Surreal House

The Barbican offers such a wonderfully varied program of exhibitions and events, its one place I always keep an eye on.  The latest in this program is the ‘Surreal House’ exhibition: Step inside a labyrinth of chambers, designed by acclaimed young architects Carmody Groarke, and experience The Surreal House – its haunted rooms, delirious forms, blasted architecture and cinematic dreamscapes – featuring a host of artists, architects and film makers including Salvador Dali, Marcel Duchamp, Alberto Giacometti, René Magritte, Man Ray, Joseph Cornell and Maya Deren through to more contemporary figures, among them; Rebecca Horn, Edward Kienholz and Rem Koolhaas.

At times enchanting, playful and at others, deeply disquieting, The Surreal House is a dwelling that is essentially everything that the rational, functional Modernist house is not. A wall collapses here, a door upends over there. An egg-shaped structure hides a womb-like interior and there’s a creeping suspicion that all is not well at home.  There is definitely something a little creepy about the exhibition and you won’t find yourself feeling at home in this surreal house but that’s obviously half the point.

The exhibition is quite a chaos of different mediums, bringing together a diverse range of paintings, photographs, films, models and installations, many of which are rarely seen in the UK.  For example, a video loop showing Buster Keaton’s toppling house, a Duschamp doorbell in the form of a suitably chosen part of the female anatomy and a large scale blow-up of Freud’s Viennese house.

The exhibition runs until 12 September with ticket prices around £8 (unless you have membership or a reason for a concession).  I also came across an offer for members of Guardian Extra that might make the experience even better: The Barbican is offering Guardian Extra members a two-course lunch at Searcy’s, at the reduced price of £12.50 (normal price £17.50), when they book tickets to the exhibition.  Check out the website for all the exhibition details www.barbican.org.uk.

The Modern Toss London Museum of Urban Shit Naks

After a certain age cartoons become a rather embarrassing hobby. You know the situation – you’re bumbling along on the tube and your eyes are suddenly drawn to the brightly coloured pages of a comic fluttering in the dusty air, being hungrily turned by the clammy hands of the enthralled owner. You briefly wonder why the owner isn’t already at school. Then you look at the owner and realise he’s wearing a rather expensive pin stripe suit and carrying a brief case. It’s all rather embarrassing then as he clocks you clocking him, a man in his thirties, publicly reading a comic. I don’t care how liberated you are or how much you want to preserve your youth, reading a comic over the age of 15 is just weird. Except one.

You may or may not have heard of Mr Tourette, a foul-mouthed little cartoon signwriter who has no respect for anyone, particularly the people for whom he writes signs. He is an adult cartoon – slightly puerile yes, but he deals with themes that you wouldn’t find in a superhero comic – the drudgery of work, the way people treat each other and the dire state of the English football team.

The Modern Toss London Museum of Urban Shit Naks contains the Mr Tourette illustrations and other works in the same vein. If you like that cutting brand of humour that says out loud the things we sometimes would like to but never can say to the boss who asks you to stay late or the person who treads on your foot on the tube, then this is the exhibition for you. Alongside Mr Tourette there’s Alan, Drive By Abuser as well as a whole collection of other characters of ‘modern filth.’ The exhibition has been extended until July 11 so put down that Beano you drip and go and see some proper aggro cartoons www.maverickshowroom.com.

68-72 Redchurch Street

Shoreditch

E2 7DP

London Calling

If you have not hear of Ray Lowry, or you cant quite place the name then if you have one iota of interest in seminal albums by vastly famous rock bands, you will definitely have come across his work as Lowry created the unforgettable art work for The Clash’s 1979 album, London Calling.

