Work by significant Mexican artists, such as Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros, will be placed alongside that of individuals who were affected by their experiences in Mexico. From 6 July until 29 September. www.royalacademy.org.uk

- Jockum Nordström: All I have Learned and Forgotten Again - This major survey of work by Swedish artist Jockum Nordström (b.1963) brings together collages, graphite drawings and architectural sculptures, representing the breadth of his work from the 1990s to the most recent pieces made especially for the exhibition. The title All I have Learned and Forgotten Again harks back to the wisdom and magic of childhood, a lament of the lost innocence that gives way to the demands of an adult world. From 26 July until 29 September. www.camdenartscentre.org

Recommended- In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion - This exhibition explores the sumptuous costume of British monarchs and their court during the 16th and 17th centuries through portraits in the Royal Collection. During this period fashion was central to court life and was an important way to display social status. Royalty and the elite were the tastemakers of the day, often directly influencing the styles of fashionable clothing. In Fine Style follows the changing fashions of the period, demonstrates the spread of styles internationally and shows how clothing could convey important messages. Including works by Hans Holbein the Younger, Nicholas Hilliard, Van Dyck and Peter Lely, the exhibition brings together over 60 paintings, as well as drawings, garments, jewellery, accessories and armour. Until 6 October. www.royalcollection.org.uk

Recommended- Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life - In 2013 Tate Britain will present a major exhibition of landscapes by the much loved British painter L.S. Lowry (1887-1976). This is the first such show held by a public institution in London since the artist’s death. It results from an invitation extended to the distinguished art historians T.J. Clark and Anne M. Wagner to reappraise Lowry for a new and extended audience. This exhibition takes its title from T.J. Clark’s seminal book, The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and His Followers (1985). Bringing together around eighty works, including Tate’s own pictures Coming Out of School 1927 and The Pond 1950, alongside significant loans, the show aims to re-assess Lowry’s contribution as part of a wider art history and to argue for his achievement as Britain’s pre-eminent painter of the industrial city. From 26 June until 20 October. www.tate.org.uk

- Poster Art 150 – London Underground’s Greatest Designs - Since its first graphic poster commission in 1908, London Underground has developed a worldwide reputation for commissioning outstanding poster designs, becoming a pioneering patron of poster art - a legacy that continues today. This exhibition showcases 150 of the greatest Underground posters ever produced. It features posters by many famous artists including Edward McKnight Kauffer and Paul Nash, and designs from each decade over the last 100 years. The posters were selected from the Museum’s archive of over 3,300 Underground posters by a panel of experts; the 150 that will appear in the exhibition show the range and depth of the Museum’s collection. Until 27 October. www.ltmuseum.co.uk

- Francis Goodman: Back in Focus - This first museum retrospective display will include his portrait, fashion and photojournalistic work. His subjects came from the worlds of art, design, film and high society. The Gallery has recently researched and catalogued most of the extensive archive bequest of his work. Most of the works have not been on public display before. The majority of Goodman’s early work was lost during World War II but his surviving collection of original negatives was bequeathed to the National Portrait Gallery in 1989. This commemorative display will contain over 40 black and white photographs spanning Goodman’s career from the 1930s to the 1970s. Francis Goodman: Back in Focus will include portraits of artists Pietro Annigoni, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, and writers Margery Allingham, Noël Coward, Patricia Highsmith and Nancy Mitford. Until 3 November. www.npg.org.uk

- War Games - War Games will explore the fascinating relationship between conflict and children's play, providing an insight into the ways toys have been influenced by warfare from 1800 to the present day. With toys and games including Risk, GI Joe and classic Britain's toy soldiers, as well as photographs and archive documents, War Games will represent differing sides of conflicts from around the world. This thought-provoking exhibition will reveal the sometimes surprising links between play and wider attitudes towards warfare, and delve into the secret history of toys as tools of propaganda and espionage. Until 2 March 2014. www.vam.ac.uk

- The Cheapside Hoard: London’s Lost Jewels - In 2013, the Museum of London will open a major new exhibition investigating the secrets of the Cheapside Hoard. This extraordinary and priceless cache of late 16th and early 17th century jewels and gemstones – displayed in its entirety for the first time in over a century – was discovered in 1912, buried in a cellar on Cheapside in the City of London. Through new research and state-of-the-art technology, the exhibition will showcase the wealth of insights the Hoard offers on Elizabethan and Jacobean London – as a centre of craftsmanship and conspicuous consumption, at the crossroads of the Old and New Worlds. It will also explore the mysteries that remain, lost among the cataclysmic events of the mid-17th century: who owned the Hoard, when and why was it hidden, and why was it never reclaimed? From 11 October 2013 until 27 April 2014. www.museumoflondon.org.uk

Recommended- BP Walk through British Art - The BP Walk through British Art offers a circuit of Tate Britain’s unparalleled collection from its beginnings to its end. This ‘walk through time’ has been arranged to ensure that the collection’s full historical range, from 1545 to the present, is always on show. There are no designated themes or movements; instead, you can see a range of art made at any one moment in an open conversational manner. The gallery layout has been reconfigured to create a circuit around its outer perimeter, exploiting the long enfilades of galleries that open onto each another. You experience a cross-section that is representative of what we know as ‘British art’, meeting both well-known and less-familiar works. The circuit travels anti-clockwise around the building with threshold dates on the floor to tell you where you are in time. Until May 2014. www.tate.org.uk

- Aquarium - Immerse yourself in the wonderful underwater worlds of the new Aquarium. Journey through delicate environments and ecosystems from teeming British Pond Life, stunning and sensitive Rockpools, tropical Fijian Coral Reefs, to mysterious Mangrove Swamps and a breathtaking South American Rainforest display. Discover captivating creatures from across the world including jellyfish, seahorses and tropical monkey frogs amongst others. Amazing tank-viewing dens and interactive displays get you up close to these fantastic worlds. Permanent. www.horniman.ac.uk

Recommended- Courtauld - Permanent Collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collections and Early Renaissance Italian and Flemish art and artefacts at Somerset House, Strand, WC2. Please phone 0207 845 4600 for more details or visit www.somerset-house.org.uk

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