The Philistine: The Very Best Of London Culture This July
By Something CuratedWe’ve collated July’s most exciting cultural-happenings in London – from meditations on Los Angeles to two fantastic cinematic seasons, Frida Kahlo, and merry day-out in Soho, and the bright, unapologetic history (and future) of British independent print. There’s something for everyone.
Exhibitions
Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up, at V&A Museum | Frida Kahlo (Until 4 Nov)
Through paintings and her own personal objects, from clothing to cosmetics, photographs and prosthetics, Making Her Self Up examines the life and work of Mexican painter and portraitist Frida Kahlo. It’s the first time that her personal artefacts, which were locked up for 50 years after her death in 1954, will be on view outside of Mexico. It’s anticipated to be a sell-out, so we recommend booking tickets in advance.
Julie Becker: I Must Create A Master Piece To Pay The Rent, at ICA | Julie Becker (Until 12 Aug)
‘Los Angeles as dystopia’ is a trope that runs through Becker’s work. But unlike the blank, deserted industrial blocks in the paintings of Ed Ruscha, whose works are also in London at The National Gallery this month, people – and their precarious lives – are at the heart of Becker’s body of pop-culture peppered installations, sculptures, drawings, videos and photographs. The American artist, who died suddenly in 2016, was interested in the psychological, cinematic and material geographies of Los Angeles as a backdrop to the fall of the American Dream.
New Work Part II: Material, at Cob Gallery | Lindsey Mendick, Caroline Achaintre, Dean Levin & More (Until 21 Jul)
New Work Part II: Material is a group show featuring international artists working with unconventional materials, practicing across painting, sculpture, video, installation and mixed media. This is the second exhibition in a three-part series devised at Green Gallery, New York, and inspired by curator Richard Bellamy’s group exhibitions from 1960-65 which selected artists whose work was bold and groundbreaking.
Ed Ruscha: Course of Empire, at The National Gallery | Ed Ruscha (Until 7 Oct)
The sprawling, unbeautiful industrial buildings of Los Angeles are at the heart of Course of Empire, the Pop artist Ed Ruscha’s inquiry into American progress. Presenting the United States at the 51st Venice Biennale in 2005, Ruscha’s paintings are a take on American painter Thomas Cole’s famous five-painting cycle of the same name, which record the rise and fall of a Romantic, utopian city.
Evan Ifekoya: Ritual Without Belief, at Gasworks | Evan Ifekoya (Until 2 Sep)
A cresting wave, a collection of slowly-deflating helium balloons in black, white, silver and lilac (a nod to the legendary 1970s New York party space The Loft), a community-built soundsystem, a conversation between friends – Evan Ifekoya’s Ritual Without Belief is a 6-hour long spectacle of sound art and installation, containing all of this and more. Described as ‘a black queer algorithm across generations, locations and political affiliations’, Ifekoya’s work runs everyday from the gallery’s opening to it’s close.
Dorothea Lange / Vanessa Winship: A Photography Double-Bill, at Barbican | Dorothea Lange and Vanessa Winship (Until 2 Sep)
The photographic works of American activist and documentary-photographer Dorothea Lange, and contemporary photographer Vanessa Winship are brought side-by-side in two adjacent exhibitions at Barbican (and happily, you can see both for the cost of one ticket.) Lange’s depression-era portraits are iconic, but Winship’s award-winning work is lesser-known. Exploring concepts of borders, lands, memory, desire, identity and history, her mesmerising photographs capture people and place across Albania, Serbia, Kosovo and Greece and the United States.
Print! Tearing It Up, at Somerset House | Spare Rib, The Face, gal-dem, OOMK & Mushpit (Until 22 Aug)
Pour over Britain’s vibrant history of independent magazines in Print! Tearing It Up, an exhibition that scoffs at the (long-storeyed) suggestion that print is dead. From 1930s pacifist rags like Peace News, to the unrelenting satire of Private Eye, era-defining titles like Spare Rib and The Face, and DIY zines, this exhibition takes a long look at this history of the medium, as well as surveying the health of today’s exciting boundary-pushing publications like gal-dem and OOMK.
