15 minute read
WHAT'S ON
The AgendaLONDON’S HOTTEST HAPPENINGS
ART
Alive
TATE BRITAIN • UNTIL 23 JANUARY 2022
British multi-media artist Heather Phillipson has reimagined the Tate Britain galleries with her latest exhibition. She describes the spaces as a sequence of ‘charged ecosystems, maladaptive seasons and unearthed life forms’ - visitors should think of the space as a ‘parallel planet’. The exhibition is a sensory experience fi lled with sound, colour and light.
tate.org.uk
ENTERTAINMENT
Sluggers
Ongoing BOXPARK CROYDON The developers behind Roof East and Birdies Crazy Golf will be opening up a fun-fi lled third location at BOXPARK Croydon. The site boasts three batting cages alongside a menu of craft cocktails and Latin fusion street food. Baseball lovers can enjoy a virtual pitcher and pitching machines that can be adapted for every level of batter. playsluggers.com
ART Art-K
Ongoing SHEPHERDS BUSH One for the kids, Art-K is the leading provider of educational classes for children across the UK. The new Shepherds Bush branch will be o ering after-school classes that encourage children to explore paper sculpture, clay, design, mixed media, watercolours and acrylics. Art-K acts as a safe place for children to study art and develop confi dence. art-k.co.uk
ART
ArtULTRA
Until November 2021 KEW GARDENS Five star Belgravia hotel The Hari will be showcasing an exhibition by two previous artists in residence Emmanuel Unaji and Matilde Merli. The emerging artists have been working hard on an exhibition that will showcase 11 artworks by the pair, that will be on display throughout the Hari bar and hotel. thehari.com
MUSIC SOUTH FACING FESTIVAL
Throughout August CRYSTAL PALACE PARK After almost a year and a half without live music, South Facing festival are launching a brand new open air concert series, with dates spanning across Autumn. The events will be held at the Crystal Palace Bowl in Crystal Palace Park, and confi rmed acts include the likes of Supergrass, Dizzee Rascal and Corinne Bailey Rae. See you there. southfacingfestival.com
This Month’s Must See
GROOVY FRIDAY’S
ONGOING • PING PONG SOHO
As restrictions are lifted and we are allowed to dance once again, Soho’s nightlife scene is back and busier than ever. Ping Pong’s famous DJ Friday Nights are back, serving up an evening of the top tunes, tasty plates and boozy cocktails. Tequila lovers should opt for the strawberry and passion sunrise. It’s the perfect central London location to let your hair down. pingpongdimsum.com
TO MARKET
Take a trip to one of our famous markets
BOROUGH MARKET
Easily one of the most famous markets London has to o er and open seven days a week, traders of Borough Market include Bath Soft Cheese Co (the perfect pitstop for cheese lovers), authentic Mexican pantry Changarro and Cartwright Brothers Vintners Ltd, a family-run wine merchants. boroughmarket.org.uk
QUEENS PARK FARMERS’ MARKET
Queens Park farmers' market is a family-friendly o ering that opens every Sunday, come rain or shine. Adults and children love the market, and a bustling crowd attends every Sunday to sample the delectable poultry, seasonal vegetables and fl owers that are on o er. lfm.org.uk
CAMDEN MARKET
Some may think of Camden Market as solely a tourist attraction, but the fact is the food and experience remains unmatched. The street food o ering is vast, with favourites including Wok Boy and El Pollote Fried Chicken, and there are a number of independent shops and craft boutiques to browse. camdenmarket.com
Later LIVING
Lifestory Group unveils details of Fitzjohn’s residences in Hampstead
By CASPAR DAVID
Lifestory Group, a leading developer of premium retirement communities in Prime Central London, has unveiled details of the group’s new residential development in the capital launching in
September 2021, known as Fitzjohn’s.
Located in Hampstead Village, it will provide 29 individually designed luxury residences with hotel-style facilities including a concierge, club lounge, library, health spa, stretch studio, automated underground car park and a beautiful landscaped courtyard garden.
Fitzjohn’s is arguably Lifestory Group’s most luxurious London development to date with inspired architecture, bespoke design interiors and specially curated furniture pieces, handcrafted lighting and accessories and original artwork by local Hampstead artists. Fitzjohn’s architecture is designed by award-winning practice Sergison Bates with the development enjoying a prime London location at 79 Fitzjohn’s Avenue on the fl at hilltop summit of the avenue, just a few hundred yards from the heart of Hampstead Village with all its outstanding local shops, cafes, delis and restaurants.
Renowned international design studio 1508 London was commissioned to design and dress Fitzjohn’s communal areas, amenity spaces and penthouselike show residence. It is the fi rst time that the luxury design studio, whose work includes exceptional private homes, superyachts and The Lanesborough, Carlton Tower and Four Seasons hotels has helped to design and dress the interiors of a later living development.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Originally built between 1876 and 1886 by local landowner Spencer MaryonWilson and builder John Culverhouse, Fitzjohn’s Avenue was originally lined with 70 grand villas and chestnut trees, with the design inspired by the leafy Hampstead surroundings.
