Exhibition
BLACK VENUS
Somerset House is hosting Black Venus, an exhibition curated by Aindrea Emelife that examines the representation and legacy of Black women in visual culture, through the lens of the Hottentot Venus, the Sable Venus and the Jezebel. The work of 18 Black female and non-binary artists, including Carrie Mae Weems, Zanele Muholi, Renee Cox, Lorna Simpson, Kara Walker, Sonia Boyce, Ayana V Jackson and Delphine Diallo, will be on display, showcasing the many ways Black femininity can be expressed and reclaiming Black womanhood from fetishisation and objectification.
AI | WHO'S LOOKING AFTER ME?
Artificial Intelligence is on most (if not all) of our minds at the moment, but Science Gallery London is looking at the technological phenomenon from a different perspective with its new exhibition, AI: Who’s Looking After Me?. Looking to avoid the more fatalistic language typically used when covering AI, the show will explore the ways in which it’s already shaping our lives and the near future through its implementation in healthcare, the justice system, daily commutes, and more. Some highlights include James Bridle’s film about self-driving cars and their projected agency; a robotic arm that looks after a group of house cats and learns from their behaviours; Wesley Goatley’s graveyard of defunct Alexa voice assistants; an interactive romance experiment that uses an AI trained on everything the internet knows about love; and a multimedia project by Sarah Selby that highlights the power of algorithms within the UK’s immigration systems.
SPACE TO HAVE A BALL
For Pride, four ballroom performances will be displayed at Outernet, each filmed at a different heritage site conserved by the National Trust. The digital exhibition, Space to Have a Ball, has been inspired by the queer histories behind these buildings, such as the story of William John Bankes who owned the 17th-century Italianate country house Kingston Lacy, as well as ballroom and vogue dance culture. The films have been directed by Adi Alfa and Eric Myers and feature exceptional talent from the LGBTQIA+ community against the dazzling background of grand and centuries-old interiors – catch them outside Tottenham Court Road station before the end of June.
DIVA
The V&A is celebrating some of the biggest divas of our time with major exhibition DIVA. The show will dive into the origins of the diva, explore how some of the best-known performers shaped popular culture, and celebrate how the divas of past and present express their power and creativity. Over 60 outfits will be on display, (some for the very first time), including Marilyn Monroe’s fringed dress from Some Like It Hot, Bob Mackie designs for Cher and Tina Turner, and Sandy Powell’s 50th birthday ensemble for Elton John, alongside lyrics, photographs, sketches and other personal items.
GABRIELLE CHANEL | FASHION MANIFESTO
Based on a show of the same name held in Paris, Gabrielle Chanel: Fashion Manifesto at the V&A exhibition will feature over 180 looks (including pieces from the V&A’s own archive plus outfits worn by Lauren Bacall and Marlene Dietrich) as well as perfume, cosmetics, jewellery and accessories, and cover Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel’s career from the opening of her first millinery boutique in 1910 to her final collection in 1971. The exhibition will explore Chanel’s approach to dressing women and the way that she redefined fashion – she created clothes for the modern woman, with tweed jackets and trousers offering a chic and practical alternative to the traditional corseted silhouettes of the day – as well as looking at her personal style and her legacy..
A free, audio-visual ‘living portraits’ exhibition featuring spoken stories from 15 LGBTQIA+ people exploring what proud means to them is taking over Old Quebec Street during Pride. Proud West End will feature portraits accompanied by candid spoken stories accessible by QR code, from a range of individuals including drag queen Divina de Campo, founder of Queer Brewing Company Lily, Graysen from the Mosaic Trust, and Jason from Swingers Oxford Street.
Each year, the City of London works with artists and partners to curate a new trail of artworks that forms the annual sculpture park, Sculpture in the City. This summer marks the 12th edition of the sculpture park and features the work of 17 world-class artists and spans the Square Mile. New pieces from the likes of Simeon Barclay, Phyllida Barlow, Larry Bell, Rafael D’Aló, Isamu Noguchi and Mika Rottenberg will be joining some sculptures already on display, including Jesse Pollock’s striking life-sized model of a traditional grain store, and Oliver Bragg’s bench plaque that reads “In loving memory of a loving memory”. The nature of the sculpture park means that it’s 100% free and open 24/7, so you can stroll up and view the art any time you like.
WES ANDERSON ASTEROID CITY EXHIBITION
In the run-up to the hotly anticipated new release from Wes Anderson, 180 The Strand is bringing the world of Asteroid City to London. Similar to their French Dispatch pop-up, this immersive exhibition will feature original sets, props, costumes, artwork, visuals and sounds that’ll fully transport you to the film’s fictional desert town. Plus, you’ll get to eat at the already iconic Asteroid City diner, as a 1950s-era recreation will be set up onsite.
GENETIC AUTOMATA
Friends and collaborators Larry Achiampong and David Blandy are bringing Genetic Automata to the Wellcome Collection, an exhibition that explores race and identity in this age of avatars, videogames and ancestry DNA. The show will feature four films that delve into the subject of scientific racism and how it persists today, whether in education, healthcare, science, politics, or another sector. The duo’s latest work, _GOD_MODE (2023), has been co-commissioned by the Wellcome Collection, Black Cultural Archives (BCA), and Wellcome Connecting Science to premiere as part of the series. Each film includes a spoken word soundtrack and imagery from video games, with a specific focus on those with dystopian sci-fi narratives that deal with the unethical use of genetic material.
