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LONDON FOR FUN Newsletter: 29 April 2008 Issue No.146

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http://www.londonforfun.com
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1.) Top 10 London events
2.) Other Events, Theatre listings, Museums and Galleries
3.) How to unsubscribe

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1. Top 10 London events
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1 - You Dig the Tunnel, I’ll Hide the Soil - In anticipation of the bicentenary of Edgar Allan Poe’s birth (1809), the exhibition explores the enduring legacy and cult status of the American writer. Harland Miller discovered Poe as a child while recovering from a bungled appendix operation in York County Hospital, where he found an early-learner edition of Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings, which he remembers as having alleviated much of the misery of this time. Using crayons and a drawing pad he began writing and illustrating his own versions of these stories, and he has always cited Poe as his first literary influence. Until 10 May.
www.whitecube.com

2 - Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art - Mission: to interpret and understand contemporary art - Anthropologists from outer space set out on a mission to understand life on earth. Imagine that they begin their mission by examining the curious phenomenon that human beings call ‘contemporary art’. What does Art tell them about human life and culture? Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art presents contemporary art works under the fictional guise of a museum collection conceived by and designed for extraterrestrials. Playful and irreverent, the museum’s collection features some 150 works by over 100 artists, from modern masters to bright new stars. Until 18 May.
www.barbican.org.uk

3 - Renoir at the Theatre: Looking at La Loge - Pierre-Auguste Renoir's La Loge (The Theatre Box), 1874, is one of the masterpieces of Impressionism and a major highlight of The Courtauld Gallery's collection. Its depiction of an elegant couple on display in a box at the theatre epitomises the Impressionists' interest in the spectacle of modern life. The exhibition unites La Loge for the first time with Renoir’s other treatments of the subject and loge paintings by his contemporaries, including Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas. Concentrating on the early years of Impressionism during the 1870s, the exhibition explores how these artists used the loge to capture the excitement and changing nature of fashionable Parisian society. Until 26 May.
www.somersethouse.org.uk

4 - Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia - This exhibition aims to chart the artistic and personal relationships of three of the great figures in early twentieth-century art, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray and Francis Picabia. Together they created the Dada movement in New York during the First World War, and, unusually within the history of modern art, they remained friends, with periods of varying intensity, throughout their lives.At the heart of the friendships lay a shared outlook on life, manifested in their works through jokes and a sense of irony, iconoclastic gestures, and a pronounced, if often coded, interest in sexual relations and eroticism. Duchamp, Man Ray, Picabia aims to explore the various affinities and parallels between the work of these three, showing how they responded to each others’ ideas and innovations. Until 26 May. www.tate.org.uk/modern

5 - Loris Gréaud - Cellar Door - Gréaud, one of the most innovative and distinctive artists to emerge on the international art scene in recent years, is presenting a new installation which consists of three almost identical rooms, and which draws on his interweaving interests in art, architecture and music. This installation is a continuation of a large-scale ongoing project by Gréaud, entitled Cellar Door. Gréaud's practice is characterised by a desire to fuse different fields of knowledge and activity, in a manner which is both futuristic and utopian. His modus operandi is comparable to that of cinematic production (involving collaboration and co-authorship), and he often works with experts from diverse disciplines (including architects and scientists). Until 22 June.
www.ica.org.uk

6 - China Design Now - China Design Now is the first exhibition in the UK to explore the recent explosion of new design in China, and the first to attempt to understand the impact of rapid economic development on architecture and design in Chinas major cities. From the 2008 Olympic stadium, and other significant architectural projects, to the latest in fashion and graphics, China Design Now captures a dynamic phase as China opens up to global influences and responds to the aspirations of its new urban middle class. The exhibition takes the form of a journey through three fast growing cities - Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Around 100 designers are featured, 95% of them Chinese, in a display that focuses on architecture, fashion and graphic design as well as film, photography, product and furniture design, youth culture and digital media. Until 13 July.
www.vam.ac.uk

7 - Skin+Bones: Parallel Practices in Fashion and Architecture - We all live in buildings and wear clothes. Traditionally, fashion and architecture have remained quite distinct. In recent years, however, the two disciplines have become closer than ever before. Since the 1980s, these two worlds have increasingly shared intriguing connections. Sharing materials, design methods and fabrication has inspired radical developments. Discover how over 50 internationally-renowned architects and designers including Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, Comme des Garcons, Yohji Yamamoto, Future Systems, Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid 'fashion' buildings and 'construct' garments. Until 10 August.
www.somersethouse.org.uk

8 - Summer Exhibition 2008 - The Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition is the largest open contemporary art exhibition in the world. Held annually since the Royal Academy’s foundation in 1768, the Summer Exhibition is a unique showcase for art of all styles and media, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings, prints and architectural models. The majority of works are for sale. An essential part of the London art calendar, the show drew over 150,000 visitors in 2007. From 9 June until 17 August.
www.royalacademy.org.uk

9 - Richard Rogers + Architects - From the House to the City - One of the most influential British architects of our time, Richard Rogers has established himself and his practice at the forefront of today’s architectural culture through such high-profile projects as the Pompidou Centre, the headquarters for Lloyd’s of London, the Millennium Dome and the National Assembly for Wales. Richard Rogers – From the House to the City presents a detailed survey of Rogers’ work, from the early years with Norman and Wendy Foster and Su Rogers at Team 4 in the 1960s, designing the Pompidou Centre with Renzo Piano in the 1970s, to the establishment of the Richard Rogers Partnership – now Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners – and numerous projects designed by the practice and built throughout the world over the past three decades. Until 25 August.
www.designmuseum.org

10 - Psycho Buildings: Artists and Architecture - This exhibition marks The Hayward’s 40th anniversary as one of the world’s most architecturally unique exhibition venues. Borrowing its title from a book by artist Martin Kippenberger, the exhibition brings together the work of artists who create habitat-like structures and architectural environments that are mental and perceptual spaces as much as physical ones. Viewers enter and explore a series of atmospheric, spatially dynamic constructions that use elements of light, colour, smell and design to trigger profound visceral responses that heighten their attention to the relationship between the individual and their surroundings. The exhibition spills out onto The Hayward’s three outdoor sculpture terraces, and features major installations by participating artists. From 28 May until 25 August.
www.hayward.org.uk

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2. Other Events, Theatre listings, Museums and Galleries

Events listing:
http://www.londonforfun.com/events-in-London.htm

Theatre listings:
http://www.londonforfun.com/London-theatres.htm

Museum listing:
http://www.londonforfun.com/London-museums.htm

Galleries listings:
http://www.londonforfun.com/galleries-in-London.htm

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