FILM: UK
For Ellen
Korean writer and director So Yong Kim’s moody, psychological portrait of a young rock star’s fraught journey to reconnect with his estranged daughter premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. On general release this weekend, the UK can finally see Kim’s feature that follows deadbeat dad Joby Taylor (played by New York-born actor Paul Dano) as he struggles to come to terms with mediocrity as a musician. A divorce settlement and custody battle follows, forcing Dano’s character to re-evaluate his priorities – namely his relationship with six-year-old Ellen – in a family drama that’s persuasive but not preachy.
For Ellen is now at cinemas across the UK.
sodapictures.com
MUSIC FESTIVAL: REYKJAVÍK
Sónar Reykjavík
Sónar’s never-less-than-impeccable curatorship of its Barcelona summer music festival is an imposing mark of quality for a first winter outing in Iceland’s capital this weekend. But with a line-up at Reykjavík’s recently opened Harpa concert hall this Saturday featuring electronic music’s elite players such as Squarepusher and James Blake, quality shouldn't be a concern. Set across four stages with the hall’s underground carpark converted into a nightclub space, the compact festival is a convenient starting point for Sónar newcomers. Choosing what to see in one day might be trickier.
Sónar Reykjavík, Harpa Concert House, Austurbakka 2, 101 Reykjavik. Doors open 18.00, curfew 3.00. 15 and 16 February.
sonarreykjavik.com
EXHIBITION: BRUSSELS
Spanning Time by Brenna Youngblood
California artist Brenna Youngblood has just launched her second solo exhibit in Europe at Brussels’ Galerie Nathalie Obadia. Her “MIA” structure, featuring painted metal frames was a talking point of Frieze 2011 and is typical of Youngblood’s style of transposing painting onto less familiar objects. For her current exhibition entitled Spanning Time, Youngblood has found inspiration in Los Angeles street life and used diverse photomontages and compilations of images to embody the multicultural layers of the city.
8 Rue Charles Decoster 1050. Open Tuesday to Friday 10.00-18.00. Saturday 14.00-18.00. Closed on Sundays. Until 6 April.
galerie-obadia.com
ART FAIR: MADRID
-ARCOmadrid International Contemporary Art Fair
Despite Spain's gloomy economic forecast, Madrid's bustling art scene is as lively as ever. This weekend the IFEMA exhibition space in the northeast of the city plays host to ARCOmadrid’s 32nd International Contemporary Art Fair featuring the work of over 2,000 artists from 200 galleries and plenty to peruse. Look out for this year’s focus on emerging Turkish art curated by Vasif Kortun of SALT Galata gallery in Istanbul.
Feria de Madrid, Halls 8 and 10. 15-17 February. From Open 12.00-20.00. Until 17 February.
arco.ifema.es
MUSIC: GLOBAL
K-X-P: II
Coming from Finland hasn't stopped Helsinki trio K-X-P from adopting the pounding, repetitive rhythms more familiar to Köln and Düsseldorf’s “Krautrock” dance scenes of the 1970s. And on II (their second album), they’ve improved them a little by shamelessly incorporating glam-rock too. It’s not all picking over the past though. II is full of strange new turns, with songs featuring full choirs, orchestras and occasional vocals from Norwegian pop star Annie, bookended by squelching, creaky analog synths. It’s certainly big and occasionally it’s clever. But pleasingly, it’s pretty stupid too.
II is available to buy now.
melodic.co.uk
