Culture at home in May – where to divert your attention this month
As lockdown
continues and we adjust to working from home, it’s more important than ever
that we carve out time for ourselves – whether that’s to feel inspired, learn
something new or simply hunker down with a good film. From online arts
education and virtual reality-based exhibitions to the latest book releases and
TV shows, this month’s cultural recommendations are designed to keep you
entertained (and sane) while housebound.
The See-Through House: My Father in Full Colour
This charming biography by Shelley Klein paints two portraits: one of her father, the textile designer Bernat Klein, otherwise known as “Beri”; and another of his beloved home in the Scottish Borders, a modernist marvel designed by the architect Peter Womersley. It’s where Shelley grew up – within this open-plan structure, peering through coloured glass panels onto a forest of trees – and where she returned to care for her father when he was in his eighties. An honest and moving memoir about letting go of both a father and a family home, and a celebration of one man’s truly unique (if uncompromising) vision.
We had the privilege of representing Klein House when it was sold in 2018, and Shelley will be talking to our co-founder Albert Hill on Wednesday 6th May at 6pm, as part of our new series of online talks.
London Art Studies
Dipping in and out of art history has never been so easy thanks to London Art Studies, the world’s first online arts education subscription website, founded by Kate Gordon in 2011. Quick-fire videos serve as fun, jargon-free introductions to masterworks by artists from Raphael and Rubens to Cindy Sherman and Yoko Ono. Dangerous Women focuses on female artists who have pushed the boundaries, while Reflections: Then and Now brings together works from the past and present. Among the latest additions is The Art Market, an exploration of everything from art fairs to fakes and forgeries hosted by Financial Times journalist Georgina Adam.
Fleabag
The original theatre version of Fleabag is back, complete with complex emotions and canny asides. Tickets to Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s solo stage show at London’s Soho Theatre were hard to come by, so you’ll be glad to hear that a filmed version is now available on Amazon Prime. The hot priest may be missing, as is Claire’s pencil haircut, but Fleabag herself is entertainment enough. Proceeds go to arts support and health charities like the National Emergency Trust and NHS Charities Together.
Normal People
From one witty writer to another. The highly anticipated TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s best-selling Normal People has now landed on BBC Three. The series, six episodes of which Rooney co-wrote with Alice Birch (of HBO’s Succession), sticks closely to the novel, following Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Connell (Paul Mescal) from school to adulthood. A bittersweet portrayal of unlikely friends turned lovers who share a profound understanding of the world despite their mismatched backgrounds.
Hauser & Wirth
Arts institutions worldwide are adapting their models in an effort to reach audiences at home and among them is Hauser & Wirth, which launched a new technology and research division in March. ArtLab’s first initiative is HWVR, a new virtual reality tool that has been used to create a series of exhibitions that “take place” at Hauser & Wirth Menorca – the gallery’s latest art centre, slated to open in 2021. Kicking things off is Beside Itself, which goes live on 30 April and features text-based works from the 1970s to the present day by Louise Bourgeois, Mark Bradford, Bruce Nauman, Lorna Simpson and others.
Isolation Art School
Creativity calmly carries on behind closed doors thanks to Isolation Art School, the free Instagram academy that offers demonstrations, bitesize video lessons, workshops and tips for adults and children. It was founded on 20 March by the artists Matthew Burrows and Keith Tyson to help people get creative while housebound. Sir Quentin Blake gives a short drawing lesson, Jonathan Yeo shows us a thing or two about portrait painting, and Polly Morgan and her son Clifford make figure casts from household materials.
The Ponds
If you’re hankering for a fix of the great outdoors, look no further than The Ponds, a gentle wade through Hampstead Heath’s year-round swimming culture. Threading together interviews and drone footage, the documentary presents an unselfconscious and uncomplicated tribute to the men’s, women’s and mixed bathing ponds in north London, as well as the swimmers who use them. A poignant portrait of people of all ages and backgrounds coming together and going for a dip, even in mid-winter. Now available via Curzon Home Cinema.
Oceans in Transformation
Oceans in Transformation, which launches digitally on 20 May and physically at a later date, is the most recent offering from TBA21-Academy, an itinerant platform that aims to raise a greater understanding of the oceans through art. This particular project will present research on the oceans in the age of the Anthropocene, the current geological epoch in which human activity has the biggest influence on climate and the environment. The digital version will also include a layer exploring the effect of coronavirus.
Philip Johnson: A Visual Biography
Another new book release, this one a deep dive into the life and work of the high-flying postmodern architect Philip Johnson, for half a century the most powerful – not to mention flamboyant and controversial – figure in his profession. Design writer Ian Volner traces an astonishing career. Johnson began as the first curator of the Department of Architecture at New York’s fledgling Museum of Modern Art in 1932; founded an architectural practice and achieved fame with his breath-taking Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut in 1947; and went on to transform urban landscapes with his distinctive skyscrapers.
Drawing Matter Writing Prize 2020
And finally, from the Drawing Matter Trust, a competition that invites writers between the ages of 18 and 40 to consider what a drawing reveals about the process of design, as well as the object or building it represents. Get your thinking caps on, and submit your two texts (one long, one short) by 19 June.
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