What was a few months back originally scheduled as a press call to interview Ai Weiwei and an opportunity to photograph the artist with his Circle of Animals was altered to a sans artist event due to his disappearance in early April. Currently, Ai Weiwei’s whereabouts are still unknown. Although no explanation was given for his disappearance, it is widely believed Ai Weiwei was detained by Chinese authorities in response to the online publication of a photograph featuring Ai Weiwei naked except for a toy horse covering his genitals along with a caption in Mandarin that could be interpreted as “Fuck your mother, the party central committee.”
On the outside I might have appeared all reserved and cordial but inside you can be sure I was singing “I’m on a boat motherf***er” to myself. The “launch” of Pontoon, the only private hire yacht on the Thames, was a fab way to spend an otherwise ordinary Tuesday night. The pommery flowed freely, the canapes where plentiful and tasty and the beaming evening sunlight twinkled on the water most delightfully. Of course, with hiring fees for this five-berth yacht running from £2500 to a helluvalot more, it was probably my only opportunity to enjoy such gloating at this exclusive venue.
Yes, a few thousand quid certainly is a lot of moola but given this megaboat has event capacity of up to 70, the breakdown isn’t quite so bad really. A classic motor yacht built in 1975 by Camper Nicholson and updated with high-end fittings in 2010 with a natural wood terrace, roomy lounge, three double suites and two twin rooms, it’s one to hint hint nudge nudge your office’s partytime coordinator if there’s some reason to celebrate coming up.
Moored at the already very pleasant St Katharine Docks, Pontoon opens 26th May. Interested (or just wanna gawk)? The Pontoon crew ain’t so hoitytoity they can’t throw up a page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PontoonLondon
I had a blast at last week’s opening of the Hat’s Off to Mexican Street Photography exhibition at the new Benito’s Hat location on Great Castle Street near Oxford Circus. Yummy food and drink (plenty of it too!), good convo and killer street photography – yeah. Here’s a link to a few more photos from the opening, and here’s some small rez pics of the photography on display (but I highly recommend popping round for a proper look see) as well as some info on how you can purchase them as limited edition prints.
Nayeli Cruz (aka naye lee on Flickr) is a photographer from Mexico City with four photos in the Hats Off exhibition:
Also featured with two shots in the show is Ferman Guzman Martinez (aka Reflex… yo guerrillero on Flickr) from Chimalhuacan just outside Mexico City:
All prints are limited edition (ten each) and available to purchase at a mere £42. Want one? Contact Ben at mexican@benitos-hat.com for details. The exhibition is on view through the summer.
Street photography is fun and offers unlimited opportunities for learning your gear and developing your own style. Documenting life on the streets through photography is a brilliant way to explore any urban environment and is becoming increasingly popular and deservedly respected as a genre. Here are some basic tips to help you be a better street photographer.
“Francis Bacon meets Donnie Darko” in an exhibition exploring a “disjointed world of macabre coexistence”. That’s how Core Gallery curator, Rosalind Davis, describes Extra-Ordinary, a subversive mixed media show by three London artists (Tom Butler, Alyson Helyer and Marion Michell, co-curated by Jane Boyer) diving headlong into the depths of identity and the psyche, the real and the unreal, and the anguish of memory.
One of my favourite art spaces in London, Diemar/Noble photography gallery, has just announced a cool photography competition with a theme celebrating its Central London location … and offering the public an opportunity to show their work on Diemar/Noble’s walls and win some fab prizes.
1539 guest rooms, 484 deluxe rooms, 744 Atlantis Rooms, 145 Imperial Club Rooms, 22 Imperial Club Suites, 31 Regal Suites, two Presidential Suites, two Royal Suites, two Lost Chambers Suites and one Bridge Suite: That’s Atlantis, The Palm – Dubai’s ocean-themed destination resort located at the centre of the crescent of the man-made Palm Island. It’s over the top (and under the water) with 46 hectares of fun and extravagant luxury including (get ready) …
the largest water park in the Middle East,
17 hectares of action rivers, waves, slides and pools,
a 700 metre beach with sun loungers and VIP beach cabanas,
one of the world’s highest free fall water slide,
a 2.3k looped river ride,
hectare after hectare of lagoons, including “The Leap of Faith” shark-filled lagoon,
90 minute shallow or deep water dolphin interactions, and …
The Lost Chambers maze of underwater corridors and passageways offering a journey through ancient Atlantis and featuring more than 65,000 marine animals such as piranha, giant arapaima, moon jellies and eels in the largest open air marine habitat in the Middle East.
All that and much much more amid a lush tropical landscape, world class shopping and a Michelin Star studded line up of restaurants associated with some of the world’s top chefs: Nobu, Locatelli, Santi Santamaria, Michel Rostang. For those wishing for a sneak peek at such opulent splendour, the resort’s new “Spotted in Atlantis” interactive video is well worth a look. Kind of reminiscent of “Lost” (one of my all time favourite TV shows), there’s a bit of intrigue to this vid. Have a look:
Cool cocktails with Indian spice (Londonist particularly approves of the Bombay Pimm’s – Pimm’s, Saffron gin, pomegranate, orange, mint and ginger beer – but like all the cocktails we sipped), a street food version of Dishoom’s Upper St Martin’s Lane restaurant menu and a hopefully sunny summer should all add up to some delicious fun at this newly open stylized Bombay beach bar set on the Southbank.
Want to see some cheeky photographs of Toulouse-Lautrec taking a dump on a beach? That (taken by art dealer Maurice Joyant at Le Crotoy, Picardie) and much more is on show at photo gallery Diemar/Noble in Some Photographs Taken in France.
Bringing Bombay’s famed Chowpatty Beach to Queen Elizabeth Hall Terrace, celebrated Indian restaurant Dishoom will be mixing up summer cocktails with Indian spice along with some pretty tasty street food (had some killer calamari tonight) and a range of “spontaneous events including impromptu, unplugged gigs” from tomorrow until the 4th of October at Queen Elizabeth Hall Terrace.
Detained Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s first outdoor public sculpture in London has gone on display in the fountain clocked courtyard of Somerset House. A series of 12 monumental bronze heads representing …
