Culture Diary w/c 07-03-2016
What’s hot this week? Our pick of the arts listings from around Liverpool and the rest of the UK…
Monday — Exhibition Opening: Art Gym 10am-5pm @ Tate Liverpool — FREE
Get in shape this March with Art Gym, a three-week programme of activities held in a new never-before-seen ‘gym’ set-up, designed by 2015 Turner Prize winners Assemble. No matter what your artistic — or fitness — abilities are, this is a chance to get your ‘art rate’ (geddit) running with workshops to lectures on everything from traditional painting to technology-based digital art. Expect top talks from newsreader Jon Snow (18/03), artists Rose Wilie (19/03) and Bedwyr Williams (26/03), a well-making clinic from the Craftivist Collective (30/03), and our own editor Laura Robertson on arts writing and editing (09 & 29/03).
Lance Wyman Visiting Lecture 6-8pm @ Liverpool School of Art and Design — FREE (SOLD OUT)
See the American designer who sprang to fame after his graphic work for the Mexican 1968 Summer Olympics, Lance Wyman, give an exclusive lecture hosted by the Graphic Design and Illustration programme at LJMU tonight. His specialisation in work for cities — another renowned design being his map of the Washing Metro — means this is for any budding graphic artists, or simply those who want to learn more about the field from one of its giants.
Tuesday — A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014) 5.30-9.30pm @ A Small Cinema, Liverpool — £3-4
In honour of International Women’s Day and in collaboration with the #DirectedByWomen movement, Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is one of a special series of Small Cinema screenings aimed at highlighting the often ignored work of women in the film industry. This self-described ‘Iranian Vampire Spaghetti Western’ tells the tale of peculiar girl vampire navigating a city filled with drugs, prostitution and death; a modern take on the classic monster horror. A post-film discussion will follow, exploring themes such as the gender divide and fear in urban environments.
Wednesday — Decommissioned: Mick Wilson 2pm @ Institute of Contemporary Arts, London — £3-5
Ready to rebel? As part of the Decommissioned series of lectures, artist and curator Mick Wilson will be discussing figures of defiance in contemporary art and how they relate to current culture and institutional practices. Creatives whose works Wilson will evaluate include English philosopher of politics and aesthetics, Simon Critchley, and American artist Robert Barry, who specialises in non-material art and invisible media. Expect a fascinating look into the movement of artistic resistance in the 21st century.
Thursday — Wonder Women: Written In The Margins 6-9.30pm @ Manchester Jewish Museum — £3
Rejoice in the work of female wordsmiths this Thursday, as part of Wonder Women, Manchester’s annual feminist festival, and coinciding with celebration of International Women’s Day. Expect a zine workshop lead by artist and zine-creator Cherry Styles, followed by Clare Pollard’s modern revival of 20BC poem, Ovid’s Heroines, which gave voice to the women from ancient mythology; plus a panel discussion with female professionals from all walks of life, and Serafina Steer’s musical debut.
PICK OF THE WEEK: Friday — Exhibition Opening: Ryoichi Kurokawa: Unfold 5-7.30pm @ FACT, Liverpool — FREE
Japanese artist Ryoichi Kurokawa wants to explore the universe with you in his debut solo exhibition at FACT, which merges the lines between art and science. After studying data on giant molecular space clouds, Kurokawa transformed his findings into an artistic display depicting the birth of stars; using 3D technology, huge multi-screens and awe-inspiring audiovisual portrayals of the evolution of our universe. Both scientifically accurate and artistically ground-breaking, unfold is astrophysics like you’ve never seen it before.
Saturday — Exhibition Opening: Noel Clueit :/2-4pm @ Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool — FREE
Artist Noel Clueit has been given free rein to remodel and adapt the Grundy’s architecture in order to create sculptural pieces between the ground and first floor. Changing the very foundation of the gallery has resulted in a distinctive and unique visual display, and in being wryly named after the concerned emoji face, this commission is guaranteed to be as interesting as it is unorthodox.
Exhibition Opening: Playing By The Rules 12-6pm @ The Royal Standard, Liverpool — FREE
An insight into the rules within society: from the unwritten rules of social behaviour to the very rules that govern us by law. With new works from Peter Sweetman, Simeon Barclay and Carly Bainbridge, plus a film exploring freedom by Ane Hjort Guttu, in addition to a humorous piece depicting the laws of motion within cartoon by Andy Holden, expect this exhibition to make you wonder if rules are truly meant to be broken.
Vanessa Wheeler