The same name has now been given to an exhibition of his work in support of the Ray Lowry Foundation, paying tribute to the life and works of the iconic illustrator. The exhibition will also feature contributions by 30 artists, musicians and general roustabouts who are producing images inspired by, in celebration of and in tribute to Lowry, who died in 2008. Works by Tracey Emin, Keith Allen, Billy Childish, The Stone Roses’ John Squire and the Clash’s Mick Jones and Paul Simon will appear at the Idea Generation gallery, alongside Lowry’s original sketches, cartoons, illustrations, paintings and designs for albums that were never to be. After the exhibition, the interpretations will be auctioned for the Ray Lowry Foundation, which supports further education projects for the underprivileged

Lowry was born in Manchester and began his career drawing for Punch Magazine, International Times, OZ, NME and Private Eye creating a cult following for his celebrated illustrations and cartoons. In the ‘about the man’ section of his website, Bob Dickinson describes Lowry as “self deprecating, honest, enthusiastic, but at the same time deeply angry,” and recalls one of his moments with Lowry: “in October 1981, commenting on rising unemployment under Thatcher combined with the increasing risk of getting blown to smithereens in a nuclear war, Ray asked, “Is this what we really want? Isn’t suicide a much more British solution to our present difficulties? There is, after all, a tradition of working class suicides in this country but nuclear explosions are something alien – a continental style drastic measure, anathema to our long established customs and habits.” I still wish at some point Ray would publish his own Modest Proposal, or a series of them, perhaps, to address the state of the nation in 2008.” Lowry died in 2008 but through this exhibition his work is very much alive www.raylowry.com/www.ideageneration.co.uk

11 Chance Street

London

E2 7JB

020 7749 6850

Appearing Rooms

What’s the best type of exhibition to view in hot weather (assuming we get some…)? Why an interactive fountain of course! Now, for many – probably most of the adult population – interacting with a fountain can surely only have one possible outcome: fountain:1 you: 0. But an interactive fountain down on London’s Southbank, the work of Danish artist Jeppe Hein is making its return from Saturday 22 May 2010,
10:00am – Sunday 19 September 2010, 22:30pm.

As an artist, Heinn often combines sculpture with architecture and technology to playfully solicit the viewer’s direct participation. His aquatic sculpture was originally commissioned for the garden of the Villa Manin, Italy. Apparently Hein was inspired by the Baroque villa to design an ornamental fountain that visitors would be invited
to enter, to interact with changing spaces created by rising and falling walls of water.

According to the Southbank Centre: “Redefining traditional ideas about fountains, this public artwork explores the relationship between spatial perception and memory, presence and absence, inside and outside. As visitors walk through the ‘rooms’, they must carefully consider the patterns of rising and falling water if they are to leave
the space without getting wet.” Now that all sounds a bit too interactive for me, particularly as the consequence of making the wrong decision is spending the rest of the day walking around looking like you’ve had a bit of an accident.

Time Out describes the exhibition as “a refreshing addition to summer at Southbank Centre” and it certainly does make a nice change to just being an observer, despite the bodily risks. It also requires you to keep your wits about you which is interesting for the Southbank which is normally the kind of place you end up wandering around in a daze with a coffee. So I will definitely be going to visit, although perhaps I’ll wait for a hot day…

South Bank Centre
Belvedere Road
London
SE1 8XT
(0) 20 7921 0600

Elephant Parade

You would have to be extremely unobservant to have missed the large number of brightly coloured elephants positioned in various spots around London and decorated in a variety of patterns and designs. If you have missed them then open your eyes! The elephants are part of Elephant Parade a conservation campaign that shines a multi-coloured spotlight on the urgent crisis faced by the endangered Asian elephant.
There are over 250 brightly painted life-size elephants located over central London in spots like St Pauls and the Southbank and they’ve come to stay for the whole summer. They’re not fenced off or up high but on the ground where you can sit on them, hug them, climb on them and properly get to know them!

Each elephant is unique, decorated by a different artist or celebrity and together “the elephants brighten and beautify the city, enhancing every park, street corner and building they grace.” The Elephant Parade runs from May to July 2010 and is London’s biggest outdoor art event on record. With an estimated audience of 25 million, they aim to raise £2 million for the Asian elephant and benefit 20 UK conservation charities.

If you’re not keen to go traipsing around the city, you can see the entire Elephant Parade herd at the official viewing days at the Royal Hospital Chelsea on the 25th, 26th and 28th June. And if you see one you like, all the elephants are for sale by auction and every bid placed is a bid for habitat. There are also mini elephants are
available at Selfridges, 80 Regent St, 6 Foubert’s Place and Greenwich Central Market or at the elephant parade online shop.

The charity behind the event is Elephant Family, a small but hugely ambitious charity working to save the Asian elephant from extinction in the wild (www.elephantparadelondon.org).

