Keeping Tabs: Sun in Spain
London to Madrid, and back again
I spent a few days in Madrid to visit Coleccion Solo’s new space —- more on that in my write-up next week. It was nice to get a day in the sun at 16 degrees to break up this eternal winter in London — though I was greeted by rain when I landed back in London. My travels through airports and trains suggest a good chunk of Europe is down with a respiratory virus, I hope you’re managing to avoid it or it’s not been too bad if you’ve succumbed.
I was saddened to hear of the passing of Ian Rosenfeld, he was always welcoming in his gallery and I’ve written about dozens of his shows as I’ve always admired his selection of artists. He will be missed.
This week I have:
Thanks as always for keeping tabs on me, and have a great week ahead.
A paid subscription to Londonist Urban Palette costs £5 a month or £45 a year. If you’re enjoying the newsletter, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription to keep it going - plus you’ll get regular bonus newsletters, with more interviews, reviews, insights and stories I’m excited about from the London visual arts world.
Tab’s World
My latest articles and events for your reading pleasure.
Plus, catch up on my recent diary entries, interviews and more:
London in black and white, in my interview with Jason Hicklin
Alex Rennie is the latest in our Inspired by London series of interviews
Click below to see all the subscription options, and a big thank you to everybody who’s supporting the newsletter already - couldn’t do it without you!
Tab’s Weeks Ahead
Highlighting my top events for the weeks ahead. Let me know if you'd like to join me!
Artist Esra Kizir Gokcen draws inspiration from music and I’ll be in conversation with her and saxophonist Tim Garland after his 45-minute solo set. It’ll be a memorable experience and I hope you can join me. Saturday 1st March, 3-5pm, £15.
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.
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.
MANAGEMENT BOOK: Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek is the management book you should give to all the bad managers you've had. It provides an evidence-backed argument as to why leaders who support and care for their staff, rather than focus on profit, are the best ones in the long term. The links go through to my online bookshop and you can follow me on Goodreads here.
HORROR MOVIES: The Offering is an effective horror movie based on a demon in Jewish mythology who haunts a pregnant couple who return to visit the man’s father. On Netflix. I also recommend another strong Jewish horror movie called The Vigil. On Prime Video. The Mist ramps up the paranoia as locals hold up in a supermarket against horrors out in the mist - ignore the ropey effects and await one hell of an ending. If you prefer less supernatural horror, the reboot of Wrong Turn is a dark take on a group of hikers ambushed by those living in the forest. Both on Prime Video.
ANIMATED SERIES: Secret Level is a series of short vignettes all based on different video games, with some great takes on well-known franchises including memorable episodes based on Warhammer and Dungeons and Dragons. On Prime Video. It’s made by the same people who made Love, Death + Robots - a similar series of vignettes I’d recommend. 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.
SPACE: Big Think sets out why physicists now question the fate of the Universe, Smithsonian asks After Decades of Searching, Are Physicists Closing In on Dark Matter? (8 minutes), BBC goes Stupendously large: The biggest black holes in the Universe (10 minutes) and Big Think busts a black hole myth: they don’t suck anything in. Smithsonian explains What Would Signal Life on Another Planet? (7 minutes), Nautilus says The Odds That Aliens Exist Just Got Worse (8 minutes), The Washington Post takes us inside this search at NASA and Inverse reports that 50 years ago, NASA sent a message to aliens — and sparked a Solar System mystery (6 minutes). Switching to our solar system, Earth.com says Saturn's rings will vanish in less than three months from now (5 minutes), Nasa makes history with closest-ever approach to Sun reports BBC (3 minutes), Time explains How Two Stranded Astronauts Are Camping Out in Space (5 minutes), Pioneer Works asks: the race is on to exploit our moon’s resources and bring them back to earth. What could go wrong? (12 minutes) and Space similarly asks: Humans will soon be able to mine on the moon. But should we? 4 questions to consider (3 minutes). While Wired says pooping on the moon is a messy business (10 minutes). Loved the northern lights? Check out these phenomena next says The Washington Post (4 minutes), Popular Science asks Could the Carrington Event happen again? (5 minutes), the UN monitors asteroid with a tiny chance of hitting Earth says BBC (3 minutes) and a CNN update says a Newly discovered asteroid now has a slightly higher risk of hitting Earth.
FRUIT & VEG: The Guardian takes us Inside Mexico’s anti-avocado militias (20 minutes), $400 for one pineapple: CNN investigates the rise of luxury fruit (6 minutes), the LA Times asks When is it OK to pick someone else’s fruit tree? (7 minutes), BBC looks back at the forgotten medieval fruit with a vulgar name (8 minutes) and Bon Appetit looks at How One Man Has Dedicated Himself to the Art of Apple Trolling (5 minutes). The Dial recounts The Toxic Legacy of the French Banana (9 minutes), Food & Wine says Your Favorite Bananas Are Rapidly Going Extinct (3 minutes) and SELF asks Wait, Should I Have Been Washing My Bananas This Entire Time?! (5 minutes). Undark reveals How Crop Science Is Transforming the Humble Potato (10 minutes) and Potatoes Are the Perfect Vegetable — but You’re Eating Them Wrong (11 minutes). Self shares 10 High-Protein Vegetables to Make Any Salad or Side Way More Satisfying (7 minutes) and We’re told to ‘eat a rainbow’ of fruit and vegetables. Here’s what each colour does in our body says The Conversation (5 minutes).
LIFE UNDERWATER: ‘Caviar Pizzas, New Money, and the Death of an Ancient Fish’ is a look by Hakai at how a luxury food trend is impacting fish (21 minutes) and The Kitchn explains the different types of sushi. On the living side, Nautilus reports on The Strange Romance of Seahorses (11 minutes), Hakai writes about The Very Hungry Urchins (9 minutes), Knowable covers the tender art of tadpole parenting (8 minutes), Emergence talks about invasive species, colonialism and more in here comes the lionfish (19 minutes) and AP show A humpback whale briefly swallows kayaker in Chilean Patagonia — and it’s all captured on camera (2 minutes). Importantly, Grist sets out the business case for saving coral reefs (8 minutes) and BBC writes about the colossal squid: The eerie ambassador from the abyss (23 minutes). On people and the water, The Guardian reports on a flooded quarry, a mysterious millionaire and the dream of a new Atlantis (13 minutes) and BBC reports on how an Indigenous group flees a drowning island (6 minutes).