Inspired by the grandeur of the avenue and the local area’s Victorian mansion blocks and villas, part of Hampstead’s rich architectural heritage, Fitzjohn’s consists of two mansion buildings connected by a ground fl oor entrance lobby, designed in a contemporary interpretation of British Arts and Crafts style. The elegant Arts and Crafts inspired facades have feature brickwork with corbelled detailing, hexagonal bays with large full height windows, juliet balconies and sculptural Nouveau-style balustrades.
FITZJOHN'S
Prices at Fitzjohn’s will start from £2m with the development launching in September 2021. For further information contact Lifestory Group on 020 7980 8742 or fi tzjohns@lifestory.group or to register interest visit fi tzjohnsnw3.co.uk
Nicolai Aluf Sophie Taeuber with her Dada head 1920 Gelatin silver print on card, 12.9 × 9.8 Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin
Sophie Taeuber-Arp Geometric and Undulating 1941 Crayon and graphite on paper 49.2 × 39.2 Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland. Collection Cantone Ticino
Off GRID
A new show at Tate Modern focuses on the work of avant-garde artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp
One of the most innovative artists and designers of the 20thcentury avant-garde, Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889-1943) challenged the borders between abstract art, design and craft. Tate Modern’s major exhibition is the first in the UK to trace TaeuberArp’s accomplished career as a painter, architect, teacher, writer, and designer of textiles, marionettes and interiors. Bringing together over 200 objects from collections across Europe and America, the exhibition shows how she blazed a new path for the development of abstraction.
After studying fine and applied arts in Munich, Sophie Taeuber-Arp began her career in Zurich, an international hub for the avant-garde during the First World War. She took classes at Rudolf von Laban’s influential school of dance, and met her lifelong partner, artist and poet Jean (Hans) Arp. She became a successful textile practitioner and teacher while simultaneously experimenting with non-figurative art. Responding to the grid structure of textiles and the bold colours of vernacular culture, she created vivid works on paper and embroideries. Her work stood apart from the abstract art of her contemporaries by completely bypassing
Sophie Taeuber-Arp Stag (marionette for ‘King Stag’) 1918 Oil paint on wood; brass sheet; metallic paint on metallic paper; metal hardware 50 × 17.8 × 18 Museum für Gestaltung, Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, Zurich. Decorative Arts Collection
Sophie Taeuber-Arp Composition of Circles and Overlapping Angles 1930 The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Riklis Collection of McCrory Corporation. Photo: The Museum of Modern Art, Department of Imaging and Visual Resources. © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Sophie Taeuber-Arp Embroidery. c. 1920 Wool on canvas 12 5⁄8 x 15 3⁄4” (32 x 40 cm) Private collection, on loan to the Fondation Arp, Clamart, France Flight: Round Relief in Three Heights 1937 Oil paint on plywood, diam. 60 Stiftung Arp e.V., Berlin
deconstruction of the figurative form. A selection of these works are shown side by side with decorative artworks including beaded bags, jewellery, rugs, pillowcases and tapestries to reflect the fluid way in which Taeuber-Arp worked concurrently across disciplines.
By the end of the war, Taeuber-Arp had become active within Zurich dada, the short-lived but influential artistic movement which sought to integrate art and life, embracing abstraction and absurdity. Her turned-wood ‘Dada Heads’ are some of the most iconic artworks of the era. She also embraced the performative side of dada, dancing at the legendary Cabaret Voltaire
Sophie Taeuber-Arp Six Spaces with Four Small Crosses 1932 Oil paint and graphite on canvas 65 × 100 Kunstmuseum Bern. Gift of Marguerite Arp-Hagenbach
SOPHIE TAEUBER-ARP
Until 17 October 2021, Tate Modern
tate.org
and creating marionettes for the avant-garde interpretation of the play ‘King Stag’. All of the original marionettes are on display at Tate Modern in a standout room.
In the 1920s Taeuber-Arp embarked on experimentation with architecture and interior design for private houses and public buildings. The exhibition includes designs and furniture from these projects, such as the commission for the Aubette, a modernist entertainment complex in Strasbourg, created in collaboration with Arp and Theo Van Doesburg. The commercial success of her architectural practice enabled Taeuber-Arp to design her own studiohouse near Paris, which would become a focal point for international intellectuals such as Tristan Tzara, Max Ernst and James Joyce. Taeuber-Arp’s involvement in the Parisian art scene prompted a return to painting in the late 1920s. She experimented with primary colours and abstract forms, going on to develop a series of compositions of rectangles and circles in the 1930s. Unconfined by the canvas, she also translated these ideas into a series of painted, turned-wood reliefs.
Fleeing Paris at the outbreak of the Second World War, Taeuber-Arp turned to drawing as one of a few means of artistic expression available to a displaced artist. The final room of the exhibition brings together the works she made while on the move and in exile, created before her tragic accidental death in 1943 aged 53. These works embody her lifelong interest in abstraction, her constant development of new ideas, and her ability to embrace new materials and methods in a way that remains hugely influential for artists today.