Film & Performance
The Films of Wim Wenders, at Prince Charles Cinema | Wim Wenders (2 Jul – 30 Aug)
A two-month long season dedicated to the films of German director Wim Wenders; what a treat! Don’t uh, let the fact it’s meant to be the hottest British summer on record deter you from sitting in a dark room, though. Alice In The Cities, Kings of The Road, Buena Vista Social Club, Paris, Texas, Wings of Desire and The American Friend will all be screened on 35mm.
Agnès Varda: Vision of an Artist, at BFI | Agnès Varda (Until 30 Jul)
It’s a big year for director Agnes Varda. It started with the Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature, for her film ‘Faces Places’ – making her the oldest Oscar nominee ever, at 89 years old. Then there’s her new video commission at Liverpool Biennial (showing from July 14 onwards), and the matter of her very charming (newish) Instagram account, which has won a brand new legion of fans and think-pieces with titles like “French director Agnès Varda is more than a meme.” It’s the perfect time, then, for this retrospective of her six-decade back catalogue of cinematic works, continuing at BFI this month.
Fun Home, at The Old Vic | Alison Bechdel (Until 1 Sep)
The Tony award-winning stage adaptation of Fun Home, the witty and moving graphic novel by writer Alison Bechdel (known to many for creating the feminist film theory known as the ‘Bechdel Test’) transfers from Broadway to the Old Vic. It’s rooted in Bechdel’s childhood memories of growing up in a funeral home (yes, a funeral home) her coming out, and complicated relationship with her father.
Autobiography, at Sadler’s Wells | Company Wayne McGregor (26-28 Jul)
Back in London, multi award-winning choreographer Wayne McGregor takes the sequencing of his own genome as the basis for a series of portraits reflecting on the self, life, the written word and the unreliability of memory, with reinvented sequences at each performance. Set to a score by electronic artist Jlin with costumes by Aitor Throup.
Events
Jupiter Woods and chats | Leah Walker, Berry Patten & Dannie Russo (Open 1, 8, 22 Jul, 6, 19 Aug & 2 Sep)
Over the summer months, Jupiter Woods is collaborating with chats, a South-East London based food and socialising project run by Leah Walker, Berry Patten and Dannie Russo, to engender a space for sharing and meeting in the renovated garden. During their residency, chats will fit a kitchen in the Jupiter Woods’ premises and act as an extension of the gallery in an active cafe/canteen capacity. Opening on 1 July, from 3pm to 11pm.
Charlotte Edey In Conversation with Juno Calypso, at Flowers Cork Street || Charlotte Edey and Juno Calypso (2 Jul)
Flowers Gallery hosts the 24th edition of Artist of the Day, an exhibition programme selected by leading contemporary artists since 1983. The unique exhibition format, consisting of a revolving two-week exhibition schedule provides a platform for selected artists to present a one-day solo exhibition at Flowers Gallery’s Mayfair location on 21 Cork Street, accompanied by a programme of events taking place each day. Please contact rsvp@flowersgallery.com to confirm attendance.
Designer Sample Sale, at Carousel Next Door, Baker Street || 1offpiece.com (6 Jul)
Shop an extensive mix of discounted A/W and S/S 2017 stock, plus customer returned pieces from various seasons, at this designer sample sale. You’ll find brands including Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Céline, Dior, Etro, FENDI, Givenchy, Gucci, Kenzo, Lanvin, Missoni, Miu Miu, Peter Pilotto, Prada, Saint Laurent, and Valentino on offer. RSVP is required and early access tickets are available here.
Soho Society Festival and Waiters Race, at St Anne’s Churchyard, Wardour Street | The Soho Society (1 July)
The Soho Society Summer Fete (and it’s infamous Waiters’ Race) is back. Expect a mass tug-of-war, spaghetti-eating competitions and yes, Soho’s favourite waiters racing round the block with champagne bottles.
Words by Stevie Mackenzie-Smith | Feature image: Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up, at V&A Museum (via V&A)