Art Weekly Digest: London 30 May - 04 June, 2017
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
Balenciaga: Shaping Fashion
Alberta Tiburzi in 'envelope' dress by Cristóbal Balenciaga. Photograph by Hiro Wakabayashi for Harper's Bazaar, June 1967. © Hiro 1967
Victoria and Albert Museum holds the largest Balenciaga collection in the UK which was originated in the 1970s by Cecil Beaton, renown fashion photographer and Balenciaga’s friend. This summer, the museum opens its breathtaking collection to the public, studying the most influential works and trends of the Spanish couturier known as 'The Master' of haute couture. Cristóbal Balenciaga, one of the most innovative fashion designers of the last century, was highly regarded by Christian Dior and Coco Chanel and his works influenced over 30 fashion designers across the world.
The exhibition will be on view until 18 February 2018 at the Victoria&Albert Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
Hymn For The Weekend
Hokusai: Beyond The Great Wave
Under the wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave) from Thirty-six views of Mt Fuji. Colour woodblock, 1831. Acquired with the assistance of the Art Fund
This is a unique opportunity to enjoy the extraordinary works of Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) - not only one of the great figures of Japanese art, but a father figure of much of Western modernism. Without Hokusai, there might have been no Impressionism – Claude Monet was inspired by his earlier experiments of depicting a single subject and many other artists collected his woodcuts: Degas, Gauguin, Klimt, Franz Marc, August Macke, Manet, and Van Gogh. The British Museum exhibition will guide you through the last 30 years of his long artistic life, showing his most important prints, paintings and illustrated books. Artist’s imagination is especially emphasized in his landscapes including the iconic Great Wave – a peaceful depiction of a hectic element.
The exhibition will be shown until 13 August at the British Museum, Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG
In Focus
Ceremony at No 20
Arthur Lanyon, Executive Monkey, 2016. Courtesy of the artist
No 20 is a fascinating new art space in the heart of Islington which hosts a programme of exhibitions, performances and events, supporting emerging and established artists. The on-going exhibition “Ceremony”, curated by Jim Threapleton, brings together works of Mike Ballard, Teresita Dennis, Philip Gurrey, Arthur Lanyon, Claude Temin-Vergez, Jim Threapleton, and Sarah Shaw who deeply investigate how paint moves and for whom ceremony is a common language of chance, improvisation, and surface.
The show runs until 9 June at the Gallery No 20, 20 Cross Street, London, N1 2BG
Last Chance To See
America after the Fall
Edward Hopper, Gas, 1940. Collection of Museum of Modern Art , New York. Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund, 1943 Photo © 2016. Digital image, The Museum of Modern Art
Final days to see some iconic American masterpieces of the “America after the Fall” exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. This landmark show tells the story of American life in 1930s and observes how the artists of that time have been responding to the rapid social change and changes in urbanization, industrialisation and immigration. The 45 famous paintings by Jackson Pollock, Georgia O’Keeffe and Edward Hopper to Thomas Hart Benton, Philip Guston are brought together including the famous work of Grant Wood “American Gothic”, which has never left North America before.
The exhibition will be on view until 4th of June at the Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD