Interview With Artist Larry Achiampong
Larry Achiampong, Pan African Flag, 2017. (Image courtesy of Somerset House) A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to get the chance to speak with one of Somerset House Studio’s resident artists, Larry Achiampong, about his exciting new project, Pan African Flag, which will be flying proudly above Somerset House from 25 July to 31 January 2018. Achiampong’s Pan African Flag is part of a series of new commissions from Somerset House, and is in association with Achiampong’s T
Never Built New York (Metropolis Books, 2016)
Author's own photograph It is the nature of a city not to be complete. There are endless routes that city planners, architects and inhabitants can take to manipulate the future of a built environment. Cities have a beginning but they have no end point; their architectural fabric is constantly susceptible to changes and augmentations, and the buildings that we see everyday are likely living on borrowed time. The London that we know, for example, could have looked very differen
Carmen on the Lake
Image courtesy of Carmen on the Lake In posing the question – what is fundamental to an opera? – to a range of opera lovers and opera novices, the same few words appeared: drama, narrative, music, and aesthetic. The culmination of these factors could be said to be the recipe for a masterpiece, and there is no doubt that the production of Carmen by the Lake astounds in every respect. Georges Bizet’s Carmen, set in nineteenth century Seville, follows the tale of the factory gi
From London to Paris: A Journey of The Scents
'Perfume: A Sensory Journey Through Contemporary Scent' at Somerset House. Photograph by Peter MacDiarmid After the virtual reality show ‘Mat Collishaw: Thresholds’, Somerset House is now hosting ‘Perfume’: another ambitious exhibition, but this time for our noses. Through several multi-sensory installations, the show explores contemporary perfume with a selection of ten fragrances from the last twenty years. ‘Perfume’ challenges our senses and memory – inviting us to jot dow
David Hockney (Tate Publishing, 2017)
Author's own image Hockney. He doesn’t need his first name. The hair, the glasses, the colours – his art is as recognisable as it is ubiquitous. As Chris Stephens comments in the catalogue that accompanied Hockney’s retrospective exhibition at Tate, ‘his work reaches audiences otherwise largely untouched by high art’. The catalogue explores the reasons for this in six insightful essays, illustrated with beautiful high-resolution reproductions, from his art school output to ex