Category Archives: Art

V&A Opens Photography Centre

Designers and architects have transformed a former wing of 19th century galleries  into a beautiful and welcoming suite of rooms, with state-of-the-art displays and vast digital resources for photography enthusiasts around the world. And it’s all free. Continue reading

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Covent Garden Smells of Roses

London’s Covent Garden is synonymous with many things. The traffic-free piazza, luxury boutiques, restaurants and bars are amongst those which make it a must see for anyone visiting town. There’s always a good reason to go but here’s one more. Fleurs de Ville’s  floral-dressed mannequin installations are now on display in Covent Garden’s Central Avenue. They will remain there as part of Frieze Festival until Sunday 7th October. Continue reading

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City Life Festival Celebrates All Things London This October

Demi Perera previews City Life Festival. It would be more than fair to say that London has a unique identity. It’s not something that is tangible and it’s never been an easy thing to define. Londoners’ appreciate it and it’s … Continue reading

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Yayoi Kusama: The Moving Moment When I Went to the Universe at Victoria Miro

The Moving Moment When I Went to the Universe brings new works, a trippy Infinity Mirror Room and plenty of giant pumpkins and more by celebrated Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama, to Victoria Miro. Continue reading

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Savannah, Georgia | Blackbeard’s Wake

Direct links between Blackbeard and Savannah are scarce, tenuous and not well documented. However, it’s as swashbuckling a city as ever you’ll come by. Plus, when initially planning my trip, I had hoped to shove off from to explore Georgia island that bears the pirate’s name. Continue reading

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Sushi Shop 20th Anniversary Limited Edition Box

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Sushi Shop has partnered with three legendary street artists to create three distinctive designs for a limited edition 42-piece sushi box. Continue reading

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Chocolate | Pierre Marcolini’s Winter Collection

Celebrated Belgian chocolatier Pierre Marcolini’s passion for sweet treats dates back to his childhood when, so the story goes, he would happily exchange toys with his brother for an extra portion of dessert. Continue reading

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London Art Openings | Impressionists: From Manet to Cezanne

Courtauld Impressionists: From Manet to Cézanne at the National Gallery showcases 40 Impressionist masterpieces, most of which are on loan from the Courtauld Gallery, which is currently closed as part of a major transformation. Continue reading

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Best of the Fests | Long Road Country and Americana Festival

Top country and Americana stars are lining up for the inaugural Long Road Country, Americana and Roots Festival. Old and New World traditions will unite in the grand surrounds of Stanford Hall in Leicestershire. Continue reading

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Open Air Cinema | Where is the Nomad?

Judith Schrut  joins the Nomad for a cinematic trip across Australia’s outback. Since 2010, the Nomad Cinema has been popping its outdoor screens up in Brompton Cemetery, Hyde Park Lido, St Paul’s Cathedral Gardens and other intriguing London locations, along … Continue reading

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Open City Documentary Festival 2018

Entering its eighth year, the Open City Documentary Festival returns to London this September to celebrate the art of nonfiction through films, audio and immersive (VR/AR) projects, screenings, special events, panels, workshops and masterclasses and more in a variety of venues across central London. Continue reading

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Best of the Fests | The World at WOMAD, Wiltshire

WOMAD – the biggest international festival on the planet is celebrating its 36th year in style, bringing hundreds of performing artists from dozens of countries and thousands of world music fans to a beautiful open air site deep in the Wiltshire countryside. Continue reading

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Supersonic Modern Michael Murphy | #TCTalks Episode 27

Episode 27 of tikichris Talks features an interview with San Francisco-based artist, Michael Murphy. During our conversation, we talk about Modernism, architecture, California and other key elements of Michael’s work. Continue reading

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Best of the Fests | The BBC Summer Proms

Judith Schrut  previews this summer’s Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. If you’re a classical music lover, it doesn’t get much better than the BBC’s summer Promenade Concerts, affectionately known as the Proms. The world’s greatest festival of classical music … Continue reading

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Best of the Fests | Port Eliot Festival, Cornwall

Summertime Britain is a food lovers’ paradise, with dozens of festivals, fairs and other tasty offerings where food and cooking take centre stage. That’s certainly true at the Port Eliot Festival in Cornwall. Continue reading

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Sam Hunt, Borough of Culture Creative Director | #TCTalks Episode 25

Sam Hunt is the first ever Creative Director for the Mayor’s London Borough of Culture 2019. Inspired by the UK City and European Capital of Culture programs, the London Borough of Culture award is an initiative launched by the Mayor Sadiq Khan. Waltham Forest (my home borough – yay!) is the first borough to be awarded. For episode 25 of tikichris Talks, I sit down for a quick chat with Sam to talk about his role as Creative Director, what makes Waltham Forest culturally distinct, what to expect in 2019 and how folks can get involved. Continue reading

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Dorothea Lange and the Politics of Seeing

Whether this is your first exposure to Dorothea Lange (1895-1965) and her remarkable photographs or you’re a lifelong admirer, this is a must-see exhibition. I was surprised to learn it’s the first ever retrospective of her work in the UK. Continue reading

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James Cook: The Voyages | #TCTalks Episode 24

For Episode 24 of tikichris Talks I visit the British Library to interview Laura Walker and William Frame, co-curators of James Cook: The Voyages. Running until 28 August, the exhibition marks the 250th anniversary of the ship Endeavour setting off from Plymouth with Captain James Cook in command for the first of three world-changing voyages. Continue reading

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A Worldwide Web of Somewheres | #TCTalks Episode 23