Free Range

For every talented creative in London there are five more waiting just around the corner. Great if you’re in the kind of business that looks to take advantage of creatives or benefits from all the choice, bad if you’re one of said creatives and you’re trying to get someone to take notice of you. It’s a super competitive world out there and without a helping hand, a leg up or some solid gold connections, no matter how
talented you are the likelihood is that you will struggle.

That is why projects like ‘Free Range’ at the Old Truman Brewery are so very valuable. Free Range is a special project set up by Tamsin O’Hanlon in 2001 to support new creative talent. Since then it has become an annual event and now the Free Range graduate art & design show takes place every June and July at the Old Truman Brewery near Liverpool Street. The show offers a platform for graduate art and design students to showcase their work to both public and industry, an opportunity that is incredibly valuable.

Free Range shows work by students from more than 100 university courses from across the UK and gives you a unique opportunity to meet the hottest new creative talent all under one roof. The Free Range shows rotate weekly over the 8-week season and are curated by discipline including design, graphics, photography, art and interiors.  Part of the project is Free Range Fashion Week which this year includes a brand new fashion category with three catwalk shows. Other than the obvious attraction that you’re not looking at a Damien Hirst so you won’t have to pay the price of a Damien Hirst, there’s also the excitement of the undiscovered goldmine of talent out there. Might not be a Hirst when you buy it now, but in two years…

The Old Truman Brewery
91-95 Brick Lane
London
E1 6QL
0207 770 6001
www.free-range.org.uk

Stillness At The Speed Of Light

Grace Jones is an icon, a brilliant icon. But she’s also completely mad and anyone who takes her on as a work colleague must be incredibly brave or ever so slightly drunk. When I heard about this project – Stillness At The Speed of Light – a collaboration between Grace Jones and light artist Chris Levine I thought hmmmmm I wonder how that’s going to turn out. Well actually it would seem it has turned out rather well. From the opening night of the exhibition with Grace reading poetry, it has been something of a roaring success. The show will also be used to launch Grace’s new video Love you to life, which Chris Levine directed with Why Not Assc. so they must have got on pretty well.

If you’re wondering what the exhibition will be about, a highlight will be “a statement; a 3D image of Grace with her eyes shut, one of several ethereal, sensory portraits some of which are lit by laser.”  Apparently the exhibition will also show Grace’s ability to identify zeitgeist artists such as Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Jean Paul Goude, Eiko Ishioka and now Chris Levine, whilst demonstrating an evolution in portraiture.

Chris Levine is a unique artist with a rare sensibility for the use of light. He is probably best known for his historic 3D and still images of the queen and has a good grasp of the alchemy between iconic figures and the progressive artist. He is also involved in major light installation projects and has created work for some of the most dynamic creative brands and institutions and collaborated with some of the worlds leading photographers and fashion designers.

You might be wondering how this came about and apparently the two were introduced by Philip Treacy, who was art directing Grace’s first live band show in over a decade at the Royal Festival Hall in 2008. “The inventive collaboration between these two highly original, creative characters blossomed, and Jones soon asked Levine to create some original laser work for her tour. The results were breathtaking. Audiences were left stunned as a high-beam laser shone directly onto
Grace’s Swarovski crystal bowler hat designed by Philip, showering the entire audience in shards of light.”  I went to see the portraits at the weekend and I can confirm they are indeed breathtaking.  See the portraits at the Vinyl Factory from 30th April until 15th May 2010.

The Vinyl Factory
51 Poland Street
W1F 7LZ

www.thevinylfactory.com

Jim Dine

“I always need to find some theme, some tangible subject matter besides the paint itself. Otherwise I would have been an abstract artist. I need that hook… Something to hang my landscape on” Jim Dine in Jim Dine: Five Themes, 1984.

Jim Dine’s latest theme, his newest tangible subject, is one of my very favourite images – the heart. The exhibition of his work of hearts from around the world is currently on show at the Alan Cristea Gallery and the work has a really rather fascinating premise: “The “Heart”, one of his most enduring vehicles for his (the artist’s) explorations of line and colour and one of his most expressive motifs, will be the common denominator in some 40 recent works, made in his studios in New York and Gottingen, Germany, and on a recent journey to India.”

