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LONDON FOR FUN Newsletter: 06 April 2010 Issue No.193

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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 - Richard Hamilton - The exhibition will reassess the nature of Hamilton’s pioneering contribution, taking as a starting point the artist’s political paintings. Hamilton's work has continued to evolve throughout his long and influential career, particularly in his approach to processes and techniques. The exhibition will explore in depth the use of multiples in his work and the varied ways the artist has used photographic material to investigate representation in contemporary society. Until 25 April. www.serpentinegallery.org

2 - Eija-Liisa Ahtila - Ahtila is best known for works that concentrates on narratives in human life together with the relationships and primal emotions that underlie them. She describes her films as ‘human dramas’ because they play on the central themes of our existence, such as love, death, sexuality, the difficulty of communication, and individual identity – both its formation and disintegration. Her fictional stories emerge from interviews and extensive research, her own observation and memory. As Ahtila’s films are often shown on multiple screens or within complex installations, her stories unfold simultaneously within time and space, thereby creating a multi-layered experience that engages the viewer both physically and emotionally. Her masterfully crafted narratives, striking portrayal of characters and highly individual mode of expression have captured public interest and won much critical acclaim. Until 25 April. www.parasol-unit.org

3 - Aida - Verdi’s Aida returns to the Royal Opera stage in a new production with a world-class cast headed by Marcelo Álvarez as the warrior Radames and Micaela Carosi as the captured princess of the title. This is a society from long ago, ordered by ritual, obsessed with death, driven by war and power. How can the furtive love of prisoner and captor survive against such forces? The intensity and tragedy of the story inspired Verdi to some of his most haunting, powerful and famous music. From the seductive slave dances to the triumphal march, from the passion of ‘Celeste Aida’ to the hauntingly heart-rending finale, this is some of the most memorable music of all opera, conducted here by Nicola Luisotti. The tension between the imperial and the individual, and music that often seems to suspend time itself make Aida one of the unique experiences of opera. From 27 April to 16 May. www.roh.org.uk

4 - Ron Arad - Restless - Ron Arad: Restless explores three decades of Arad’s designs from his early post-punk approach of assembling products from readymade parts to his exclusive and highly polished sculptural furnishings. Featuring a dramatic exhibition design by Ron Arad Associates using the latest LED display technology, Ron Arad: Restlessalso includes architectural designs and immediately recognisable mass produced pieces. Highlighting the significance of experimentation, process and materials in Arad’s work, the exhibition offers a timely insight into the development of objects from initial idea and fabrication to finished design. Until 16 May. www.barbican.org.uk

5 - Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde: Constructing a New World - This Spring, Tate Modern re-examines Modernism in the early 20th century in Europe, with an exhibition devoted to Dutch artist Theo van Doesburg (1883-1931) and his modernist contemporaries. This is a unique and exciting chance for van Doesburg’s multi-disciplinary work to reach British audiences for the first time. An artist, architect, typographer, poet, art critic and publisher, van Doesburg founded the far-reaching movement and magazine De Stijl. This artistic movement of painters, architects and designers sought to build a new society in the aftermath of World War I, advocating an international style of art and design based on a simple geometric language. Until 16 May. www.tate.org.uk/modern

6 - Bizet`s Carmen - Directed by David Freeman, founder of The Opera Factory and whose previous credits include Madam Butterfly Tosca and Carmen at the Royal Albert Hall, his production of Bizet's masterpiece comes to The O2 on a never seen before grand and spectacular scale. From the very first note to the final tragic chords, this stunning in-the-round production vividly portrays the powerful story of lust, superstition and murder that passionately unravels with fatal consequences. Carmen is presented by Raymond Gubbay and The O2 and will be performed by a superb cast of over 200 performers, including dancers, acrobats and fire-eaters. The wonderful set and fabulous costumes will bring to life the dusty atmosphere of the town square, the cool night air of the smugglers' mountain hideout, and the colourful festivities outside of the bullring in Seville. From 21 May until 23 May. www.theo2.co.uk

7 - Lowry's Travels - During his lifetime Lowry travelled extensively throughout the United Kingdom, only leaving its shores to holiday in Southern Ireland. Lowry’s Travels charts these movements; from Greater Manchester to the Tyne and Wear; from London to Wales and Gloucestershire. Lowry’s Travels depicts the artist’s journeys throughout Britain before and after the war. The works included in this exhibition also chart his progression as an artist through his choice of subject matter and his breadth of medium; from drawing to oil painting; from pastel to print. From 10 April until 29 May. www.halcyongallery.com

8 - Angela de la Cruz: After - De la Cruz questions painting’s solemn and authoritative status, tearing, crushing and breaking canvases and stretchers. Titles such as Homeless, Ashamed or Deflated reveal the work’s human qualities and emotions. Cruz’s work is not an outpouring of anxiety, but an expression of an inexhaustible determination in a hostile world, where even the gallery seems unsympathetic; crushing and trapping works in doorways or corners. Until 30 May. www.camdenartscentre.org

9 - Christen Købke: Danish Master of Light - 'Christen Købke: Danish Master of Light' is the first monographic exhibition of paintings by Christen Købke (1810–1848) ever to be shown outside Denmark. This show comprises 48 of Købke’s most beautiful and distinguished works spanning a variety of genres: landscape, topography, portraiture and his charmingly oblique depictions of national monuments informed by a decidedly avant-garde sensibility. They present some of the most innovative aspects of his work – including outdoor sketching, his fascination with painterly immediacy and his unique treatment of light and atmosphere. Until 13 June. www.nationalgallery.org.uk

10 - Glasnonst - In April Haunch of Venison presents the first comprehensive survey of Soviet non-conformist art from the 1980s and early 1990s ever to be mounted in London. With around one hundred works, the paintings, sculpture and photographs featured in this historically important exhibition respond to the transformative moment in the mid-1980s when Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the economic and political reforms known as Glasnost and Perestroika, liberalising Soviet society and bringing an end to the Cold War. These two terms rapidly gained international currency, enriching the lexicon of pop-culture and informing the underground art of the period in the Soviet Union. From 16 April until 26 June. www.haunchofvenison.com

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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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