MUSEUM OF THE MOON BY ARTIST LUKE JERRAM WILL TOUR MULTIPLE LOCATIONS DURING THE FESTIVAL. THE INSTALLATION IS A FUSION OF LUNAR IMAGERY FROM NASA, MOONLIGHT AND SURROUND SOUND COMPOSITION BY BAFTA AWARD WINNING COMPOSER DAN JONES
CULTURE ZONE
August highlights of the Kensington + Chelsea Festival include spectacular outdoor performances celebrating culture and innovation
By VESTALIA CHILTON
This month of August boasts an incredible line up of performing arts events, comedy, theatre and young people’s takeover stages across the borough as part of the summerlong Kensington + Chelsea Festival. Highlights include comedy nights at Chelsea Theatre on a ‘pay what you can’ basis, thought-provoking theatre, educative performances for children and a spotlight on the wonderful talents of local youth. With focus on recovery from the pandemic and on providing opportunities for performers to come back to work as we all emerge out of lockdown, the festival presents a perfect moment to get back into our theatres, parks, cities, streets, see outdoor performances and reconnect with our communities through surprising and spectacular experiences together.
All programming is free or a ordable, and the festival organisers want to encourage anyone to get involved, enjoy and fi nd inspiration.
AUGUST FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
Young People's Takeover Stages: Finborough Theatre
Sunday 1 August | Chelsea Plaza, World's End
New Youthquake and FerArts
Sunday 7 August | Location to be announced Afternoon weekend stages will appear across the borough during July and August, presenting local young people’s creative works spanning spoken word, dance, theatre and music, in collaboration with professional arts organisations and young people's programming groups.
Bee Parade
in Exhibition Road with Kensington + Chelsea Festival, together with Discover South Kensington and the amazing Carnival Artist, Sophie Lodge Pop-up nature hubs and installations created by architects, artists and garden designers will leave you buzzing with new ideas and inspiring visions for a greener future. Follow the trail through wildfl ower meadows, gardens and art installations in the heart of London’s cultural district.
CATCH ME BY UPSWING
Get up close with bees and wild pollinators and explore architecture inspired by insects, plants with healing properties and imaginative ideas for upcycling materials.
This bee-inspired event with local families and groups will aim to encourage all to explore the South Ken Green Trail and to raise awareness of the BeeSuperHighway and need to support wild pollinators. The bee-inspired theme carries over to Earl's Court with the 'The Pleasure Garden, created by the KCAW team and artists Baker and Borowski to activate Warwick Road, with the help from the Earls Court Developments Company, a section of the road which was closed for many years.
BONDED by Alleyne Dance
Afternoons of 7 & 28 August Outdoors + Free This incredibly powerful company, Alleyne Dance is based in UK based and was founded in 2014 by twin sisters Kristina and Sadé Alleyne. Bonded explores the construct of human dependency – especially that of siblings – and how time and external conditions can affect the synergetic connection.
The choreographic aesthetic reflects the sisters’ diverse backgrounds in athletics and dance training. They blend African, Caribbean, Hip Hop, Kathak and Circus Skills, delivered as fast paced and dynamic movement. This beautiful piece will be a free and outdoor performance suitable for all ages.
CATCH ME by Upswing
Afternoon of 14 & 15 August | Outdoors + Free
BAKER AND BOROWSKIS PLEASURE GARDEN IN WARWICK ROAD
(lots of parks are hosting these incredible shows including Avondale Park, Tavistock Square and Emslie Horniman's Pleasance Park) Many performances are held in parks across Kensington and Chelsea, in surprising locations. An outdoor arts piece by contemporary circus company Upswing, Catch Me is an intimate and surprising take on age, race and gender. An older woman and younger man dance together through a landscape of abandoned chairs, discovering joy, risk and unexpected connections in a poignant duet. A poetic mix of dance and acrobatics, Catch Me asks how we see each other and who we value. This performance is free and suitable for all ages, it doesn’t require pre-booking.
All Summer Season | Opera + Circus + Dance + Theatre … and much more
Witness diverse, innovative performances, bursting with energy - for all to experience and enjoy ‘Love Art’ World Premier By The Dream Engine on 4 July to launch K+C Festival Photo By Paul Quezada-Neiman/Alamy The constantly evolving programming includes works across all disciplines to be enjoyed by every audience. There will be new pieces and experiences created by everyone from established artists and curators to youth groups and community organisations. The programming includes outdoor interventions which reimagine parks and community spaces, performances in established and even rarely accessible venues, exciting work by local young people in partnership with a variety of youth organisations and specific commissions supporting emergent and establish creative practices.
K+C FESTIVAL
To 31 August 2021 kcaw.co.uk/kc-festival kcfestival.co.uk
DRINK & FOOD
CHILL FACTOR
BYRUBY If you think you know what to expect from a frozen ready meal, think again. Leith's-trained Ruby and her friend Milly founded By Ruby to reinvent the TV dinner and their creations are a resounding success. Time to stock the freezer. byruby.co.uk