CARRIE MAE WEEMS | REFLECTIONS FOR NOW
The Barbican is hosting the first major UK exhibition on American multi-disciplinary artist Carrie Mae Weems. She’s known for investigating themes of identity, desire, power and social justice in work that also addresses representations of gender, race and class. This exhibition will feature photographs, films and installations from across three decades of her career, including ‘Kitchen Table Series’, which explores power in the domestic space; ‘Roaming’ and ‘Museums’, which look at the way architecture can express power; and ‘The Shape of Things’ on the history of violence in the US.
SUMMER EXHIBITION AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY
The RA Summer Exhibition is one of the highlights of the city’s artistic calendar and this year’s edition looks set to be another cracker. David Remfry is co-ordinating this year’s show, which has the theme ‘only connect’, and includes works in every possible medium from established artists, Royal Academicians and emerging talent.
Skittles, Gay Times, Queer Britain and Getty Images are all teaming up for the free, open-air exhibition Queer Joy. 50 portraits of queer people taken by LGBTQ+ photographers will be displayed around Granary Square, Pancras Square and Battlebridge Place in King’s Cross, showcasing queer self-expression and assisting in a multi-year campaign to fill the gaps in the LGBTQ+ archive.
Luke Jerram, the artist who hung that model of the moon in the Natural History Museum in 2019 and has done the Earth at the Old Royal Naval College and the Kensington & Chelsea Festival, is back showing Gaia at the Landmark Arts Centre, as part of the new Arts & Ideas Festival in Richmond. The illuminated 3D installation, measuring seven metres in diameter, features detailed NASA imagery of the planet’s surface accompanied by surround sound from composer Dan Jones.
CHILA KUMARI SINGH BURMAN AT RICH MIX
Chila Kumari Singh Burman, who was responsible for that epic Diwali installation at Tate Britain in 2020, is bringing her famous neons to Rich Mix. She’ll be taking over the venue’s Streetside Space for the free show, which’ll feature pieces that reference her Punjabi heritage, her childhood memories of growing up in the north, Hindu mythology, and British iconography, including ‘3k Heart’, ‘Bindi and Neons’, ‘Standing Krishna with Flute’ and ‘Punjabi Rockers’.
THE MISSING THREAD | UNTOLD STORIES OF BLACK BRITISH FASHION
The Missing Thread: Untold Stories of Black British Fashion at Somerset House will explore the profound – and largely under-appreciated – impact of Black creativity on the UK’s fashion landscape. Expect to be taken on a journey from the 1970s to the present day, charting the undeniable influence of Black music, photography, art and design on fashion along the way. The first theme, Home, will look at the intercontinental roots of Black British style and how safety is found in community. The second will explore how Tailoring has been used by Black Britons in establishing their own identity. The third, Performance, will spotlight Black performers and examine the effects and power of ‘being seen’. And the final will centre around Nightlife and the freedom of expression afforded by its spaces. In a fifth part of the exhibition, visitors will be told the story of the late Joe Casely-Hayford OBE, a fashion designer, cult icon and favourite of Lou Reed, The Clash, U2 and more. With exclusive access to the Casely-Hayford archive, the exhibition will close with a wide selection of unseen studio material and items from the designer’s most renowned collections.
In honour of Mental Health Awareness Month, Nick Williams is exhibiting his latest series of paintings that showcase the impact of art on the mind at 54 The Gallery in Shepherd Market. Having suffered mental breakdowns himself, painting is a saviour for him and this exhibition is one full of colour and hope. Williams uses the architecture and interiors he saw on a trip to Cuba; a lush subtropical garden, which he first imagined and then recreated at home; and the pair of snakes he looked after and the shedding of their skins as inspiration for his work, where he explores the theme of escape.
MONOLITH AT OUTERNET
ADOT Foundation, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) and artist Jack Dartford are teaming up on immersive artwork Monolith, to be displayed on the wraparound screens at Outernet London to raise awareness around mental health and anxiety. The piece, created by Jack and featuring audio from sound designer Halina Rice, reacts in real time as the viewing crowds grow, with the millions of digital particles that make up the monolith shape rapidly change colour, move and accelerate in an increasingly frantic fashion, with the accompanying soundtrack becoming more frenetic. It’s designed to explore the feelings of anxiety by simulating complete sensory overload, creating empathy for those who suffer from anxiety and panic attacks.
LUXURY AND POWER | PERSIA TO GREECE
The British Museum is exploring the relationship between luxury and power in the Middle East and southeast Europe from 550-30 BC, a period when the Persian empire clashed with ancient Greece before Alexander the Great conquered the region. Luxury and Power: Persia to Greece will feature a range of objects – including the Panagyurishte Treasure consisting of nine gold vessels, a Persian silver griffin-shaped rhyton, a Greek pottery rhyton in the shape of a lion’s head, and gold oak wreaths from Turkey – that explore the contrasting approaches to luxury in Persia and Athens, and how Alexander fused eastern and western styles of luxury together.