Tag: Art

Medical Culture Festival – Life Saviours: Then and Now

Published on 14th January 2021

Join us for this celebration of health and wellbeing in the heart of London Bridge February 17-24, 2021. London Bridge has a long history connected with health and well-being, which was institutionalised after the first hospital was established in the area around the 12th century in what is now Southwark Cathedral. Followed by Old St Thomas’s Hospital in the 13th century and Thomas Guy Hospital in the 18th century, this area has seen the Black Death, the Cholera outbreak, the Spanish Flu and more recently the Covid-19 Pandemic.  The people living through every single one of these medical disasters tried to do what they could to stay healthy, to stay safe, while the medical practitioners searched for answers to their needs and cures for the diseases. Washing hands, wearing masks, keeping social distance are not new things. Caring for people’s physical as well as mental health has been paramount throughout every single time period. This festival aims to celebrate the people and practices that have made a difference in the past and in the present. They will paint a picture of a community that has fought and continued to be resilient.  This new festival is a celebration of health and wellbeing in the heart of London Bridge February 17-24, 2021. Partners: Florence Nightingale Museum, Gordons Pathology Museum, Guys and St Thomas’s Hospital, Kings College London, The Old Operating Theatre, London Borough of Southwark, Team London Bridge. Find out more here. Events available to book from 18 January.

Missoni: Art & Colour

Published on 11th January 2021

Explore the Fashion and Textile Museum’s popular exhibition, MISSONI ART COLOUR, organised by the MA*GA Art Museum in collaboration with Missoni, with the Museum’s Head of Exhibitions, Dennis Nothdruft. With the founding of their eponymous company in 1953 in Gallarate, Italy, Ottavio and Rosita Missoni changed the fashion world’s – and our – perceptions of the knitted garment forever. The combination of Ottavio’s interest in art, design and colour, and Rosita’s innate sensibility to clothing engendered a whole new approach to dressing. The inaugural Missoni collection, called ‘Milano-Simpathy’, was presented by the couple at the famous La Rinascente store in 1958. A fashion show for the press was staged in 1966; the unconventional use of colour and pattern in knit made it the first of many successful shows over the following decades. Join the Fashion and Textile Museum for this Online Event and discover the creative process of Italian fashion house, Missoni, and the textiles of Ottavio and Rosita Missoni, in the context of 20th century fine art. One of the most respected exponents of the ‘Made in Italy’ concept, the work of Ottavio and Rosita Missoni is deeply rooted in modern art, making the Missoni brand distinctive in the world of international fashion. Tickets are £5. Book now. 

Get Creative with Tower Bridge at Home

Published on 08th January 2021

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Tower Bridge may not be open, but there are plenty of activities you can dive into at home! Designed to compliment and enhance your a visit along with your knowledge of Tower Bridge, these family friendly activities are sure to do just that. Children’s Art Week 2020 Learn to marble, make your own comic strip and even try some origami! Learn Semaphore Semaphore is a way of sending messages to people who you can see but are too far away to talk to. Using your arms (or flags), you can spell out words – each position means a different letter. Before the radio was invented, semaphore was used to communicate with ships to check they were ready to pass through. Making a moving Tower Bridge Picture Got a printer, scissors and blutak to hand? Create your own moving Tower Bridge picture with this cut out. Make a stop motion film Recreate the moving bus that jumped over an opening Tower Bridge in 1952! Make an origami boat  Thousands of boats pass under Tower Bridge every year. Follow the instructions to make your very own origami flotilla. Dot to dot and colouring sheets  Pens and pencils at the ready! Enjoy a series of dot to dots and colouring sheets.  

Foale and Tuffin: Made in England

Delve into the 1960s, with a look back at the exhibition Foale & Tuffin: Made in England, curated by Head of Exhibitions Dennis Nothdruft in 2009/10. Through this online talk, Dennis will explore the work of these two influential designers who were at the heart of the cultural explosion in London in the sixties. The Foale and Tuffin label was what cool girls wore – colourful, pop-inspired mini-dresses and trend-setting trouser suits were just some of the key pieces that were ahead of their time in developing popular, desirable fashion. Foale and Tuffin: Made in England charts the very personal story of two women who set up on their own with just a lot of courage and £200 in their pockets, to becoming two key British fashion designers of the 1960s and the part they played in creating the changing London scene. Book now.

