“Martinis are so hot right now”
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This week
💦 it’s time to put an end to all-female group shows
💦 fight scene deploys a Koons inflatable
💦 Matisse in a Dr. Seuss hat
Events:
PVs are beginning to slow down but there are plenty of things to look forward this week: not least Darren Flook’s new three-person show, the Goldsmiths MFA show and a lovely Des Bains group show in their new Fitzrovia space. But there’s one hot event that absolutely cannot be missed this week – Barbie releasing on Friday xoxoxo
🧊 18 July | 6-9pm | A Physical Manifestation of a Thought Process, 10 Greatorex Street [Whitechapel]
🧊 19 July | 6pm, 7:15pm, 8:30pm | BODY SUIT – Live with Sharon Eyal / Music by Soft Toys, Hannah Barry [Peckham Rye]
🧊 20 July | 6-9pm | Goldsmiths MFA Degree Show, Goldsmiths [New Cross Gate]
🧊 20 July | 6-8pm | HMW, featuring Eloise Hawser, Laila Majid and Alison Wilding, Darren Flook [Goodge Street]
🧊 22 July | 2-8pm | total straw (curated by Nick Paton), 15-19 Parkhouse St [Elephant and Castle]
🧊 22 July | 12-6pm | COZZIE LIVS (Part II) featuring Alexei Izmaylov, Ruoru Mou, Billy Crosby & more, Des Bains [Bond Street]
🧊 22 July | HYPEROPIA 2023, by Ruth Angel Edwards & Chloée Maugile, Wysing Arts Centre [outta town / near Cambridge]
Hot Links
👜 “expecting Proust’s madeleines and instead getting plums in the icebox” – Rachel Tashjain’s obituary gives a whistle-stop tour of Jane Birkin’s style, at once sexy, chic, playful and elegant. From her famous wicker bag, to cords and cashmere knits, Tashjain explains how, in simple, quality clothing, Birkin saw an opportunity and unapologetically made clothing work for her.
🐩 “Koons’s outsize works are in fact elaborate piñatas” – Max Lakin looks into Jeff Koons’s latest collaboration: with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse for The New York Times. Obviously the artist chimes in with his stereotypically strange faux-philosophical quotes: ‘You know, one thing about the Balloon Dog is it’s this thing that has a lot to do with breath. It’s filled with human breath. But we’ve never actually seen the inside of one. What if we cut one open and we could see what was inside?’ Read on to find out x
🪦 “People get too hung up on the fact that you are supposed to understand Matthew Barney” – spittle fave Charlie Fox gets a longform interview on The Knot Shop Book Podcast. They discuss his legendary Haunted House show with Sadie Coles, Mike Kelley, and the legacy of a creepy portrait that a serial killer created of his doctor mother before she visited him for an appointment…
🛡️ “patriot, mystic, holy virgin, witch” – As Balenciaga sent Eliza Douglas down the runway earlier last week in a 3d printed, 36kg armoured dress, Roslind Jana looks back on Joan of Arc’s influence on fashion. Demna’s statement that perhaps if France’s patron saint had worn his armour ‘they would’ve not burned her at the stake’ aside, it goes w/o saying her influence on artists and designers has been significant…
🍸“Oh my God, I’ve never wanted to drink a drink more than this.” – The effects of internet trends on real-life restaurant trends has been long documented (our arteries are still reeling from the Tasty years), and even the faithful old Martini isn’t immune. Becky Hughes documents the end of the Martini as we know it, as a plethora of swaps and upgrades take what is perhaps the simplest cocktail to another level.
🐺 “totally ridiculous, playful and somehow violent” – artist Sonya Derviz engages in conversation with Mazzy-Mae Green for Curatorial Affairs, in a ranging convo that touches on Miroslav Titchy, Kiki Smith’s Wolf Girl, da Vinci jokes, and popping out paintings in an hour: this is a rare insight into Derviz’ enigmatic practice !
Add-to-Cart
We’ve been obsessed with artist-designer-educator Jawara Alleyne for a longggg time and were gutted to miss the drop of his newest pieces in Hoxton on Sat :(:( featuring Alleyne’s classic safety pinned circle cut out and what looks like some gorgeous new mother-of-pearl shell necklaces we aren’t sure we’ll ever get over it. The artist’s site has some incredible pieces available still (makes up for it a little bit) and trussst us you want to move on this – with rumours indicating Alleyne will be creating a new commission for Charlie Porter’s hotly anticipated fashion-art-bloomsbury-dior-erdem-woolf-kawakubo-orlando exhibition at Charleston in September, this might be your last chance! From £125 here.
Parting Shot
It-painter Noelia Towers says out loud what we’ve all been thinking: it’s time to put an end to all-female group shows. ‘Feminist’ commercial gallery curation is at best lazy and at worst ethically dubious. We can all do better xo
xo