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Weekend Combo: Lynch, Warhol, Cavemen and a Nymphomaniac
By Thomas Davis | Art | 21 February 2014
Above:

Still with Uma Thurman from Nymphomaniac, photograph courtesy of Zentropa Inc, 2014

This article is part of Weekend Combo – What to do this weekend

We bring you our guide to living well in the world’s capitals, from exhibitions to cinema, food, drink, fashion, music and beyond. Just call it culture and take it, it’s yours.

LONDON, FRIDAY 21st FEBRUARY – SUNDAY 23rd FEBRUARY 2014

First up this weekend we have a line up of brilliance courtesy of The Photographers’ Gallery in central London, offering up a rare opportunity to view an incredible selection of black and white photographs by film director David Lynch, legendary documenter of counterculture William S. Burroughs, and the man who never needed an introduction of any sort; Andy Warhol. What a trio.

“I told them I didn’t believe in art, that I believed in photography.”
Andy Warhol carried a camera with him most of the time – taking up to 36 frames a day. His ‘stitched’ photographs made up of many repeated images he took between 1982 and his death in 1987 and are simply incredible. This rare glimpse at a sensitive side never seen in Warhol’s better known works shouldn’t be missed.

“I drifted along taking shots when I could score. 
I ended up hooked.”
William S. Burroughs was of course one of the most influential American writers of the 20th century.  His photographs are strikingly dynamic – lacking references to other photographic genres but can be categorised as representing plainly and beautifully the vantage point of a great mind as he saw the world around him through street scenes, still lifes, collages, radio towers and people.

“I love industry. Pipes. I love fluid and smoke. I love man-made things. I like to see people hard at work, and I like to see sludge and man-made waste.”
If you’re familiar with the complexities of David Lynch’s other visual storytelling and the incredible detail of his works you will certainly have an idea as to his contribution to this show. His series of photographs is similar to his most iconic films – uniquley dark and cinematic views of detritus and decay, exteriors of industrial structures taken over my nature for instance. Heart warming stuff.

David Lynch: The Factory Photographs
Taking Shots: The Photography of William S. Burroughs
Andy Warhol: Photographs 1976–1987
The Photographers’ Gallery, 16–18 Ramillies St, London W1F 7LW

Swinging on the family tree
Imagine Britain 125,000 years ago. Lions would be prowling around Bond Street and Trafalgar. Hippo-like mammals could possibly be floating down the Thames. But what about us? Well, The Natural History Museum has gathered more than 200 specimens and objects, including lifelike models of Neanderthals and a Homo sapiens, into a new exhibition revealing the changing faces of ancient Britons. Fascinating stuff!

This presents our shared family tree in an astonishingly realistic light – take a look at Ned while you’re there, a lifesize model reconstruction of a Neanderthal man in his 20s.

Britain: One Million Years of the Human Story
The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Rd, London, SW7 5BD

Trier time
Nymphomaniac, yes, here we go, is the highly anticipated new movie from director Lars Von Trier. It’s a wild and poetic story of a woman’s journey from birth to the age of 50 as told by self-diagnosed nymphomaniac Joe (played by Stacy Martin and Charlotte Gainsbourg).

Already banned in many countries, the film boasts an all-star cast including  Shia LaBeouf, Christian Slater (who interviewed his pal Tony Hawk in HERO 10), Jamie Bell, Willem Dafoe and Uma Thurman. This Saturday 22nd of February Curzon Cinemas are providing an unprecedented ‘One Night Stand’ event in which audiences will have their only opportunity to watch Volumes I and II without cuts from the BBFC, a tactic that should halt a barrage of complaints from moaning minnies.

Just DON’T take your gran or a first date. Well, maybe the first date…

Nymphomaniac Vol I and Vol II, directed by Lars Von Trier
Book online here

On The Bab: Korean in a bun, in your gob
Old Street has been due an injection of culinary quality for a while. On The Bab is a cracking new Korean restaurant which has nothing to do with kebabs or the endless lines of scantily dressed boozers from London’s suburbs who clog up the area each weekend. This place nails it when it comes to the Korean food trending our city right now so head down midday for a cheap, cheerful and delicious lunch. The fusion dish of deep-fried arancini risotto balls filled with spicy kimchi cabbage pickle is off the scale.

On The Bab
305 Old Street, London EC1V 9LA

 

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