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Doing London Creates: a campaign to celebrate the capital’s culture

The Wick Culture - Zak Ové's The Mothership Connection, 2021, at Frieze Sculpture Park 2023. Photography: Linda Nylind. Courtesy of Linda Nylind / Frieze.

Above Zak Ové’s The Mothership Connection, 2021, at Frieze Sculpture Park 2023. Photography: Linda Nylind. Courtesy of Linda Nylind / Frieze.

Spotlighting London’s cultural magnetism

The great and the good of the artworld came together in pilgrimage during Frieze Week to launch London Creates, a campaign to give fresh momentum to our great capital’s visual arts scene and celebrate its place at the centre of the world’s cultural map. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the UK’s art market remains bigger than the rest of Europe’s combined and London is bursting with the greatest concentration of artists of any city in the world, alongside a rich ecosystem of top arts universities, and more than 200 museums and 800 galleries. Museum directors are the new rockstars in town.

Created in conjunction with the GLA Mayor’s Office led by Justine Simons, Evening Standard’s culture champion Editor in Chief Dylan Jones and Jane Boardman of M&C Saatchi, the goal is clear – spotlighting the contribution that culture makes to our economy (some £58 billion a year) and to people’s quality of life. All hail the big smoke as the city of culture. Leading artists, gallerists, museum directors, auction houses and media editors will be part of the mission as London Creates flies the flag for the capital’s culture. The Wick is proud to be an official partner, continuing our mission to open up expert art world perspectives and incubate fresh talent, alongside world leading visual artists and creatives.

Visiting Marina Abramović at the Royal Academy

The Wick Culture - Marina Abramović, The Current, 2017. Video; 1 hour 35 mins. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives. © Marina Abramović

Above Marina Abramović, The Current, 2017. Video; 1 hour 35 mins. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives. © Marina Abramović

The Wick Culture - Marina Abramović, The House with the Ocean View, 2002. Performance; 12 days. Sean Kelly Gallery, New York. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives © Marina Abramović. Photo: Attilio Maranzano

Above Marina Abramović, The House with the Ocean View, 2002. Performance; 12 days. Sean Kelly Gallery, New York. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives © Marina Abramović. Photo: Attilio Maranzano

The Wick Culture - Marina Abramović, Rhythm 0, 1974. Performance; Studio Morra, Naples. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives. © Marina Abramović. Photo: Donatelli Sbarra

Above Marina Abramović, Rhythm 0, 1974. Performance; Studio Morra, Naples. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives. © Marina Abramović. Photo: Donatelli Sbarra

The Wick Culture - Ulay / Marina Abramović, Imponderabilia, 1977. Galleria Communale d’Arte Moderna, Bologna. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives. © Ulay / Marina Abramović

Above Ulay / Marina Abramović, Imponderabilia, 1977. Galleria Communale d’Arte Moderna, Bologna. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives. © Ulay / Marina Abramović

Above Marina Abramović, The Current, 2017. Video; 1 hour 35 mins. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives. © Marina Abramović

Above Marina Abramović, Rhythm 0, 1974. Performance; Studio Morra, Naples. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives. © Marina Abramović. Photo: Donatelli Sbarra

Above Ulay / Marina Abramović, Imponderabilia, 1977. Galleria Communale d’Arte Moderna, Bologna. Courtesy of the Marina Abramović Archives. © Ulay / Marina Abramović

Marina Abramović
Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly

23 September 2023 – 1 January 2024

The art of life. World renowned Marina Abramović has spent more than five decades stretching the limits of her own physical and mental tolerance through her work. The Serbian performance artist has had her clothes ripped and rose thorns stuck into her stomach by members of the public (in Rhythm 0, 1974) and survived on water alone while living inside a New York gallery for 12 days (The House with the Ocean View, 2002) – feats of endurance that are all represented at the Royal Academy’s not-to-be-missed survey of her work. She is the first female to hit the RA with a solo exhibition in 250 Years.

The exhibition explores human connection and trauma before shifting gear to a more peaceful and transcendent tone, as we see Marina’s own journey through life evolve. Video installations are spliced with four of her seminal performance pieces, reperformed by artists live at the Royal Academy, including the blush-inducing Imponderabilia, 1977, in which gallery-goers have to squeeze their way through two nude artists in a doorway to get from one room to another. At every turn the human body and how we use it as a tool to confront mental challenge is the star of the show. What strikes is Marina’s ability to capture the uncomfortable – those moments of pivot between joy and pain. Ultimately, this is an exhibition about what it means to be human.

Viewing Early Works, Princelet Street

The Wick Culture - CHRISTO
Early Works | Curated by Elena Geuna, Princelet Street
Courtesy of Gagosian

Above CHRISTO Early Works | Curated by Elena Geuna, Princelet Street Courtesy of Gagosian

Early Works | Curated by Elena Geuna
October 6–22, 2023
Gagosian Open, 4 Princelet Street, London

That’s a wrap. Gagosian presents a poignant exhibition of early works by the renowned artist Christo at 4 Princelet Street in London’s East End, curated by Elena Geuna. This exhibition serves as the inaugural project in the Gagosian Open series, an innovative program dedicated to showcasing exceptional art in unconventional settings.

The showcased artworks, dating mostly from the 1960s and 1970s, reveal Christo’s early creative exploration. These sculptural pieces cloak everyday objects with fabric or plastic, intricately bound with rope or twine. Even at this formative stage of his career, Christo demonstrated a profound ability to respond to domestic and urban environments, emphasising often overlooked details by obscuring them from view.

Christo and his artistic collaborator, Jeanne-Claude, are celebrated for their monumental temporary artworks, redefining the interplay between art and public spaces and pushing the boundaries of scale.