Pic: Ryoko Uyama

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Mull has pursued various careers, in stand-up comedy, music, film and TV, but he has an extraordinary natural talent as a painter. Using a palette of muted browns, greys and greens, Mull combines and layers imagery from different, unidentified sources, managing to create a cut-and-paste photomontage effect in oils. The scenes are dreamlike in their fragmentation, with glossy surface planes that are as impenetrably two-dimensional as old photographs.

Of course, the appropriation of the photographic aesthetic in painting is nothing new, and Mull’s endeavours fit into a rich lineage of works including those by Gerhard Richter and Chuck Close. However, Mull’s paintings are enriched with further historical referents. The paintings’ articulation of a specifically suburban emptiness and loneliness gives more than a nod to Edward Hopper, whilst Mull’s smooth treatment of paint and the filmic unreality of his compositions suggest stylistic influence from French Nouveau Realiste Jacques Monory. There is even a tongue-in-cheek reference by Mull to Picasso’s Demoiselles d’Avignon in his almost-eponymous portrait of four middle-aged (and fully dressed) women gazing at us from a white-decked porch in Akron, Ohio. In another work a woman grins out at us inanely, kicking out a shiny nyloned leg from her white garden chair, her clownish smile as circus-like as the tumbling gymnasts behind her. Some of the works on show are sad, some funny, some absurd to the point of critical in their portrayals of the promises of commercial culture.

Okay, so about that TV career…Martin Mull was Vice Principal Mr Kraft in Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I struggled with whether to mention this but decided that it just cannot go unmentioned. I know it will now be an effort to quash memories of Hilda, Zelda, Harvey and Salem whilst looking at this collection of melancholy and sardonic paintings, but make that effort: after all, John Lennon went to art college; Winston Churchill produced some striking landscape paintings; even Marilyn Manson has dabbled in watercolours (albeit with questionable results) – people do different things, so Mull’s slickly executed, thought-provoking paintings are well worth seeing. (Words: Florence Ritter)

Martin Mull: Leap of Faith runs until 26th January 2013.  For more info, visit www.benbrownfinearts.com/exhibitions/64/overview

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With his distinctive voice, witty lyrics and brazen flow, the Grammy Award winner is often acknowledged for changing the face of hip hop in the 90s, after emerging alongside fellow tribesman Phife Dawg and DJ Ali Shaheed with their debut album People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. Noted for its fusion of hip-hop and jazz, it would set the tone from their next few albums plus classics tracks like Award Tour and Electric Relaxation before the group broke up in 1998. However, Tip went on to carve a successful career as a solo artist, and following hits like Breathe n Stop and Vivrant Thing on his debut, his long-awaited 2o08 release,The Rennaissance, would pick up a Grammy nomination for Best Rap album9. His previously unreleased album, Kamaal the Abstract – recorded before The Rennaissance – would also gain a cult following before eventually coming out at the end of ’09.

Such is his notoriety that he and his crew are the subject of a forthcoming documentary titled Beats, Rhymes & Life that went to Cannes and praises the group’s undeniable significance and impact on hip-hop. So it’s clear Tip is firmly seated as a pioneering and legendary musician – and if the rave reviews from his 2009 show at The Roundhouse are anything to go by, this gig is one you really, REALLY, wouldn’t want to miss. (Words: Monique Todd)

For more info, visit The O2 website.

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But if you still teetering on the fence and maybe need more convincing that the fairer sex can make you chortle, then comedienne Laura Mugridge’s unusual site-specific show could tip the scales. Performed in the back of a VW van called Joni to an audience of just 5 (!), Mugridge takes us on an inventive journey through her life experiences. She is literally driving the bright yellow V Dub around the country to do the performances and is making a stop down in Camden for us Londoners. She has been on the road since April, racking up quite a few stories along the way – and not only has she received rave reviews so far,  she also won the Fringe First Award in 2010 – s0, who runs the world? GIRLS! (Words: Laura Thornley)

The show runs from 1 -7 July 2011 at Camden People’s Theatre. For more info, click here to visit the website.

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Watch Me Move: The Animation SHow is showing at the Barbican Art Gallery from June 15th to September 11th. Entry is £10 in advance/£12 on the door and for more info, visit www.barbican.org.uk

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