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Viewing Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet

The Wick Culture - ROMEO AND JULIET by Bourne, Director and Choreographer - Matthew Bourne, Designer - Let Brotherston, Lighting - Paule Constable, Rehearsal Images, Three Mills, London, 2023, Curve Theatre, UK, Credit: Johan Persson

Above ROMEO AND JULIET by Bourne, Director and Choreographer – Matthew Bourne, Designer – Let Brotherston, Lighting – Paule Constable, Rehearsal Images, Three Mills, London, 2023, Curve Theatre, UK, Credit: Johan Persson

Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet
Sadler Wells

1 August – 2 September
www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/new-adventures-matthew-bournes-romeo-and-juliet

Inmates, just mates and lovers. Find your row and fasten your seatbelt because Mathew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet prepares to land at Sadler Wells. Taking to the stage this August, be mesmerised by the parley of dance with music by PROKOFIEV. Feel the intensity of forbidden love, misused power, and obsession on stage through the tragic love story of this young couple.

Based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the performance is set in an institution where the inmates are under close scrutiny and robbed of basic freedoms. Two young inmate’s eyes lock across the dance floor as they embark on their love story. Breaking the rules and confines of the institute, this well-known tragedy unveils the passion, explosion and pain of the thing called love. Touching down at Sadler Wells on the 1 August, be spun around by in this three-act performance. Tickets are selling like hotcakes, so snap them up while you still can.

Viewing Cinga Samson: Nzulu yemfihlakalo

The Wick Culture - Cinga Samson
‘Nzulu yemfihlakalo’, White Cube Mason's Yard
7 July – 26 August 2023
© the artist. Photo © White Cube (Ollie Hammick)

Above Cinga Samson ‘Nzulu yemfihlakalo’, White Cube Mason’s Yard 7 July – 26 August 2023 © the artist. Photo © White Cube (Ollie Hammick)

The Wick Culture - Cinga Samson
Uqobo lwakhe
2023
Oil on canvas
(210 x 260 cm) | 82 11/16 x 102 3/8 in.
(214.5 x 264.5 x 7 cm) | 84 7/16 x 104 1/8 x 2 3/4 in. (framed)
© the artist. Photo © White Cube (Nina Lieska)

Above Cinga Samson Uqobo lwakhe 2023 Oil on canvas (210 x 260 cm) | 82 11/16 x 102 3/8 in. (214.5 x 264.5 x 7 cm) | 84 7/16 x 104 1/8 x 2 3/4 in. (framed) © the artist. Photo © White Cube (Nina Lieska)

The Wick Culture - Cinga Samson
Ebembe ya Nioka, Esilaka Somote (deatil)
2023
Oil on canvas
(240 x 310 cm) | 94 1/2 x 122 1/16 in.
(244.5 x 314.5 x 7 cm) | 96 1/4 x 123 13/16 x 2 3/4 in. (framed)
© the artist. Photo © White Cube (Nina Lieska)

Above Cinga Samson Ebembe ya Nioka, Esilaka Somote (deatil) 2023 Oil on canvas (240 x 310 cm) | 94 1/2 x 122 1/16 in. (244.5 x 314.5 x 7 cm) | 96 1/4 x 123 13/16 x 2 3/4 in. (framed) © the artist. Photo © White Cube (Nina Lieska)

Above Cinga Samson ‘Nzulu yemfihlakalo’, White Cube Mason’s Yard 7 July – 26 August 2023 © the artist. Photo © White Cube (Ollie Hammick)

The Wick Culture - Cinga Samson
Injani Imvuko II
2023
Oil on canvas
17 11/16 x 13 3/4 in. (45 x 35 cm)
18 13/16 x 14 7/8 x 2 9/16 in. (47.8 x 37.8 x 6.5 cm) (framed)
© the artist. Photo © White Cube (Nina Lieska)

Above Cinga Samson Injani Imvuko II 2023 Oil on canvas 17 11/16 x 13 3/4 in. (45 x 35 cm) 18 13/16 x 14 7/8 x 2 9/16 in. (47.8 x 37.8 x 6.5 cm) (framed) © the artist. Photo © White Cube (Nina Lieska)

The Wick Culture - Cinga Samson
Ebembe ya Nioka, Esilaka Somote
2023
Oil on canvas
(240 x 310 cm) | 94 1/2 x 122 1/16 in.
(244.5 x 314.5 x 7 cm) | 96 1/4 x 123 13/16 x 2 3/4 in. (framed)
© the artist. Photo © White Cube (Nina Lieska)

Above Cinga Samson Ebembe ya Nioka, Esilaka Somote 2023 Oil on canvas (240 x 310 cm) | 94 1/2 x 122 1/16 in. (244.5 x 314.5 x 7 cm) | 96 1/4 x 123 13/16 x 2 3/4 in. (framed) © the artist. Photo © White Cube (Nina Lieska)

Above Cinga Samson ‘Nzulu yemfihlakalo’, White Cube Mason’s Yard 7 July – 26 August 2023 © the artist. Photo © White Cube (Ollie Hammick)

Cinga Samson: Nzulu yemfihlakalo
White Cube Masons Yard

7 July – 26 August 2023
www.whitecube.com/gallery-exhibitions/cinga-samson-nzulu-yemfihlakalo

Prepare to be transported into the world of South African artist Cinga Samson as he unveils his new body of work at White Cube Mason Yard. Completed in his Cape Town studio, the exhibition includes large and small-scale paintings that explore the idea of spirituality and ritual. Between heaven and earth, the works create a sense of another world, an intangible metaphysical realm that impacts human existence.

