Weller Rocks, Mondrian’s Disney, Affordable Art: London Weekend
Joan Baez brings her folk guitar, vibrato voice and 21st-century song adaptations to London.
Baez, who has added the environment to her list of causes, performs recent material by Ryan Adams and Natalie Merchant -- alongside renderings of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Woody Guthrie, some of which she’s been doing for a good 50 years.
Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX, Friday and Saturday. Information: +44-20-7960-4200, http://www.joanbaez.com and http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/
Saturday
Mondrian, the artist known for his rigorous grids, had a soft spot for “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.”
He mailed his brother a postcard of the Disney cartoon -- signed “Sleepy” -- which you can see in “Mondrian Nicholson In Parallel” at the Courtauld Gallery. The exhibition focuses on the two years from 1938 to 1940 that Mondrian spent in London at painter Ben Nicholson’s invitation.
The Dutchman moved into a whitewashed Belsize Park room and took a shine to the capital, eagerly reading the Evening Standard and asking about nightclubs where he could go dancing. As the aerial bombing of London started, Mondrian moved to New York, where he died less than four years later.
“Mondrian Nicholson in Parallel” ends May 20 at the Courtauld Gallery, Somerset House, WC2R 0RN. Information: http://www.courtauld.ac.uk or +44-20-7848-2526.
Saturday Night
William Shakespeare was as greedy as the next guy.
At least that’s how the Marxist writer Edward Bond depicts him in “Bingo,” now at the Old Vic starring Patrick Stewart (from “Star Trek”). When Shakespeare’s rich neighbor decides to swallow up a bunch of small farmers’ plots, the Bard sides with him -- making sure his own assets are secure.
Stewart puts on a strong performance as Shakespeare in late life, lost in existential thought, getting angry and keeping a permanent distance from his wife and nagging daughter.
“Bingo” is at the Young Vic, 66 The Cut, SE1 8LZ. Information: http://www.youngvic.org or +44-20-7922-2922.
Sunday
You too can be an art collector -- spending as little as 40 pounds ($62.70).
The Affordable Art Fair comes to Battersea Park, with 120 galleries selling paintings, sculptures, prints and photographs priced no more than 4,000 pounds. There are talks and printmaking workshops, too.
The fair ends Sunday. Information: http://www.affordableartfair.co.uk or +44-20-8246-4848.
Soif is a brisk 20-minute walk from Battersea Park and worth the exercise. It’s the latest brasserie from the team that owns Terroirs, near Trafalgar Square, and Brawn, in the East End. Expect earthy food with strong flavors, and biodynamic wines that, at their most polite, might remind you of a farmyard. Information: +44-20-7223-11. (No website.)
Sunday Night
With his graying hair and double-breasted suits, Paul Weller looks increasingly like British rock’s elder statesman. Yet his sweaty pop makes him more of an enfant terrible. Both facets will be in evidence during the 53-year-old’s five-night residency at the Roundhouse from Sunday. Expect a preview of his new album “Sonik Kicks” and tracks by his former band the Jam.
March 18 through 22 at Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road, NW1 8EH. Information: http://www.roundhouse.org.uk, +44-844-482-8008 or http://www.paulweller.com/
Lemonia is a family-style Greek restaurant a stroll away from the Roundhouse. The food is simple and inexpensive, and there are so many regulars from Primrose Hill, it’s best to book. Information: +44-20-7586-7454. (No website.)
To contact the writer on the story: Farah Nayeri in London at farahn@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net.
Singer Joan Baez will perform at Royal Festival Hall. Photographer: Francis Specker/Bloomberg
``Composition C (no.III) with Red, Yellow and Blue'' (1935) by Piet Mondrian. The oil painting is on view in "Mondrian Nicholson In Parallel" at the Courtauld Gallery in London through May 20, 2012. Source: Mondrian/Holtzman Trust c/o HCR International Washington DC via Bloomberg
Piet Mondrian poses for a photographer in Hampstead, north London, in 1939-40. The artist spent two years in London from 1938 to 1940, before the Nazi bombing of the capital drove him to move to New York. Photographer: John Cecil Stephenson/Tate Archive via Bloomberg
"Bingo"
Catherine Ashmore/Young Vic via Bloomberg
Patrick Stewart as Shakespeare in "Bingo" by Edward Bond at the Young Vic Theatre. Shakespeare cannot face the futility of life, and commits suicide at the end of the play.
Patrick Stewart as Shakespeare in "Bingo" by Edward Bond at the Young Vic Theatre. Shakespeare cannot face the futility of life, and commits suicide at the end of the play. Photographer: Catherine Ashmore/Young Vic via Bloomberg
"Bingo"
Catherine Ashmore/Young Vic via Bloomberg
Patrick Stewart as Shakespeare and Catherine Cusack as Judith in "Bingo" by Edward Bond at the Young Vic Theatre. Bond’s 1974 play deals with the final years of playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616).
Patrick Stewart as Shakespeare and Catherine Cusack as Judith in "Bingo" by Edward Bond at the Young Vic Theatre. Bond’s 1974 play deals with the final years of playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Photographer: Catherine Ashmore/Young Vic via Bloomberg
A visitor browses works on paper at the Affordable Art Fair in London. The fair will take place from March 15 to 18 at Battersea Park in London. Source: Affordable Art Fair/Focus PR via Bloomberg
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