7 h. ago ‘Just be radical’: the feminist artist giving Matisse a modern punk twist

In her irreverent new exhibition, Sylvie Fleury is pairing the great modernist’s drawings and cutouts with her own fashion-focused workWhen Henri Matisse described his work as “in step with the future”, he was thinking about his revolutionary cutouts, made with collaged coloured paper, rather than, say, the evolution of the women’s movement or consumer culture. The leading Swiss artist Sylvie Fleury came of age with the latter, but when she was invited to select drawings and cutouts from the Matisse estate for an exhibition, she was struck by the enduring immediacy of his vision. “My feeling with modernist artists is that, a lot of the time, they were trying to define what was happening within the history of art,” she says preparing for Drawing on Matisse, her showwhich situating 16 of his works within and alongside her impishly feminist and fashion-focused sculpture. “With Matisse, it was more like: ‘Just do it, be radical.’”Fleury well understands the power of disru...

Politics

9 h. ago London exhibition celebrates 100 years of black British music

London exhibition celebrates 100 years of black British music  BBC.com

Culture

26 h. ago Flamboyance, creativity, club culture – and no smart phones: why the 1980s are all the rage again

A series of major exhibitions focusing on the era has unleashed a wave of nostalgia for those who were there and curiosity from the young who envy its freedomIn the future everyone will blame the eighties for all societal ills, in the same way that people have previously blamed the sixties,” Peter York, the quintessential observer of 1980s’ style and cultural trends, said recently. He was referring to what he called the “big bangs” of monetarism, deregulation and libertarianism which “have been working their way through the culture ever since”.Curiously, he did not mention one of the eighties’ equally enduring, but more positive “big bangs” – the “style culture”, which began in that much-maligned decade and continues to echo through contemporary culture in an altogether less malign way. It is currently being celebrated in three exhibitions across London. Continue reading...

Politics

46 h. ago This land is your land: leaf portraits of Ecuador’s female farmers – in pictures

In the Zuleta community in Ecuador, farming is about more than just sustenance: it is about cultivating a deep relationship with the land based on ancestral knowledge. In her travels in the region, Colombo-Ecuadorian photographer Yinna Higuera collaborates with rural women, who in exchange share their understanding of medicinal plants and give her leaves from their gardens. In her Traces series, which has been shortlisted for a Sony world photography award, Higuera uses chlorophyll printing to superimpose the women’s portraits on banana leaves, vegetables and herbs. “Each of these women has a unique story,” she says, “yet they all share a profound bond with the land. Through these portraits, my goal is to make their strength and wisdom visible, honouring their role as stewards of the earth.”Traces is shortlisted in the creative category, professional competition, Sony world photography awards 2025. Exhibition at Somerset House, London, 17 April to 5 May, worldphoto.org Continue read...

Politics

5 d. ago London exhibition explores design based on needs of nature and animals

Curator of Design Museum show says ‘human-centric’ approach to design needs overhaul amid climate crisisDesigners need to “fundamentally rethink our relationship with the natural world”, according to the curator of a new exhibition which argues the needs of nature and animals should be considered when creating homes, buildings and products.Justin McGuirk, the curator of the upcoming More Than Human exhibition at the Design Museum in London, said our current “human-centric” approach to design needs to be radically overhauled as the world adapts to the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Six of the best art exhibitions coming to London in March 2025

Six of the best art exhibitions coming to London in March 2025  Time Out London

Politics

8 d. ago The Blitz: World War Two exhibition opens at the London Archives

The Blitz: World War Two exhibition opens at the London Archives  BBC.com

Events

8 d. ago Castles in the sky: the fantastical drawings of author Victor Hugo – in pictures

Although better known for his sprawling Romantic novels The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables, celebrated French author Victor Hugo spent much of his time drawing. A collection of about 70 of his sketches will soon be on display at the Royal Academy in London, in an exhibition bringing together caricatures, travel drawings and landscapes. Several of the drawings feature castles and ruins. “Hugo was inspired by ‘burgs’ – castles, fortresses or walled towns – that he saw when travelling along the Rhine, but he often drew fantastical castles that fuse memory and imagination,” says the exhibition’s curator Sarah Lea. “Hugo’s castle drawings range in tone from sinister and sublime to highly romantic and exquisitely detailed.”Astonishing Things: The Drawings of Victor Hugo is at the Royal Academy of Arts, London W1, 21 March to 29 June Continue reading...

Culture

9 d. ago What to do in March: London interiors events, design exhibitions and homewares launches

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Events

9 d. ago Isaac Newton’s beer mug to go on show in Royal Society exhibition in London

Though scientist was not thought to be a great drinker, he may have used beer as an ingredient in the homemade ink in which he wrote his greatest workIssac Newton has long been a familiar figure in museums around the world. Now, one of the famed scientist’s most prized possessions is due to go on display for the first time in 160 years: his beer mug.The wooden mug will be on public display at the Royal Society, in central London, from 4 March, alongside items including Newton’s greatest work, the Principia, and the scientist’s death mask, which was prepared shortly after his death to serve as a likeness for sculptures. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Keir Starmer ramps up diplomatic blitz to end Ukraine war with major London summit

Buoyed by his talks with Donald Trump on Thursday, Keir Starmer will continue his diplomatic blitz with a summit of European leaders in central London on Sunday

Politics

1 week ago The photographers who documented New Year’s Day – in pictures

24 photographers from around the world were asked to capture a different hour of New Year’s Day 2025. The photographs are being exhibited at the Soho Square Gardens in London Continue reading...

Culture

1 week ago London exhibition explores enduring impact of The Face magazine

London exhibition explores enduring impact of The Face magazine  Euronews

Politics

2 w. ago Britain hits Putin's cronies and Kremlin 'shadow fleet' alongside allies in China and North Korea with sanctions blitz seeking Ukraine war 'concessions

On the third anniversary of the unprovoked Russian invasion, Sir Keir said the UK would go after Russia 's so-called 'shadow fleet' as well as companies providing Moscow with military components.

Events

2 w. ago Things to do in London this weekend: from a pop portrait exhibition to De Niro's Netflix comeback

Explore top events in London this weekend, February 22-23

Politics

2 w. ago The Scottish Colourists: Radical Perspectives, Edinburgh review: 'fizzing with energy'

A century after the four Scottish Colourists exhibited together in London, their dazzling work has been reunited in this magnificent show, writes Duncan Macmillan

Politics

3 w. ago Cardboard City exhibition to shed light on London's homeless history

Cardboard City exhibition to shed light on London's homeless history  BBC.com

Politics