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Archives: Posts From May 2008

Beryl Cook, Popular Painter of Fat Ladies, Dies
By Zoe Strimpel | Thu, 29 May 2008 at 9:45 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Britain mourned today the loss of Beryl Cook, one of the country's most beloved artists. She died of cancer at 81 in Plymouth, a seaside town in the southwest of England. Still, she was such a jolly painter that even the reaction to her death has been ...

Riding Through Ideas at Southbank
By Zoe Strimpel | Thu, 29 May 2008 at 9:33 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: The Southbank complex has realized yet another ingenious way to pull the arts into its orbit. All hail the newly opened theme park exhibit, "Psycho Buildings: Artists Take on Architecture," where rides and toys aren't just entertainment, they are ...

Chelsea Manager Pays the Price for a Missed Goal
By Zoe Strimpel | Tue, 27 May 2008 at 5:10 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: In a wince-making example of just how harsh life can be, especially where British soccer is concerned, Avram Grant, the Israeli manager of the Chelsea club, has been sacked. His crime was John Terry's missed penalty in the shootout for the European ...

At Glyndebourne, de Niese Greeted by Critical Backlash
By Zoe Strimpel | Thu, 22 May 2008 at 5:13 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: Danielle de Niese, the Australian-born, Los Angeles-raised opera star, was unheard of in Britain until her 2005 turn as Cleopatra in David McVicar's spellbinding production of Handel's "Giulio Cesare" at Glyndebourne. Who on earth was this absolutely ...

A Bacon Study of Dyer Hits the Market
By Zoe Strimpel | Thu, 22 May 2008 at 4:43 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: The contemporary art season in London is grinding into gear. With more than a month to go until Sotheby's and Christie's hold their evening sales, the press releases are beginning to make their rounds. And — shock — Francis Bacon will be making some very ...

Agony and Ecstasy as Brits Battle Brits in Moscow
By Zoe Strimpel | Thu, 22 May 2008 at 3:35 PM | Permalink
Excerpt: England's hearts and minds — but mostly hearts — were firmly in Moscow last night, as the most anticipated soccer match of the season went ahead with all the drama you'd expect. The two great clubs of the British Premier League, Chelsea and Manchester ...

Chinese Ceramics Sales Strong
By Zoe Strimpel | Thu, 15 May 2008 | Permalink
Excerpt: In the furor resulting from the triumphant sales of paintings by Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud in New York, other art-world events have been somewhat submerged. Yesterday concluded a series of Chinese ceramics sales in London that did remarkably well ...

The Turner Prize Short List: An Odd Lot
By Zoe Strimpel | Wed, 14 May 2008 | Permalink
Excerpt: Scandal has erupted again in the art world. This time, it's the Turner Prize short list raising eyebrows (a refreshing change from the Arts Council, the body we all love to hate). The candidates for the 2008 award are, erm, less than traditionally ...

Sex and the Wrong City
By Zoe Strimpel | Mon, 12 May 2008 | Permalink
Excerpt: A few hours ago, the screams could be heard throughout Chinatown in central London as more than 1,000 people prepared to take their seats at the world premiere of "Sex and the City: The Movie." Brits love the series just as much as Americans — who here ...

At 21, a Playwright Takes the West End by Storm
By Zoe Strimpel | Mon, 12 May 2008 | Permalink
Excerpt: Only 21, Polly Stenham has caused a seismic rumble in London with "That Face," the play she wrote while still a teenager. Well in advance of its West End opening over the weekend at the Royal Court Theatre, word spread of the elfin dramatist's ...

Wallinger's Horse in the Running for Angel of the South
By Zoe Strimpel | Fri, 9 May 2008 | Permalink
Excerpt: Contenders for the Angel of the South sculpture commission this week presented models of their ideas, with Mark Wallinger tipped to be the most likely artist to win. Mr. Wallinger is famous for his recreation of the anti-war protest outside the houses of ...

Voyeurism as Theater: 'Contains Violence'
By Zoe Strimpel | Fri, 9 May 2008 | Permalink
Excerpt: "Contains Violence," at the Lyric Hammersmith, is a prime example of a piece of theater that strives so hard to be fresh that it ends up being not much at all. That said, it is worth going for the zany format alone. The audience sits outside on a ...

Vomit-Free Zone: New Mayor To Ban Boozing on Tube
By Zoe Strimpel | Wed, 7 May 2008 | Permalink
Excerpt: Weekend nights in London are about to change forever: The new mayor, Boris Johnson, is banning booze on Tubes and buses from June 1. Clusters of bellowing sports fans swigging cans of Stella, dressed-up girls en route to a club clutching open bottles of ...

Banksy Gets Festive Underground
By Zoe Strimpel | Mon, 5 May 2008 | Permalink
Excerpt: Banksy has just sent an even greater-than-usual shock of electricity through London. This time he's taken over a portion of unloved railway tunnel near Waterloo Station in a grim area of south-central London. Leake Street, a dank shortcut for taxis, has ...

Veganism Hits London, to Puzzlement of Brits
By Zoe Strimpel | Sun, 4 May 2008 | Permalink
Excerpt: It took a while, but veganism has finally made it onto the culinary radar here, at least enough so that the idea of a purely vegan restaurant isn't instantly dismissed as ridiculous. And so London's first up-market vegan outpost, called Saf (the chef, ...