The Skill of Narrative & Stitched Textiles

The 62 Group of Textile Artists presents The Skill of Narrative & Stitched Textiles, the third talk in their popular annual lecture series at the Fashion and Textile Museum. This online lecture will introduce 62 Group members Emily Jo Gibbs and Richard McVetis and their respective projects The Value of Making and The Potential of Stitch. The Value of Making (a series of hand stitched portraits of makers) by Emily Jo Gibbs Emily investigates how by taking the time to slowly describe someone in stitch you convey your admiration. Celebrating people who make things by the investment of time in making their portraits, a quiet, thoughtful act of care and value. Emily will describe how this project grew out of a collaboration with Bridget Bailey exploring how one might make a portrait of an Artist and evolved into the championing of people who make things for a living, depicting them through the tools that they use. Initially Emily chose seven contemporary Makers whose work she admired because of their design aesthetic, making skills and materiality, across a broad range of disciplines. Katie Treggiden wrote, ‘there are things Emily is able to articulate through the physically invested work of stitching…. that might elude both writers and photographers’. Gibbs will conclude by talking about her latest project that continues the conversation The Potential of Stitch by Richard McVetis This paper explores a 15-year fascination and obsession with a single stitch technique and how the expressive properties of this process have enabled Richard to visualise abstract concepts such as Time and Space. It is through stitch and making that Richard investigate time and place. Using hand embroidery, he records his time through multiples of dots, lines, and crosses meticulously stitched. Each drawn mark or stitch is a mantra; the stitches become markers of lived time. This seemingly humble, inconsequential repetitive action often overlooked and dismissed as part of the mundane. Connotations of the domestic reduce these actions to the field of the home, of the amateur, for Richard, however, it restores a sense of order. It informs a more profound comprehension and connection to the world. There is intimacy in this labour-intensive way of making; the ritual and repetition create an in-depth focus and an internal Space-Time specific to the artist. This thinking will be explored through a series of McVetis’s recent artworks, whilst also referring to the practice of Agnes Martin and Vija Celmins, whose deep focus and skill helped translate feelings and the world around them. Book now. 

Rear Window at White Cube

Published on 04th January 2021

‘Rear Window’ is an online exhibition at White Cube, inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s famous 1954 film about the seductions, and the dangers, of looking. Hitchcock returned obsessively to the theme of voyeurism, delighting in forcing on his audience the queasy thrills of the unobserved observer, and implicating them in the associated risks of seeing what one shouldn’t, or misinterpreting what one sees. ‘Rear Window’ is an invitation to consider how artists construct scenes and suggest narratives, use cinematic devices to tease our innate voyeurism, and how they explore and challenge the idea of ‘the gaze’ which Hitchcock’s film was instrumental in formulating. Curated by Susanna Greeves, Director, Museum Liaison, White Cube. Artists: Ellen Altfest, Jeff Burton, Gillian Carnegie, Julie Curtiss, Judith Eisler, Celia Hempton, Danica Lundy, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Laurie Simmons, Jeff Wall and Carrie Mae Weems.\ See the exhibition here. 

New artworks by Mark Titchner celebrate the London Bridge community

Published on 18th September 2020

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Have you spotted Mark Titchner’s new artworks in London Bridge yet? The way we experience our shared spaces has changed dramatically over the past few months. As the London Bridge area starts to welcome back more visitors Team London Bridge has collaborated with Mark Titchner to celebrate the strength and solidarity of the community in a new series of artworks. This collaboration with Mark Titchner evolves his relationship with the area and brings focus to the dynamic cultural identity of London Bridge.   “The original concept for this series of artworks was based on the idea of offering a nurturing, reassuring presence as we ease back into our un/familiar streets. However, as I developed the texts for the works, I also felt a sense that this moment – despite all the difficulty – presents an immense opportunity; the opportunity to build a better version of what we had before. As such the aesthetic style of the works shifted away from something soothing towards something bold and celebratory. Reflecting a hope that despite all the challenges so far and those yet to come, we will be together again in the streets we know and love.”  – Mark Titchner You can find these artwork on Newcomen Street, opposite Crol and Co coffee shop and at the top of Bermondsey Street Tunnel, between Pizza Pilgrims and Honest Burgers. Keep your eyes peeled for more to come! Share your images of the artwork with the tags: #HopeRevealsTheWorld #TheSunRisesBright

