Keeping Tabs: March Art Madness
Museums, Mayfair and more.
Yes, it’s March, and no I don’t know how that happened. At least the sun is out so I’m hoping spring has sprung. As always it’s been a week of exhibitions, though I did step out of my comfort zone to watch Wayne McGregor’s latest production at Sadler’s Wells. This week I have:
Thanks as always for keeping tabs on me, and have a great week ahead.
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Tab’s World
My latest articles and events for your reading pleasure.
In time for the new month, I’ve written my Londonist preview of exhibitions for March including Munch, maps and mosques.
In the latest podcast episode we speak to the curators of Leighton House to discuss it and its sister property Sambourne House.
Horror, insects, fashion, contorted paintings and the sun in this week’s museum-fest of a top 5 on FAD.
Plus, catch up on my recent diary entries, interviews and more:
My latest Diary of a London Art Critic - a lot of London and a taste of Madrid
Gail Brodholt is the latest in my artist inspired by London series
Alex Rennie on London as his muse
Read about Tony Heywood and his Human Rights Greenhouse
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I’ve rounded up articles written by members of the Critic’s Circle for its website — including a fair few by me.
Tab’s Weeks Ahead
Highlighting my top events for the weeks ahead. Let me know if you'd like to join me!
I’ll be leading a tour of Mayfair galleries as part of Art After Dark and you’re most welcome to join me on this curated tour. Thursday 6th March, 6-8pm, £11.55
My Saturday plans aren't fixed yet, but I’ll most likely be visiting The Other Art Fair (ticketed) as I know a lot of the artists showing. All are welcome to join me, just drop me a line (or DM me on Substack) and I'll share the full itinerary with you so you can drop in at any point throughout the day.
The Wider Arts
Here are my top picks of culture that may be enjoyed from the comfort of your home. Paid subscribers have access to my full back catalogue of recommendations.
NATURE DOCUMENTARIES: I love any David Attenborough series and Asia is a seven-parter that covers the amazing wildlife on the continent including rare bears and elephants that ask for a food toll to let vehicles pass. The clips of local conservation experts working to preserve species is inspiring. On BBC iPlayer. Airborne features some phenomenal camera work to capture animals leaping and flying to find food and navigate the world. On Now TV.
SCI-FI NOVEL: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson is a visionary sci-fi novel that created the concept of the Metaverse. The prose is not the best, but the ideas and world-building in it about a future capitalist society of brands running the world, viruses in virtual reality and floating cities of refugees are mind-blowing. The links go through to my online bookshop and you can follow me on Goodreads here.
VIOLENT ACTION MOVIES: Kill is a brutal Indian film set almost entirely on a train where each fight sequence is bloodier than the last. Don’t let the tame start fool you, it gets really nasty and gory. It’s great to see a South Asian film drawing inspiration from South-East Asian martial arts movies. On Prime Video. Mel Gibson does a great job in Blood Father as an ex-con on parole protecting his daughter from the cartel in another gritty action film. On Netflix.
Articles I’m Reading
I recommend interesting stories largely from outside the art world. If you fancy reading offline at another time, I recommend the app Pocket.
This is a selection of articles I found thought-provoking in one way or another; opinions expressed in the articles don’t necessarily reflect my views or those of Londonist. Paid subscribers have access to my full back catalogue of recommendations.
SPORT: Empire of Blood examines how UFC conquered America, via Rolling Stone (34 mins). The Atlantic sheds light on The Unbearable Greatness of Djokovic (21 mins) and BBC shares the story of the pioneering tennis champion who told the world he had Aids (7 mins). Vanity Fair asks Can Cricket Conquer America? (6 mins), BBC looks at the sports where women outperform men (8 mins), The Conversation asks why are so many sports getting faster? (4 mins), The New York Times reveals How Cheerleading Became So Acrobatic, Dangerous and Popular (41 mins), and Slate reveals Gymnasts, Figure Skaters, and Other Artistic Athletes Are Up Against an Unlikely Foe when it comes to their choice of music (7 mins). Marketplace asks how do athletes in niche sports make money? (10 mins), BBC looks into the race to make the Paralympics safer for athletes (7 mins) and The Verge looks back at the most controversial Olympics moment came down to four seconds (12 mins). In other sports, CNN examines Mike Tyson’s return to professional boxing 19 years after his last bout and ‘Scholar’s mate’ looks at life through Chess on The Believer (22 mins). Thrillist Joined the Turkish Commuters Who Swim Between Europe and Asia Every Day (7 mins). On football, The Guardian charts how Nigerian Londoners found their identity through football (16 mins) and looks back on 50 years of streaking – by the people who dared to bare all (20 mins).
POLITICIANS & ELECTIONS: She is Mexico’s first female president. But who is Claudia Sheinbaum? Asks CNN. In the UK, Byline Times reveals The Real ‘Two Tier’ Politics That Enabled Nigel Farage to Fan the Flames of Hate (5 minutes), BBC shares the real story of the news website accused of fuelling riots (7 minutes), The Guardian reveals what the data tells us about the 2024 UK rioters (10 minutes) and Dave Hill says Sir Sadiq Khan personifies everything Britain’s extreme right dislikes (5 minutes). BBC takes us back in history to the British politician who was caught faking his own death (7 minutes). In Europe, The Guardian reports on the trial of Björn Höcke, the ‘real boss’ of Germany’s far-right (27 minutes), NPR shares 5 takeaways from Germany's regional elections after far-right makes historic gains (3 minutes), and The Guardian asks who is the real Giorgia Meloni? (29 minutes). Further afield, The Verge reveals what it was like in Six hours under martial law in Seoul (13 minutes), The Hill reveals Hunter Biden joins history of controversial presidential pardons, Politico says Trump’s agenda is about to remake everything from immigration to taxes to education, AP explains What USAID does, and why Trump and Musk want to get rid of it (6 minutes), and BBC looks at Greenland's dark history - and does it want Trump? (11 minutes). Taking a global view, AP says The ‘super year’ of elections has been super bad for incumbents as voters punish them in droves (5 minutes). In a surprising read, Vanity Fair takes us Inside Johnny Depp’s Epic Bromance With Saudi Crown Prince MBS (16 minutes).
THE INTERNET: Wired says that Before Smartphones, an Army of Real People Helped You Find Stuff on Google (6 minutes), New York magazine thinks we’re drowning in slop (19 minutes), BBC states Google just updated its algorithm. The Internet will never be the same (11 minutes), The Walrus says fake reviews have become the Internet’s perfect crime (9 minutes), and MIT technology review suggests AI means the end of internet search as we’ve known it (24 minutes). BBC looks at the failure that started the internet (9 minutes), Vice is Remembering Cyberia, the World’s First Ever Cyber Cafe (7 minutes), and Mental Floss tells The History of CTRL + ALT + DELETE (3 minutes). The issue of saving archived information is explored in Century-Scale Storage via Library Innovation Lab (17 minutes), Wired sets out how to properly archive your digital files (4 minutes), BBC suggests We're losing our digital history. Can the Internet Archive save it? (12 minutes), and The Verge asks What happens to our culture when websites start to vanish at random? (10 minutes). CNBC explains why it’s time to take warnings about using public Wi-Fi, in places like airports, seriously (6 minutes), Nautilus sets out your data’s strange undersea voyage (15 minutes) and The New York Times asks are Are You a Checker or an Unchecker? In a bizarre online game (4 minutes).