Art Weekly Digest: London 15 - 21 May, 2017

Every week The Art Partners post a carefully curated selection of cultural events to see in London.

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Opening Of The Week

Photo London

Le Chateau Rouge No18, 2015 © Martin Essl, courtesy Galerie Esther Woerdehoff

The third edition of ‘Photo London 2017’, which became internationally recognised photography fair, takes place in the beautiful Somerset House this week. This year it will have expanded Discovery section curated by Tristan Lund, featuring galleries from not only London but also Tokyo (Akio Nagasawa), Reykjavik (Berg Contemporary) and San Francisco (Euqinomprojects). William Klein will develop a new 18-metre-wide mural in Somerset House, while Juergen Teller will present a special exhibition in the Great Arch Hall and DSL collection will present a project that allows the public to experience the collection via VR with participants able to navigate themselves around the virtual museum and interact with the artworks directly.

The show will be on view from Thursday 18 until Sunday 21 May, at the Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA

Hymn For The Weekend

From Selfie to Self-Expression

Juno Calypso, The Honeymoon Suite, Courtesy of the artist and TJ Boulting Gallery

This is the first ever exhibition, which focuses on the ever-important phenomenon known as the ‘selfie’ and explores its history from Velazquez times to the present day. The Saatchi Gallery together with Huawei have found big artistic potential in the form of expression of a selfie and created the #SaatchiSelfie competition for the most creative and experimental selfie. The competition was open to artists, photographers and forward-thinkers from around the world and brought together the most beautiful, mad and iconic selfies from the most exciting locations.

The show will be on view until 30 May at Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York's HQ, King's Road, London, SW3 4RY

Art Discourse

Art/Work/USA: American Art in the 1930s

Georgia O'Keeffe, Cow's Skull with Calico Roses (detail), 1931. © Georgia O'Keeffe Museum / DACS 2016

The Royal Academy of Arts invites its visitors to an exclusive screening of the film ‘Art/Work/USA: American Art in the 1930s’, which will be followed by a discussion with the film director and art critic Barbara Rose. The main focus of this movie is American Depression and its influence on the American artists as well as confrontation of different art movements of that time. The film is a beautiful combination of historical facts and creative art illustrations and will great addition before or after viewing the actual exhibition at the Royal Academy.

The talk is taking place on Friday 19 May at 18:30 at the Royal Academy of Arts Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD

Last Chance To See

Makoto Ofune

The exhibition at OlivierMalingue gallery is a survey of works produced by Makoto Ofune over the past decade which combine traditional Japanese painting techniques with an abstract vocabulary. In his practice artist plays with opposing themes: the physical and the spiritual, darkness and light, movement and stillness. The sense of tranquillity and atmosphere of meditation filled all the space of the gallery and puts the viewer in a state of harmony.

The show will be on view until 20 May at Olivier Malingue gallery, First Floor, 143 New Bond Street, London, W1S 2TP