Somewhere you should go… Totally Thames Festival

Laura Thornley — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 10:00:26 +0000

The spread of London has taken many of its inhabitants away from its heart centre: the heaving, greyish brown flow of the Thames river. As many a city historian will tell you, the rivers of metropoli are what made them. So getting back to our roots, Totally Thames festival, taking place throughout September, focuses all our attention back in and ponders just how, where and when this river became a significant part of the capital.
The extent of events is quite impressive. Exhibitions, film screens, music stages, village fetes, and an extra large floating sculpture will all be present over the month in celebration of its history. Much of the stuff on is free with a few things coming at a small price.
Highlights include guided walks by local historians, fire sculptures poetically washed away by the tide, and a free outdoor film screen on the Scoop (Indian summer permitting). There is also plenty of activity around the Battersea Power Station.

River Works – Jacques Limousin

Exhibitions include River Works by Jacques Limousin: an artist who has spent years scouring the banks of the Thames for lost objects. His findings are revitalised into artworks of unusual and poignant stories. Also showing at the Pump House gallery is You Never Step Twice Into the Same River; an exhibition addressing time based mediums ability (or inability) to document the ever-changing waterway.
There will also be ecologically minded talks and events and some excellent live music on the Boatshed stage. A pretty good opportunity to see the summer out in style. (Words: Laura Thornley)
For more info info visit: http://totallythames.org/events

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Something you should see… Richard Hamilton at Tate Modern

Laura Thornley — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 11:00:32 +0000

If there ever were a barometer to measure the earliest proponents of Pop Art, those included in the exhibition This is Tomorrow would be a good place to start. The exhibition, curated by Bryan Robertson at the Whitechapel in 1956, gave space to numerous architects, graphic designers, musicians and artists that are often credited with kick starting the British Pop Art scene. Richard Hamilton was one of the many artists whose vision of the modern world played a seminal part in the controversial show. His name has won a place in art history and three years after his death, this retrospective at the Tate offers an insight into his life work and collaborations.

Hamilton is most famous for his collages and Just What Is It that Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? represents his most well-known work. His use of everyday images served as a humorous and quite accurate account of the modern age and where it was going. Credited with insight into popular culture that went beyond his time, Hamilton’s work is still fresh and relevant today, making this retrospective at the Tate essential viewing. Interested in everything from interior design, products, mass media and later art and politics, his work celebrated the nuances of pop whilst exposing its many contradictory and destructive elements.

Just What Is It that Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? by Richard Hamilton (1956)

Central to the exhibition is the installation Fun House 1956, a room filled with magazine imagery, film posters and art history; a droll slice of modern age, glamour, celebrity culture and knowing nudges.

The exhibition is accompanied by a series of events including reflections on his work by prominent thinkers such as Hal Foster and Mark Godfrey. There will also be a close up of his politically motivated work of the 1980s that focused on the Margaret Thatcher years and the IRA as well as a weeklong specialist collage course. (Words: Laura Thornley)

The exhibition runs from 13 February to 26 May. For more info visit: www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/richard-hamilton

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Somewhere you should go… Totally Thames Festival

Something you should see… Richard Hamilton at Tate Modern