Arts

By Jack Peat, TLE Editor  There is a certain intimacy in the back of a taxi that you seldom experience elsewhere. The compulsory chit chat - "you been busy", "what time you on 'til?" et al – and the immediate trustworthiness of a cabbie brings solace amid the hectic buzz of the urban evening. But it is an intimacy formed on the terms of the passenger and not the driver. Fee payer punters are at liberty to talk how they...

By Jack Peat, TLE Editor  The possibilities that encapsulate the American Dream are oft dramatized but rarely grow old. It is an ideal that has arguably grown more relevant over time. The principles of the free market – boundless prosperity, success and the upward social mobility for the family and children - are as intoxicating as they are perplexing. Rarely does a dream seem so close and yet so far away. It is almost a dystopian quandary that we’re not...

A London collective of young artists, architects and designers has made the Turner Prize shortlist. Assemble works across the art, architecture and design. The 18 members began working together in 2010, seeking to address the typical disconnection between the public and the process by which places are made. The collective champions a working practice that is "interdependent and collaborative", according to its website,  seeking to actively involve the public as both participant and collaborator in the on-going realisation of the...

Beside a creek in south London’s Deptord, is the Art in Perpetuity Trust, or A.P.T, a warehouse of cooperative studios and gallery space. In 2005, A.P.T celebrated its tenth anniversary by launching an open competition for visual artists, CREEKSIDE OPEN. A further ten years on and the bi-annual competition is still going strong. We caught up with CREEKSIDE OPEN organiser, Liz May, to find out more about the competition at the end of its first decade. “At that time, ten...

By Jack Peat, TLE Editor Bohemian: Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic, or literary pursuits. A warm evening in the West End saw the familiar huddle of theatregoers congregate around the glistening Duke of York, chilled glasses of white wine hung from the newly restored balcony and a breeze of tobacco hung in the air outside the main entrance. The quintessentially British venue plays...

A business focussing on London designer-makers is getting creative down in Peckham. The best part? You can join in the fun. Midwifery isn’t usually a profession one associates with art, but that’s the transition Helen Ward went through a few years ago, when she ditched the NHS-issue uniform for something a little more colourful (and hopefully less itchy). “I was training to be a midwife and realised that it just wasn't what I wanted to be doing, and I’d always...

Not got around to voting yet? Take a look at what the main parties active in London want to do with arts and culture. Labour Labour wants to guarantee a universal entitlement to a creative education so that every young person has access to cultural activity and the arts in schools and after-school clubs. The party has said it would require any institution that receives arts funding to open up their doors to young people, and work with public bodies to rebalance...

By William Cooper Art books don’t often attain cross-discipline popularity, but David Balzer seems to have achieved just that with his discussion on the rise of curating, a book which is becoming almost as prolific as its subject matter. Not since the YBAs of the 90s have books about art captured the wider public’s imagination and intrigue (Julian Stallabrass’s High Art Lite springs to mind here) as powerfully. Back then we were interested in the lifestyles and characters behind an unmade...

Ah, what a difference a week makes: feels like only yesterday we were bringing you the best in outdoor art to enjoy in our sunny city. Now that the clouds have rolled over just in time for the Bank Holiday (standard), here’s a quick arts guide for Sunday and Monday, with a few indoor options for those damp moments. Pick Me Up graphic arts festival The graphic arts festival returns with drawings and prints by artists, creative groups and galleries from...