Ever one to be at the forefront of art, the heart-themed exhibition will concentrate on a series of some twenty watercolours and a similar amount of limited edition prints which combine new and time-honoured technology – etching, screenprinting and digital printing.

The legendary 75 year old Jim Dine is an American pop artist who first earned respect in the art world with his ‘Happenings’ – chaotic performance art that was a stark contrast with the more sombre mood of the expressionists popular in the New York art world in the 1950s. Over his lifetime Dine has achieved solo exhibitions from the Guggenheim to the Getty in his native America and in museums in major cities across the length and breadth of Europe. He is now a recognised name in the art world and an impressive innovator and if you don’t yet have him on your radar this would be a good opportunity to see his work. The exhibition runs from Wednesday 21st Apr 2010 to Saturday 22nd May 2010 (www.alancristea.com).

31 Cork Street
London
W1S 3NU
02074391866

Storm Thorgerson

Storm Thorgerson is a highly talented graphic designer whose work you may well be familiar with through the cover art of rock bands like Pink Floyd, 10cc, Dream Theater, The Mars Volta, Muse and The Cranberries. He is also a key member of the British graphic art group Hipgnosis. Thorgerson is extremely influenced by René Magritte, a Belgian surreal artist and often places objects out of their traditional contexts, especially with vast spaces around them, to give them an awkward appearance while highlighting their beauty. He says “I like photography because it is a reality medium, unlike drawing which is unreal. I like to mess with reality…to bend reality. Some of my works beg the question of is it real or not?”

The Ideas Generation Gallery is currently hosting an exhibition of his work from Led Zeppelin to Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath to Megadeath, Muse to the Mars Volta. This exhibition uncovers some of the events, exstallations, sculptures, images, drawings, and ideas behind Storm Thorgerson’s 40-year career as one of the pioneers of original commercial design. The retrospective is not only an exhibition of his most celebrated covers but also offers a unique insight into the otherworldly and incongruous work Storm is carrying out today.  Storm’s distinctive imagery is among the most recognisable in the modern world. Creating visually arresting and thought provoking visuals, Storm’s work establishes him as one of the most important creative minds of recent times.  Responsible for what has been dubbed as one the greatest album covers of all time, – Pink Floyd’s 1973 The Dark Side of the Moon – Storm’s other collaborations with 10CC, Catherine Wheel, The
Cranberries, Muse, Genesis, Led Zeppelin and Peter Gabriel have all gone down in musical and design history and he continues to create groundbreaking work well into his 60s (www.ideageneration.co.uk).

Idea Generation
11 Chance Street
London E2 7JB
020 7749 6850

Enchanted Palace

Everyone loves a palace. From kids with their wild imaginations, able to see historical ghosts in every corner and adventures at every turn, to women who have never quite let go of the princess dream, to the young man looking for somewhere to propose – there’s something there for everyone. The UK is lucky enough to be blessed with a huge number of palaces and London probably has more than its fair share. One of these is Kensington Palace, home to a huge range of historical figures, including Princess Diana who lived in Apartment 8 until her death in 1997 and the location of all those media images of the sea of flowers that subsequently appeared outside the gates. The palace is well worth a visit on its own but at the moment there’s an extra reason to go as the palace is hosting the ‘Enchanted Palace’ exhibition.

The Enchanted Palace in a new and exciting exhibition being staged at the palace that combines “fashion, performance, and dazzling spectacle to reveal Kensington’s magnificent State Apartments in a magical new light.” The exhibition is being staged by UK theatre company, WILDWORKS who “will cast a spell over the palace, creating a mysterious and atmospheric world for visitors to explore.” Using the backdrop of the famous King’s and Queen’s apartments, the plan is for leading fashion designers Vivienne Westwood, William Tempest, Stephen Jones, Boudicca, Aminaka Wilmont and illustrator/set designer Echo Morgan to each create installations, inspired by the stories of the princesses who once lived at Kensington – Mary, Anne, Caroline, Charlotte, Victoria, Margaret and Diana. These designs will be displayed alongside historic items from the Royal Collection and Kensington Palace’s Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, together with two dresses worn by Diana, Princess of Wales and Princess Margaret. If you’ve ever been curious about how the other half lived now’s your chance to have a nosey (www.hrp.org.uk).

Kensington Palace State Apartments

Kensington Gardens.

London.

W8 4PX

0844 4827777