‘Nzulu yemfihlakalo’ is a borrowed term from an isiXhosa phrase which loosely translates to ‘the depth of mystery’ and is used to express devotion while also being a description of God. Leaving the door open to interpretation and spirituality, Samson’s work is hyperreal with a hallucinatory quality that creates a feeling of the unknown. With piercing blank white eyes, a sense of the sublime dismisses the viewer’s gaze.

Bringing the viewer back down to earth, cultural references are scattered throughout the works. Samson’s works are figurative in nature with objects or memento mori frequently appearing, such as bouquets of proteas – the national flower of South Africa. In ‘Nzulu yemfihlakalo’, the human form is equal to nature and drives forward together in the creation of life.

Viewing BLACK VENUS

The Wick Culture - Amber Pinkerton Photo Booth, Sabah, Girls Next Door, 2020, © Courtesy the Artist and ALICE BLACK.

Above Amber Pinkerton Photo Booth, Sabah, Girls Next Door, 2020, © Courtesy the Artist and ALICE BLACK.

The Wick Culture - Ayana V. Jackson, Anarcha, 2017 © Courtesy of the Artist and Mariane Ibrahim.

Above Ayana V. Jackson, Anarcha, 2017 © Courtesy of the Artist and Mariane Ibrahim.

The Wick Culture - Carla Williams, Venus, 1992-1994 © Courtesy of the artist.

Above Carla Williams, Venus, 1992-1994 © Courtesy of the artist.

The Wick Culture - Delphine Diallo, Highness Blue (Hybrid 1), 2011 © Courtesy of MTArt and the artist.

Above Delphine Diallo, Highness Blue (Hybrid 1), 2011 © Courtesy of MTArt and the artist.

The Wick Culture - Ming Smith, Instant Model, 1976 © Courtesy of the artist and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London.

Above Ming Smith, Instant Model, 1976 © Courtesy of the artist and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London.

The Wick Culture - Ming Smith, Me as Marilyn, 1991 © Courtesy of the artist and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London.

Above Ming Smith, Me as Marilyn, 1991 © Courtesy of the artist and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London.

The Wick Culture - Widline Cadet, On a Clear Day, I Thought I Saw Forever, 2020 © Courtesy of the artist.

Above Widline Cadet, On a Clear Day, I Thought I Saw Forever, 2020 © Courtesy of the artist.

The Wick Culture - Ming Smith, Grace on Motor Cycle, 1978 © Courtesy of the artist and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London.

Above Ming Smith, Grace on Motor Cycle, 1978 © Courtesy of the artist and Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London.

Above Amber Pinkerton Photo Booth, Sabah, Girls Next Door, 2020, © Courtesy the Artist and ALICE BLACK.

Above Ayana V. Jackson, Anarcha, 2017 © Courtesy of the Artist and Mariane Ibrahim.

Above Carla Williams, Venus, 1992-1994 © Courtesy of the artist.

Above Delphine Diallo, Highness Blue (Hybrid 1), 2011 © Courtesy of MTArt and the artist.

BLACK VENUS
Somerset House

20 July – 24 September 2023
www.somersethouse.org.uk/press/black-venus-reclaiming-black-women-visual-culture-curated-aindrea-emelife

All eyes are on Somerset House to witness a legacy in the making with the opening of the hotly anticipated exhibition BLACK VENUS. Curated by curator, historian, and previous Monday Muse, Aindrea Emelife, BLACK VENUS includes works from over 20 women and non-binary artists who delve into the topics of othering and fetishism as they reclaim the narrative around Black femininity.

Tracking how Black womanhood has shifted in the public consciousness, the exhibition pairs contemporary artworks and images with selected archival work dated between 1793 and 1930. Sat next to each other, the works confront political and socio-economic understanding in different stages of history. While exploring this complex narrative of Black womanhood, the exhibition is anchored by three thematic pillars representing perceived paradigms: the Hottentot Venus, the Stable Venus and the Jezebel. Each pillar takes on a canon story of Black women in visual culture while examining the shift in these archetypes over time. Through the lens of Sonia Boyce, Carrie Mae Weems, Ming Smith, Zanele Muholi and Ayana V Jackson, be a part of reshaping a more inclusive history.

BLACK VENUS debuted in 2022 at New York’s Fotografiska before its residency at San Francisco’s Museum of the African Diaspora, and now at Somerset House features a new reworking of the themes, 19 new world and 6 UK-based artists in the lineup.