I admit, I haven’t done a Stop Look Listen in a long time, not since before Christmas. There’s no excuse, January has just slipped by in a blink of an eye, but this one’s a cracker. There’s lots of art, design and architecture events to look forward to this year, from a Charles and Ray Eames exhibition at the Barbican to the Alexander McQueen extravaganza at the V&A (they’ve just released an extra 50,000 tickets, hop to it!). But for the moment, you could either reflect on abstract art at the Whitechapel Gallery, get all nostalgic by the seaside at the De La Warr Pavilion or indulge your inner crafter at Heal’s Modern Craft Market. Enjoy!
STOP
What: Ladybird by Design
Where: De La Warr pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea
When: Until May 10
Occasionally I do feature events outside of London (shock horror!) and I can’t wait to get out of the big smoke and see this exhibition. Almost everyone who grew up in the UK can probably remember the innocent but delightful Ladybird books from their childhood. On display here are over 200 original illustrations that cover a selection of Ladybird books from the late 1950s to early 1970s. Focusing on those books which reflected the world in which the reader lived, the exhibition will feature selections from the People At Work series, Shopping With Mother, the Science and Nature series as well as the Well Loved Tales and Key Words series. It sounds like a lovely day out to the seaside to me.
Image:© Ladybird Books Ltd, 1963
LOOK
What: Adventures of the Black Square: Abstract Art and Society 1915-2015
Where: Whitechapel Gallery, London
When: Until April 6
This broad exhibition traces a century of Abstract art from 1915 to today, featuring over 100 works by 100 modern masters and contemporary artists, including Piet Mondrian, Gabriel Orozco, Hélio Oiticica and Aleksandr Rodchenko, to name a few. The exhibition title comes from one of Kazimir Malevich’s radical ‘black square’ paintings, that sets a starting point for telling the story of Abstract art and how it relates to politics. Exhibition highlights include an entire wall filled with photographs documenting the radio towers of Moscow and Berlin by Aleksandr Rodchenko and László Moholy-Nagy, amongst others, and blown-up archive photographs of iconic Abstract art exhibitions. It’s had rave reviews so far.
Image: Dóra Maurer Seven Rotations 1 – 6, 1979, collection of Zsolt Somlói and Katalin Spengler © Dóra Maurer
LISTEN
What: Heal’s Modern Craft Market
Where: Heal’s Tottenham Court Road, London
When: February 2-15
Following its launch last year, Heal’s Modern Craft Market is returning on Monday. Celebrating the best in contemporary crafts, the event will showcase eclectic collectibles and host live workshops.
A group of six well-known furniture designers – Chris Eckersley, Sarah Kay, William Warren, Gareth Neal, Carl Clerkin and Koji Katsuragi – will also take over the store’s front window for a week for the Great Heal’s Bodging Race. Bodging (I had no idea what it was until now!) is a hands-on craft that utilises unseasoned wood and traditional Windsor chair making techniques to create unique, one-off designs. Over the week, the bodgers will race to create several pieces and one of them (chosen by press and customers) will go into production exclusively for sale at Heal’s.
The workshops I like the look of are: an insight into the medieval art of leather moulding with bespoke furniture designer Tortie Hoare, making a miniature porcelain tea light lantern with Jo Davies, screen printing a tote bag with textile designer Gemma Waggett and an introductory workshop in crafting with paper with Stephanie Hosmer!
What are you doing this weekend?
