Its finally summer and while the big heat wave has gone, the evenings are just right to sit outside and enjoy the night with some friends and a drink or two. If you are looking for a place to do just that, look no further and head to the Brunel Museum on Fridays or Saturdays. Not the place for a drink? – it sure is. Since the opening of the roof garden on top of the Southern Shaft of the Brunel tunnel, they have been organising Midnight Apothecary.
The sun has finally decided to make an appearance this weekend and I used the opportunity to spend a lazy Saturday in Shoreditch / Hackney with some friends. Even though my picture-taking activity was on the low side, it was so much fun that I thought I share our route with you nevertheless. So here it comes…
Your lazy weekend tour through Shoreditch / Hackney
Note: for the “market” part of the stroll, the market will depend on whether you go on Saturday (then you’ll experience Broadway market, left picture) or Sunday (Columbia Road Flower market, right picture). Both streets are also great without the market, as there are nice shops and good food opportunities anyway!
Good Morning Art Lovers! If you do only one thing this week….get in line at the Victoria Miro Gallery in Wharf Road (at the Old Street Basin of the Regent’s Canal) – to see what might be the most popular Gallery Exhibition of the summer, if not the year.
Yayoi Kusama is one of the most important Japanese Artists of the 20th Century and even though she is 87 years already, this is all new work on display. Kusama is most famous for her Polka Dots and has become known to the London public through her exhibition at Tate Modern in 2012 and her collaboration with Louis Vuitton, transforming Selfridges Windows in 2013.
In this exhibition, there are a few of her sculptures and paintings, but the true draw are the large installations, one in the garden (see above) as well as 3 “infinity rooms” – mirrored rooms where one feels like Alice in Wonderland. They are absolutely stunning in their visual effects reflecting pumpkins and chandeliers millionfold (the pictures below don’t do it any justice).
Last but not least, the gallery space as such is also stunning to experience, a transformed wharf house at the canal basin, making the most of its large spaces and the canal-side garden.
If you want to know more about Yayoi Kusama, check out her Website or Wikipedia. If you want to really know more and see her art in a new context, her autobiography, titled “Infinity Net” is an impressive and touching read.
If you want to visit, the exhibition is open until 30th of July on Tuesdays- Saturdays 10am-6pm. On Saturdays, it can get very busy and there will be a “one in-one out” policy, meaning you’ll have to stand in line (could be up to 1 hour) to get in. Inside, there is more waiting, as the infinity rooms can be viewed only by a handful people at once (but its absolutely worth the wait).
More information on exhibition and gallery can be found at the Gallery Website.
That's London Baby! 