Over the weekend, London’s night tubes were filled with more than muddled party goers and sleepy service operators. An army of art lovers joined the midnight express.
Culture vultures and their confused housemates filled the streets, traveling from church, to gallery to apartment block, visiting 40, one-night-only events staged in unusual locations across the capital.
The festival borrows the style and format of Paris' long-running, effortlessly cool Nuit Blanche events. But can London's (no longer quite so edgy) East End really pull of a Parisian-style art night with the same romantic finesse?
Dennis Severs House, the location for one of two Chapman brothers' installations
It turns out, that wasn’t really the aim. Judging by the programming, (which included an open-air silent disco at Exchange Square), Art Night London is more about fun, spectacle and attracting the masses. The curator Fatoş Üstek speaks of offering everyone a warm welcome. ‘The festival celebrates the multiplicity that the East End holds,’ he explains, ‘with its diverse architectural, societal, psychological and linguistic profile.’
And attract the masses it did. Like Paris’ Nuit Blanche, famous for its snaking lines of louche flaneurs, there was no let up in queueing time, even into the wee hours. But spirits didn’t dip, (and nearby off-licences were thrilled by the late-night peak in beer sales).
The longest wait times, by a country mile, were at the Chapman brother’s duo of installations. Jake and Dinos premiered a new video installation – The Misshapeness of Things to Come – in a listed warehouse at London Dock, accompanied by a live performance by Jake's band. A selection of the Chapmans’ defaced prints were also installed in Dennis Severs’ House, an 18th century candlelit Huguenot house, tucked on a side street near Spitalfields.
Do Ho Suh’s compelling photographic installation, in Christ Church on Commercial Street, also attracted a continuous crowd. In the work, a single camera pans through endless apartment block rooms, slicing through walls and floors, offering an intimate look into the lives of unknown occupants.
Hopping from venue to venue feels very much like we're inside Suh’s film. These fleeting glimpses into previously closed-off areas of London are intriguing enough to keep anyone perky until morning.
Falling and Walking (phhhhhhhhhhh phossshhhhh crrhhhhzzz mn huaooogh), by Anne Hardy, 2017, at Nicholls & Clarke Showrooms.
Falling and Walking (phhhhhhhhhhh phossshhhhh crrhhhhzzz mn huaooogh), by Anne Hardy, 2017, at Nicholls & Clarke Showrooms.
One Day You Will No Longer Be Loved That It Should Come To This Xiii, 2013, installed at Dennis Severs House
The Misshapeness of Things to Come, by Jake and Dinos Chapman, 2017.
The New Arrival, 2014, installed at Dennis Severs House
Dance All Night, 2017, performed by members of the public at Exchange Square, Broadgate
Inside the Masonic Temple in which Lindsay Seers installed her video performance Mental Metal² , 2017,Andaz London, Liverpool Street
Passage/s (2013-16), and My Home/s (2014-16), by Do Ho Suh, at Christ Church.
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the Art Night website
-
Reed Krakoff ushers John Hardy jewellery into a new era, and refreshes its New York storeThe ‘Spear’ jewellery collection riffs on John Hardy’s signature handwoven chain, while the boutique nods to the brand’s Balinese heritage
-
New Aesop store in Rome opens, an ode to the Eternal City
At the new Aesop Via del Corso store in Rome, architect Jakob Sprenger hosted a celebratory event with Wallpaper*, including a panel discussion chaired by contributing editor Dal Chodha
-
Marc Newson on his electric hydrofoil collaboration with Fliteboard
The Fliteboard x Marc Newson eFoil promises a smooth surfing experience with cutting-edge materials and space-age design
-
Sarah Lucas at Tate Britain: humour, desire, domesticity
‘Sarah Lucas: Happy Gas’ at Tate Britain spans the four decades the artist’s career
-
Heads up for London Film Festival 2023’s immersive art programme
From VR fungi to AR walks, London Film Festival 2023 announces LFF Expanded, a compelling programme of immersive art and extended realities
-
Madelon Vriesendorp’s ‘sculptural interventions and playful ideas’ at The Cosmic House
A Madelon Vriesendorp exhibition opens at The Cosmic House in London, surprising and delighting visitors with its ‘sculptural interventions and playful ideas‘
-
Ranjani Shettar’s site-specific sculptures unveiled in Barbican Conservatory
Ranjani Shettar’s ‘Cloud songs on the horizon’ suspends sculptures amid the Barbican Conservatory’s plant life
-
Photographer David Abrahams captures quiet moments in Japan for his new London show
‘Kyushu’ is a new show from photographer David Abrahams that documents his trip to a town on the Japanese island
-
Last chance to see: Devon Turnbull’s ‘HiFi Listening Room Dream No. 1’ at Lisson Gallery, London
Devon Turnbull/OJAS’ handmade sound system matches minimalist aesthetics with a profound audiophonic experience – he tells us more
-
Hospital Rooms and Hauser & Wirth unite for a sensorial London exhibition and auction
Hospital Rooms and Hauser & Wirth are working together to raise money for arts and mental health charities
-
Step inside Sarabande Foundation’s dreamy summer exhibition
Sarabande Foundation has created a house and lush garden at its London studio for its summer exhibition, ‘Sum’
