GRAPHIC DESIGN: LONDON
Pick Me Up
This weekend is your last chance to check out contemporary graphic arts festival Pick Me Up. Now in its fourth year, the 11-day gathering is meant not only to showcase the newest international talent but also to spark visitors’ own creativity. Limited-edition prints and artworks will be on sale – look out for Korean artist You Byun’s imaginative anime landscapes and Paris-based illustrator Ugo Gattoni’s intricately detailed black-and-white cityscape drawings. On Sunday, head to the portrait booth manned by the cult, profanity-laden comedy cartoon-making duo Modern Toss – just keep an open mind for the results.
Somerset House Embankment Galleries, The Strand. Open Saturday and Sunday 10.00-18.00. Until 28 April.
somersethouse.org.uk
FILM:GLOBAL
White Elephant (Elefante Blanco), dir Pablo Trapero
This week sees the release of the acclaimed White Elephant, a film that tells the story of two priests working on the mean streets of Buenos Aires’ slums. Lead actors Ricardo Darín and Jérémie Renier are not your everyday holy duo – weighed down with their own self-doubt, a battle to confront inner and outer demons is vividly captured. As well as telling a convincingly human tale, Argentinian director Pablo Trapero manages to shed light on the social struggles of his native country in a way that is both understated and credible, yet seductively creative.
White Elephant is now showing at selected cinemas across Europe.
patagonik.com.ar/eng/patagonik.htm
EXHIBITION: NEW YORK
Larger Than Life: Claes Oldenburg
The work of Swedish-born sculptor Claes Oldenburg is currently on display in New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Charting four phases of the artist’s career between 1960 and 1977, the retrospective features work ranging from his early pieces including “The Street”, a series of sculptures made of paper, wood, cardboard and papier-mâché, created to reflect his experience of living on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. In the Donald B and Catherine C Marron Atrium on the second floor, visitors can also enjoy Oldenburg’s later pieces “Mouse Museum” and “Ray Gun Wing”, created in the 1970s.
MoMA, 11 West 53rd Street. Open daily 10.30-17.30, Friday 10.30-20.30. Closed on Tuesdays. Until 15 August.
moma.org
FESTIVAL: LONDON
London Coffee Festival
Now in its third year, the annual London Coffee Festival kicks off this weekend at the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, east London. Expected to entertain 15,000 coffee-hungry baristas, shop owners and members of the public, exhibitors include a host of industry high-flyers such as the AllPress Espresso roastery from Shoreditch and L’Accademia di Cimbali, the world's largest manufacturer of coffee machines. Further draws include food from the True Artisan Café and the finals of the UK Barista Championship. A winner will be crowned on Sunday.
Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane. Open Saturday and Sunday 10.00 to 19.00. Until April 28.
londoncoffeefestival.com
MUSIC: GLOBAL
David August: Times
Having grown up in Hamburg and trained as a classical pianist, it seems the short trip over to the dark side of European dance-music capital Berlin was too alluring-a-prospect for producer and DJ, David August. His debut album, Times, is a confident collection of robust electronic exercises ranging from the downbeat, sleazy house-influenced melancholy of “Until We Shine” to the more kaleidoscopic, chart-troubling drama (perhaps for some imaginary MOR 1980s stadium band, in a good way) of “Blossom”. For an album rooted in leftfield dance influences and barely containing any words, Times feels like one of the best straight pop albums in a while.
“Times” is available to buy now.
diynamic.com
