March 15, 2019 |
Buck Ellison at The Sunday Painter
Yes we’re aware that it’s already half way to payday and those ‘April’ showers have already hit, but we’d hardly want you spending your precious evenings and weekends twiddling your thumbs. Considerate, right? So if you’re at a loss for what to do with your free time in the big smoke, here’s Ten’s guide of fun things to see in London this March. We’ve even handily organised it geographically in case you don’t fancy venturing out of zone or across the Thames this weekend.
NORTH
Late Nights at Everyman Screen on the Green, Islington
(Saturdays at 23:30)
FOMO was so last year, in 2019 we’ve full on embraced JOMO (joy of missing out). Okay perhaps not totally, but sometimes you need a night off to indulge in a bit of culture and chill, rather than finding yourself on the night tube home at 6am. Luckily, the Everyman Screen on the Green is here to make it a lot easier to not give into peer pressure and make a night at the cinema a lot more inviting. Slap bang in the middle of Angel, the cinema is located, as the name suggests, just off Islington Green surrounded by the multitude of shops, bars and restaurants that Upper Street has to offer. Every Saturday at 23:30, the Screen on the Green hosts it’s Late Night’s series screening cinematic classics.
This week it’s Richard Kelly’s dark 2001 fantasy drama Donnie Darko, featuring the Gyllenhaals, Drew Barymore, Patrick Swayze and an incredibly creepy man in a rabbit suit. Next weekend (23rd March) it’s the turn the heart-wrenching romantic sci-fi comedy Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and tumblr reblog favourite. On 30th March is Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), starring Michael Keaton as a washed-up actor afflicted by a previous character as he attempts to gain credibility in a Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. Also there’s a bar, where you can order drinks, hot food and snacks, to eat whilst you recline in your seats. So tick that movie you’ve always been meaning to see off your list and treat yourself, it’s probably less than that Uber back from Tottenham.
Nearest Station: Angel (Northern line)
‘The Prince Children’, Holland, Michigan, 2019 by Buck Ellison
SOUTH
Tender Option by Buck Ellison at The Sunday Painter, Vauxhall
(until 13th April, Wednesday-Saturday 12:00-18:00)
Across the river from the Tate Britain, the other side of Vauxhall station from the Newport Street Gallery, The Cabinet Gallery and Beaconsfield Contemporary Art, is The Sunday Painter. The artist-led gallery was setup by art graduates Will Jarvis, Harry Beer and Tom Cole (the gallery takes its name from a moniker given to them by a tutor) in Peckham before relocating to a larger space in Vauxhall in 2017. Representing artists including Max Mara Art Prize for Women winner Emma Hart, Samara Scott, Piotr Łakomy and Kate Newby, the gallery has show at Condo, Liste Art fair in Basel and Frieze in London and New York.
Currently on display is Tender Option an exhibition of San Fransisco-born artist Buck Ellison’s photography examining the concept of the “Perfect White Family”. You might recognise his work from the AW19 Balenciaga campaign he shot last year, unescapabley plastered across billboards and on Instagram through November. At first glance Ellison’s images appear to be well-lit portraits giving stock photo-like snapshots into WASP family life, but are not what they initially seem. Tender Option critiques the inequality of the American Dream, Ellison’s “families” are constructed of actors and staged using props, all exuding an uncannily unsettlingly-tense superficiality. It’s definitely worth a look.
Nearest stations: Vauxhall (Victoria line), Stockwell (Northern and Victoria line)
thesundaypainter.co.uk
@thesundaypainter
EAST
Water Damage by Arielle Chiara and Alix Vernet at Soft Opening, Bethnal Green
(until 31st March, Wednesday-Saturday 12:00-18:00)
There’s not that many great things about emerging from the depths of the London Underground every morning, but one of the delights of working in Soho is the knowledge that if you take the tube to Piccadilly Circus you can enjoy whatever exhibition is on display at Soft Opening. Artists who have exhibited in the windows of curator Antonia Marsh’s gallery, situated in the thoroughfare of the station, include Ryan McGinley, Claire Barrow, Rosie Marks, Gut Magazine, Harley Weir and Wilson Oryema. A year after the Piccadilly Circus space launched, Marsh has opened a second space on Herald Street in Bethnal Green, which opened with Heartache, a show across both galleries by Agata Ingarden. Until the end of the month you can catch Water Damage, an exhibition of new work by LA-based artists Arielle Chiara and Alix Vernet, exploring the line between indoor and outdoor spaces through sculptural and wall-based pieces. Whilst you’re in the area be sure to make an appointment to visit Claire de Rouen Books (conveniently located in the same space) and check out Alastair Mackinven and Behrang Karimi’s show at Maureen Paley a stone’s throw away.
Nearest station: Bethnal Green Underground (Central line), Bethnal Green Station (Overground)
softopening.london
@soft_opening
WEST
All About Eve at the Noel Coward Theatre
(until 11th April)
When was the last time you went to the theatre? If you can’t remember or you’re just looking for a good excuse to go, head to the Noel Coward Theatre in the heart of London’s West End to see All About Eve. What’s it all about and who is Eve you ask? It’s an adaption of Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1950 film, which starred Bette Davis as Margo Channing and Anne Baxter played Eve Harrington, based on Mary Orr’s 1946 play The Wisdom of Eve. This time around, directed by Ivo van Hove Gillian Anderson plays Broadway theatre legend Margo opposite Lily James, as her biggest fan and girl next door Eve, unsettling her spotlit world.
A story of ambition, jealousy and questioning our ongoing obsession with celebrity, it’s an updated mid-century showbiz expose, which still has an uncanny relevance today. Plus it features music by PJ Harvey. So forgo square eyes and rip yourself away from watching Sex Education on Netflix and see Gillian Anderson doing what she does best in the flesh. P.S. If you don’t make it before the end of this month, it’s streaming live from the National Theatre to selected cinemas with NT Live on the 11th April.
Nearest station: Leicester Square (Northern line, Piccadilly line)
