Art Weekly Digest: London 29 January - 04 February, 2018
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
Ocean Liners: Speed and Style
Empress of Britain colour lithograph poster for Canadian Pacific Railways, J.R. Tooby, 1920 – 31. Museum no. E.2215-1931. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
In the 19th century the world was fascinated by a new revolutionary way of travel – the ocean liner. The idea of crossing the ocean on the largest machine such as the Titanic, Normandie, the Queen Mary and the Canberra was romantic and mind-blowing. The V&A museum is presenting a unique exhibition “Speed & Style”, which explores the most interesting aspects of the ocean liner experience: its’ design and engineering, modern interiors and architecture and the fashionable lifestyle of its’ passengers. On display will be the Christian Dior suit worn by Marlene Dietrich as she arrived in New York aboard the Queen Mary in 1950 and will also feature works by Modernist artists, designers and architects inspired by liners – including Albert Gleizes, Charles Demuth, Eileen Gray and Le Corbusier.
The show will be on view until 17 June 2018, at the Victoria&Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL
Hymn For The Weekend
Giorgio Griffa: A Continuous Becoming
Canone Aureo 484 (2013), Giorgio Griffa. Photo: Jean Vong, courtesy Archivio Giorgio Griffa and Casey Kaplan, New York
A great way to spend your weekend is to visit an abstract art exhibition shown in the Camden Art Centre. An Italian painter Giorgio Griffa works and lives in Turin and is well regarded for his “intelligence of painting”. Associated with the Arte Povera movement, the artist has his unique way of working - performative and time-based – he often paints horizontally on the floor and uses wide, energetic brushstrokes. This exhibition, for which the artists also created a playlist of music tracks, brings together Griffa’s works from the 1960s through to today.
The exhibition will be on view until 8th April 2018 at the Camden Art Centre, Arkwright Road, London NW3 6DG, United Kingdom
In Focus
Glenn Brown: Come To Dust
Glenn Brown, The Music of the Mountains, 2016 © Glenn Brown. Photo by Mike Bruce
“I use pre-existing images to go into pre-existing frames. I don’t like a blank canvas or a blank sheet of paper.”
“Come to Dust” is the first major London exhibition of British artist Glenn Brown since 2009. The Gagosian gallery brings together sensuous works of this great contemporary artist including oil paintings, drawings in period frames, etchings, and sculptures. Artist combines in his works art history, music, literature and popular culture, as for example in “Music of the Mountains” (2016), a graphic work on panel, Brown skillfully overlays and intermingles portrait heads from Raphael and Guido Reni to create depth and animation on a fused yet fractured entity. Artist’s choice of frames adds a unique charm to the exhibition as Brown takes readymade frames and makes his drawings in a way to match the colour and design of each.
This exhibition will be on view until 17th March 2018 at the Gagosian Gallery, 20 Grosvenor Hill, London, W1K 3QD
Art Discourse
BOOK OF A LIFETIME: Modigliani and Les Chants De Maldoror
Amedeo Modigliani Juan Gris 1915 Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot (1876–1967), 1967
An interesting talk for the admirers of Modigliani’s artistic life will take place at the Tate Modern museum in February. Richard Milward, an author of three novels, will lead this art discussion. According to the legend Comte de Lautréamont was Amadeo Modigliani’s favourite author and that he adored his sadistic proto-surrealist novel “Les Chants de Maldoror” so much that used to carry a copy of it everywhere he went. Richard Milward will try to understand what is it so unusual in this novel that it has affected Modigliani and other surrealists and their art works.
This talk will be happening on Sunday 11th February at 6.30 PM at the Tate Modern Gallery, Bankside, London SE1 9TG
Last Chance To See
Ephrem Solomon
Ephrem Solomon, 'Birth and Death series 18', 2017, Image Courtesy of Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery
Last chance to see a solo show of an Ethiopian artist Ephrem Solomon at the Kristin Hjellegjerde gallery. Solomon’s works are full of symbolism and inner meaning: they represent motives of life and death, physical and mental boundaries, faith and happiness. Many of his works remain untitled, allowing viewers to identify themselves and those around them. The artist has created this series of paintings during his year of silence, highlighting the significance of the freedom of expression.
The show will be on view until 3rd February at the Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, 533 Old York Road, London, SW18 1TG