Art And Entertainment

100 fun things to do this summer

3 months ago
Clockwise from bottom left: Six; Sheku Kanneh-Mason; Gauguin and the Impressionists; I Hate Suzie; Tullio Crali
Clockwise from bottom left: Six; Sheku Kanneh-Mason; Gauguin and the Impressionists; I Hate Suzie; Tullio Crali
July 11

THEATRE Horrible Histories: Barmy Britain

Drive-in historical larks: watch live stage antics through the windscreen while listening via the car radio. Features tales of Boudicca, Guy Fawkes, Queen Victoria and “Richard III, who in 1485 famously bought a long-stay ticket for a car park in Leicester”. Car Park Party, Henley-on-Thames (carparkparty.com), then touring until Aug 31

ART Art Nouveau

You know it when you see it, all flowing lines and organic shapes. This stunning University of East Anglia show collects over 150 works by 30 artists – sculpture, painting, jewellery, prints – in the dominant fin-de-siècle style. Sainsbury Centre, Norwich (sainsburycentre.ac.uk), until Dec 31

COMEDY The Drive-In Club

The summer’s starriest drive-in offers solo shows from a plethora of top acts: Bill Bailey, Omid Djalili, Adam Kay, Nish

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‘This is the time for more art, not less.’

3 months ago

“I’m at Harvard now, and they’re, uh, they’re closing the campus, telling the kids not to come back after spring break.”

Four months ago, as the country realized its leaders had blown it with the global COVID-19 pandemic, I had director and screenwriter Kelly Reichardton the line to talk about “First Cow,” her wonderful film set in the wilds of an early 19th Century Columbia River settlement, in what is now Oregon.

It’s about two outsiders: one an Anglo cook, the other, an entrepreneural Chinese immigrant, and their unexpected success selling homemade “oily cakes.” The secret ingredient in those cakes, and the cow responsible for it, holds the key to this team’s future in a hostile new world. But secrets have a way of going public.

I love the film, as do many, and it was a particular bummer that Reichardt’s film, released by A24, opened in Chicago March 13,

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Which UK art galleries and museums are re-opening, and which shows can I see?

3 months ago
Which UK art galleries are re-opening july 4 best shows exhibitions 2020 - Tate
Which UK art galleries are re-opening july 4 best shows exhibitions 2020 – Tate

Britain’s art galleries and museums are preparing to re-open at last, after the government’s latest batch of guidelines set out the terms for their safe operation after July 4.

The first major institution to re-open in England will be the National Gallery in London, on July 8. The Barbican, Royal Academy and Tate galleries will follow before the end of July.

Smaller commercial galleries have already re-opened in England, as they’re classed as “non-essential retail” and were thus able to welcome visitors (and customers) back, as other shops were, from June 15.

Scottish institutions remain closed, with the next review of guidelines due no earlier than July 9. Their Welsh counterparts will not open before August. Northern Irish galleries, however, can re-open from July 3.

When will each of the major venues re-open, what will they

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How a South L.A. gallery is turning Black Lives Matter protest signs into art

3 months ago
Brenda Thompson, Peggy Sivert and Tatum Hawkins of SoLA Contemporary stand amid an installation of protest signs. <span class="copyright">(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)</span>
Brenda Thompson, Peggy Sivert and Tatum Hawkins of SoLA Contemporary stand amid an installation of protest signs. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Black Lives Matter protests continue around the country, making familiar the myriad signs that people hold up: “Justice for George Floyd.” “No Justice, No Peace.” “8:46,” the last a reference to the amount of time a police officer held a knee to Floyd’s neck in Minneapolis.

Peggy Sivert and Tatum Hawkins, who run SoLA Contemporary, see art in these simple, yet direct, missives. So they have gathered dozens of protest signs and installed them in their storefront gallery space in a way that feels as if you have stumbled into a demonstration that’s been frozen in space and in time.

Suspended from the ceiling are bright pieces of poster board and scraps of cardboard emblazoned with slogans such as “Defund the Police,” “All Black Lives Matter”

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