Episode 23 of tikichris Talks features an in-studio interview with Amanda Lwin, a multi-disciplinary maker of “Things about Places.” I met Amanda recently at the launch of Sculpture in the City, the City of London’s annual public art program/outdoor urban sculpture park. Amanda’s piece A Worldwide Web of Somewheres (on view inside Leadenhall Market) was one of my favourites of the 18 artworks that comprise Sculpture in the City. During my conversation with the erudite (but incredibly kind about it) Lwin, we chat about A Worldwide Web as well as systems and structures, the difference between a labyrinth and a maze, and all sorts of other fascinating topics that come from contemplating her work. Continue reading

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Review | Born in the USA: Taylor Mac at the Barbican Centre

Live knitters, brass musicians and backing singers stage left. Harp, strings and temperance choir, stage right. The legendary Taylor Mac, aka the gender fluid pronoun ‘judy’, in a multi-coloured explosion of glitter and tinsel, spectacularly centre stage. Continue reading

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Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up

With the opening of  Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up,  the V&A’s hugely anticipated, hot ticket of a show,  you’ll have a unique chance to savour more than 200 of Frida’s paintings, photographs, clothing and personal possessions. Their fascinating back story is clearly part of the allure: most of these items have never been seen outside the Casa Azul (Blue House), the Mexico City home in which Frida was born, lived and died. They had been protectively stashed and sealed inside a bathroom by her husband, muralist and revolutionary Diego Rivera, and only revealed 50 years after her premature death. Continue reading

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Bruce Nauman: Disappearing Acts at Schaulager, Basel

A comprehensive survey spanning five decades of the American artist’s odd oeuvre, Bruce Nauman: Disappearing Acts is a beast of an exhibition and one I believe is worth a visit to Basel in its own right. Continue reading

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London Nights at the Museum of London

“As daylight fades and darkness falls, London is transformed.” These words aptly set the stage for visitors entering London Nights, the newly-opened photography exhibition at the Museum of London. Continue reading

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Happy Birthday St Pancras International

St. Pancras International Station turned 150 years old yesterday on the 8th of May. The station is celebrating with a series of events named Celebrate St Pancras – the people, the place, the journey to mark the occasion. The events, exhibitions and installations have been commissioned to showcase the transformation of the station since 1868. Continue reading

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London Art Openings | Cedric Morris: Artist and Plantsman

Art fans and garden lovers alike are sure to enjoy two exhibitions of 20th century Welsh artist and plantsman Cedric Morris, running concurrently at London’s Garden Museum and the Phillip Mould & Company’s gallery. Not heard of Cedric Morris? No, neither had I before viewing these shows. Maybe like the proverbial London bus, you wait ages and two stunners come along at once. Continue reading

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London’s Southbank Centre Re-opening Events

Great things are happening down at the Southbank Centre, the UK’s largest art venue, where the Hayward Gallery, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room have just re-opened after a major facelift and refurb. Continue reading

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2001: A Space Odyssey LIVE at Royal Festival Hall

1968— Fifty years ago—  was a landmark year for movies, the release year for a massive feast of films now considered classics:  Oliver, the Odd Couple, Funny Girl, Yellow Submarine, Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang,  Rosemary’s Baby and 2001: A Space Odyssey,  to name a handful. Expect plenty of Golden Anniversary screenings, fan events and limited-edition merchandise for each in the coming months. Continue reading

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Chang Sensory Trails 2018 | 12 May | Last Days of Shoreditch

Chang Sensory Trails to Shoreditch to “deliver the unexpected” through a multi-sensory experience centred around Thai food, art and music taking place 12 May from noon to 10pm at Last Days of Shoreditch. Continue reading

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Espace Dali, Paris

Following a four month refurbishment, the Espace Dali in Montmartre recently re-opened with a clean, contemporary new look and plenty of intriguing surrealist artworks. Continue reading

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(Northern) California Dreamin’ | Berkeley

We’re heading south now, down Highway 101 to Berkeley, home of the Free Speech Movement, the top public university in the USA and my Alma Mater. Continue reading

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Eric Fischl: Presence of an Absence at Skarstedt, St James’s

An exhibition of new paintings by American artist Eric Fischl opens at Skarstedt gallery near Green Park Station on Thursday (1 March). The show examines the artist’s central theme (and title of the show, “Presence of an Absence” via seven large canvas works that provoke the more you ponder them. Continue reading

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Good Stuff #73

Good stuff and lots of it! Here’s the low down on some fine things to see, sip, savour and more – all of which I’ve recently come across and thought were worth sharing with you. Enjoy.

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Word on the Street in Jerusalem

Jerusalem is certainly an interesting place. Now that maybe stating the obvious but there’s something very contemporary happening and it’s hard to ignore. The city’s millennials are redefining it with one of the coolest underground movements since the hipster take over of Shoreditch in London. Here’s a list of places where it’s all happening. Continue reading

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Dan Witz Mosh Pit Paintings | #TCTalks Episode 11

Episode 11 of tikichris Talks features an in depth interview with New York artist Dan Witz about Mosh Pit Paintings 2010-2018, his exhibition currently on view at Stolenspace Gallery in East London. During our conversation we also chat about Dan’s activism and prolific street art as well as his punk rock past. Continue reading

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Ocean Liners: Speed and Style | Full Steam Ahead at the V&A

Relive the ‘Golden Age’ of ocean travel at the Victoria & Albert Museum’s  2018 opening exhibition,  Ocean Liners: Speed and Style. Continue reading

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