Thursday 23rd November: Lamler Pop-Up

Helen Plummer's luxury label Lamler is a new generation mens country/city outerwear brand influenced by contemporary art, street style sportswear, and a love of the ocean. Traditional British craftsmanship is embraced in the brand's signature waxed cotton prints hand made in England.  Helen is showing her A/W 17 coats alongside her own original paintings which are created in the same space and have a symbiotic relationship of informing each other.  Her manifesto is to "to make coats with colours that are flattering and can be worn day after day. To create contemporary print patterns that are unique and yet don't wear you".  The two disciplines automatically create an instant interior for a store that feels like it could be permanent rather than a pop-up!  The two week residency will kick off tonight with a Devon themed tasting evening to give an insight to the landscape and aquatic pursuits (surfing, kite boarding) that inspire the collection!  

45, Charlotte Road, Shoreditch, London
20th November - 3rd December

Thursday 23rd November: Grayson Perry "The Life of Julie Cope" at Firstsite

Essex born and raised artist Grayson Perry has come home to present a major show at Colchester's modern art gallery Firstsite.  "The Life of Julie Cope" is the collection of tapestries, woodcuts, ceramics and tiles that Grayson designed for ‘A House for Essex’ in nearby Wrabness.  This intricate ginger-bread looking building was designed in collaboration with FAT Architecture as a secular chapel to the memory of a fictional Essex woman, Julie Cope.  Her life story for which Grayson Perry invented is told across all these mediums which you can see here from his sketchbooks, prints, textiles and ceramics.  I still haven't been to the house in person so this is a great sneak peak into the interior which is accompanied by shots of the exterior (above) to give an atmospheric sense of the space.

The opening night preview was packed out with a queue for one-in-one-out to view the works.  The gift shop even has these Essex map tote bags and cushions which accurately depict the hand-woven wall-hangings. 

Book the gallery's special Q&A event with the Turner Prize winning artist here.

See my archive post on his Serpentine Show here.

Wednesday 22nd November: Camille Walala Listening Room for SONOS

SONOS' first European concept store in Covent Garden houses two acoustically-tuned "Listening Rooms" for you to close yourself off from the world and explore their immersive sound-systems.  Here is the pod curated by Camille Walala divided into sections to represent the different rooms of the house to demonstrate the seamless streaming sounds.  If your'e unfamiliar with the service, its a chance to experiment with the system to play internet music channels, podcasts, radio and vinyl at maximum amplification.  I'm lucky enough to have SONOS in my own house for listening to music but since my original edition they have now released the function to connect your TV for a home cinema experience too!  

These audophile spaces have been designed for maximum sound quality such as glass walls to reduce bounce, hand-woven rugs and bookshelves to improve acoustics.  London artists have been commissioned to dress the space and here you can see Camille has brought together her favourite reading material including New Brutalism and kitchenware from Darkroom London.  Every space within the store has been sonically tuned by sound engineers overseen by Sonos Sound Experience Leader, Giles Martin (son of George Martin).  With other brand ambassadors consulting on the tech including Q-Tip and Philip Glass you know its the clearest and crispest on the market! 

The space is hosting an ongoing line-up of listening events, screenings, cultural talks and installations, currently an exhibition of unseen David Bowie portraits at: 

21 Earlham Street, Seven Dials, London, WC2H 9LL

Tuesday 21st November: Old Street Records Cafe

Old Street Records bar have attained the adjacent premises and knocked thru to the corner to add a cafe onto their repertoire.  The music venue will now be open in the day serving not only refreshments but housing a record shop too.  Crates line the walls of the new space stacked with the best new releases (inc. Brownswood, Brainfeeder) in addition to a curated selection of 2nd hand titles.  For the opening week coffees were complimentary and a roster of DJ's were on rotation in store each day including Norman Jaye MBE, Scratch Perverts and Gilles Peterson.  Find the Neon sign at the intersection of Old Street and Curtain Road to dip in for dining and a dig.  

350-354 Old St, London EC1V 9NQ, London

Monday 20th Nov: Isabel Nolan: "Another View from Nowhen"

"Another View from Nowhen" by Dublin-based artist Isabel Nolan, features two works that respond to the history of the location of the ancient Walbrook river which lies beneath the site now occupied by Bloomberg.  The inaugural exhibition in the space uses site-specific geographic and archaeological inspiration in the vibrant, hand-tufted tapestry (The Barely Perceptible Vibration of Everything) and  a large painted-steel sculpture (Blind to the Rays of the Returning Sun).  This soft 20ft tapestry is Isabel's depiction of the physical and historical layering of the location as a "narrative of cosmic proportions."  I like the sound of that!  And that's how I noticed it out of the corner of my eye when I was walking past one drizzly afternoon and the expanse of colour called out to me to stop and investigate.  The gallery lies as the entry to the London Mithraeum so if you plan to visit, you can also see the Roman Artefacts found during the excavations of the archaeological site at the Temple in the heart of the city!

Sunday 19th November: Yukai Du at Atom Gallery

Yukai Du's personal work is now on view at Atom Gallery in her solo show "Time Off"  combining painting, prints and a screen of moving-image animation.  It's a chance to explore what an artist gets up to in her spare time, allowing her imagination to have full reign without restriction from commission.  Stills have been taken from a GIFF and printed as a full series to see the amount of work that goes into each frame of a video.  For example here you can see an image of a reservoir where the banks of the structure are made from hands which is the running theme throughout the narrative.

Yukai's show is open till 26th November with prints and books for sale alongside the gallery's shop from previous exhibitions.