Urban Nature at the London Bridge Hotel

Published on 11th February 2020

Following its reopening, the London Bridge Hotel welcomes visitors to experience Urban Nature, the third OPEN exhibition of its kind, featuring artists and makers from the local area. About the exhibition London Bridge is an urban metropolis where nature is making a comeback – parks, corners and streets are once more becoming vibrant pockets of colour and habitats for ecology to thrive. Seeing nature re-emerging in the heart of the city has inspired the theme of URBAN NATURE for London Bridge Hotel’s third OPEN exhibition. The London Bridge Hotel OPEN project supports local makers and has so far exhibited over 30 artists and 60 artworks. This exhibition includes works in many different mediums including painting, drawing, sculpture, installations and photography. Artists exhibiting are: Anna Walsh, Henrietta MacPhee, Gail Seres-Woolfson, Liz Charsley, Lottie Stoddart, Lynn Dennison, Jane Higginbottom, Rod Kitson, Lucy Cooper, Dick Graham, Edori Fertig, Greg Becker, Joanna McCormick, Natalja Sigalova, Stella Yarrow and Lynette Hemmant  All work displayed is available to purchase. The hotel’s ambient Quarter Bar and Lounge is now open to visitors, offering an impressive cocktail list and bar food menu. As part of the Eat Out to Help Out initiative, diners will receive a 50% discount on food or non-alcoholic drinks (up to a maximum of £10 discount per person).

Illuminated River Boat Tours

Published on 31st July 2019

The first four bridges of Illuminated River, the public art commission to light up the bridges of the Thames at night, are now lit! Join official City Guides and experts from the Illuminated River project team, as they take you on a journey under the rivets of London, Cannon Street, Southwark and Millennium bridges, with Thames Clippers. Back by popular demand, 2020 dates have been released for the Illuminated River Official Boat Tours with Thames Clippers: Thursday | 16 January | 19:30 Saturday | 25 January | 18:30 Thursday | 6 February | 19:30 Saturday | 15 February | 18:30 Thursday | 20 February | 19:30 | Richard Dye, Finance Director at Illuminated River Foundation Saturday | 29 February | 18:30 Thursday | 5 March | 19:30 | Douglas Inglis, Director at Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands Saturday | 14 March | 19:30 Thursday | 19 March | 19:30 | Chris Waite, Director at Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands Saturday | 28 March | 19:30 Saturday | 4 April | 20:30 Thursday | 9 April | 20:30 Saturday | 18 April | 20:30 Thursday | 30 April | 21:00 Saturday | 9 May | 21:00 Thursday | 14 May | 21:30 Saturday | 23 May | 21:30 Tuesday | 26 May | 21:30 Book your tickets now and let the official City of London Guides take you on a journey through time while sailing underneath these architectural, social and historical landmarks of London. Tours start at Tower Pier. Tickets: £7.50 for an adult, £5 for children aged 5-15 years and London Freedom Pass Holders; children aged 0-4 years travel for free but a ticket still needs to be booked. Book tickets Accessibility: Illuminated River Boat Tours depart from Tower Pier and are wheelchair accessible. We can carry two unfolded wheelchairs and an unlimited number when folded. More details here. Passengers with a Disabled I.D. badge/card benefit from the concession rate; please select the London Freedom Pass fare. Visit the Illuminated River Foundation website to learn more about the project.

Eames Fine Art Secret and Silent Bid Auction Party

Published on 17th June 2019

IMAGE: Untitled (from 1 Cent Life), Tom Wesselmann 10th July, 6.30pm – 8.30pm Eames Fine Art Gallery, 58 Bermondsey St, London SE1 3UD Works on view 10 July – 4 August 2019. The Eames Fine Art auction always has a wide range of works available for visitors to bid on – modern masters like Henri Matisse and Alexander Calder and contemporary artists like Norman Ackroyd and Gail Brodholt. There will be several works without a reserve price, meaning that clients can place whatever bid they like on the work. The rest of the works have a reserve price that is the minimum possible bid. When a work is framed, the price of the frame is included. The auction is secret and silent, and lasts from the opening night for several days afterwards. Bids can be placed either in person or online. Winners will be notified if their bids were successful as soon as possible. There will be over 100 lots of original artworks by Modern Masters and Eames’ favourite contemporary printmakers, all these works will be offered at low reserve prices and you’ll have from the party on the 10th until the following Sunday afternoon to place your secret bids on the works you like. Bids can be placed in the gallery or online at eamesfineart.com.  On Monday 15th July the highest bidder for each lot will be contacted to purchase the works at their offered price. There will be more information about the party, full terms and conditions about the auction and a full catalogue of all the lots offered on this site closer to the event eamesfineart.com.