Something for the Week, Issue 5
Welcome back to Something for the Week — your weekly selection of things to look at, read, listen to, and experience across the arts. If you like what you see, consider subscribing to the Something Curated newsletter. 2.0: Jorinde Voigt & Xiyadie at P21, Seoul 2.0 is an exhibition that explores the physical and theoretical potential of…
An Expert’s Guide to Collecting Prints
Helen Rosslyn is the Director of the London Original Print Fair, which returns to Somerset House from 21–24 March 2024. Introduction I’ve been the Director of London Original Print Fair (LOPF) since 1987, joining shortly after the fair was founded in 1985 by Gordon Cooke. Now on our 39th edition, LOPF has become London’s longest…
Interview: Artist Prem Sahib Finds Resistance in Pluralism
London-based artist Prem Sahib’s sculptures, installations, and performances evoke emotional reactions through a highly choreographed and honed language of minimalism. Often erotically charged, the artist’s works draw on personal and communal histories, eloquently dissecting the architecture of public and private spaces. Sahib is set to premiere their new work, Alleus, at Somerset House Studios’ experimental…
The Best Looks from the 2024 Oscars Red Carpet
Below, Something Curated’s editors select their favourite looks from the 96th Academy Awards, which took place in Los Angeles last night, 10 March 2024. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was the big winner, picking up seven awards, including best picture, best director, as well as best actor for Cillian Murphy. Elsewhere, Emma Stone took home best actress…
Interview: Andrew Pierre Hart Discovers the Rhythms of Paint...
Andrew Pierre Hart’s practice explores the symbiotic relationship between sound and painting, incorporating aspects of sculpture, language, performance and film. His abstract compositions draw on sources as diverse as the murals of the Gurunsi people in Burkina Faso, Yoruba divination codes, graphic musical scores, and digital coding. It’s been a busy month for Hart, who…
Interview: Reina Sugihara on Spatial Memory and the Mono-ha ...
Tokyo-based artist Reina Sugihara’s paintings are at once viscous and static, depicting haptic moments in which objects and the body become abstracted and reconfigured through the lens of memory. Sculptural in her approach, Sugihara’s works emerge over months, and sometimes years, through a committed process of layering and experimentation. The artist is set to show…
Interview: In the Studio with Tammy Nguyen
Vietnamese American artist Tammy Nguyen’s work oscillates between painting, drawing, printmaking, and various publishing projects. The artist is behind Passenger Pigeon Press, an independent publisher collaborating with scientists, journalists, writers, and other artists to create politically astute and, crucially, widely accessible content. Nguyen’s collaborative, research-driven approach is exploratory, delving into history, scrutinising the present, and…
Something for the Week, Issue 4
Welcome back to Something for the Week — your weekly selection of things to see, read, listen to, and experience across the arts. If you like what you see, subscribe to the Something Curated newsletter. Shu Lea Cheang’s Scifi New Queer Cinema, 1994-2023 at Project Native Informant, London Taiwanese American artist Shu Lea Cheang has, in her decades…
SC Exclusive: ‘Ouida: Songs of the Sea’ — a Photo Essay by Wami Aluko
Nigerian photographer, writer, and filmmaker, Wami Aluko’s practice explores mythology, biology, and mysticism. A graduate of Philosophy from the University of Edinburgh, Aluko’s visceral images — exhibited in Europe, Africa and the US, and appearing in publications including Atmos, Vogue Italia, and Wallpaper* — evocatively blur the lines between the physical and spiritual. In an…
A Salad for Mother’s Day: Coconut Crab Cocktail with Magnolia Flowers
So I’ve been ruminating on a riff on a crab cocktail for a while now and on the way to grab coffee this morning had a revelation by a magnolia tree. Magnolia flowers are totally edible and have a delectably subtle ginger taste. Here they are quick-pickled in a sweet coconut vinegar brine which quietens…
What is Mingei?
Mingei, the influential folk-craft movement that developed in Japan in the 1920s and 1930s, is the subject of William Morris Gallery’s upcoming exhibition, Art Without Heroes: Mingei. With more than 80 works on display — including ceramics, woodwork, paper, textiles, photography and film — the presentation will incorporate unseen pieces from significant private collections, along…
Something for the Week, Issue 3
This week, discover the story of Cymande, the pioneering self-taught South London band, Jayeeta Chatterjee’s new exhibition at Chemould Prescott Road in Mumbai, a thought-provoking Substack out of London, and one of the best books out there on the Memphis Group. If you like what you see, subscribe to the Something Curated newsletter. Jayeeta Chatterjee’s An Eye…
Something for the Week, Issue 2
Something for the Week, our new column, returns. From a London Fashion Week first to Hmong-American photographer Pao Houa Her’s latest book, we highlight the events, exhibitions, films, and more that we think you, our readers, should know about. If you like what you see, subscribe to the Something Curated newsletter. DI PETSA at The…
An Expert’s Guide to the Wine Bars of Paris
Not much changes in Paris when it comes to wine bars and that’s a good thing. My favourite thing over the years has been to crawl from wine bar to wine bar cushioned by a lunch and/or dinner reservation and experience what a lot of cities around the world miss or get wrong. In places…
Michaël Protin’s Best Photograph
In 2016 I lived in Portugal for a couple of years. Porto is a small, very walkable city so that’s what I always did: walked everywhere, camera in hand, always, and I was probably taking 20 plus photos a day. Portugal is a great country for street photographers, and when I lived there the country was changing…
Interview: Soufiane Ababri Challenges the Dominance of Western Narratives in Queer History
Opening on 13 March 2024, Moroccan-born artist Soufiane Ababri’s first solo institutional show in the UK is set to transform the Barbican’s Curve gallery through a site-specific and cross-disciplinary presentation of work. Based between Paris and Tangier, Ababri’s practice spans drawing, sculpture, installation, and performance. His works borrow ideas from philosophy and sociology, as well…
Artist Tschabalala Self’s ‘Lady in Blue’ Is Nominated for Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth
A sculpture by New York-based artist Tschabalala Self has been nominated for Trafalgar Square’s prestigious “fourth plinth” competition – a space on the central London landmark which has featured the work of rotating artists since 2005. The current work, Antelope by Samson Kambalu will soon be replaced by 850 Improntas by Teresa Margolles who will occupy…
Patties, With a New York State of Mind
The Caribbean patty is one of New York City’s most important vernacular foods. They are omnipresent, and in fact – those outside New York may not realize – you can often get a patty at a pizzeria, or at a hot dog cart, where they’re displayed next to knishes. There may not be such a thing as…
The Studio Museum In Harlem Director & Chief Curator Th...
Thelma Golden is Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem, the world’s leading institution devoted to visual art by artists of African descent. Golden began her career as a Studio Museum intern in 1987. The following year, she joined the Whitney Museum of American Art, where she launched her influential curatorial practice….
Interview: Ernesto Neto On Gravity, Togetherness & The ...
An enduring enquiry into space, volume, balance and gravity, since the 1990s, Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto has produced an inimitable body of work that is in equal parts informed by sensuality and spirituality. Inspired by the Brazilian Conceptualists Lygia Clark and Hélio Oiticica, as well as biomorphism, Minimalism and Arte Povera, Neto’s works engage all…
SC Exclusive: Notes on a Siren — a Film Essay by Justice Jam...
Director Justice Jamal Jones joins myth with modern themes of Black queerness and trans identity in their latest film, Notes on a Siren. Presented by Something Curated, and exclusively premiering on the site, the film was shot on location at Palm Heights in Grand Cayman. Jones expands on the thinking behind their mesmerising work below….