Excess all areas on two grand days off

Weekend Combo: Venus In Fur, A Fading Gigolo and Ian Fleming’s London hideout
By Thomas Davis | Art | 30 May 2014
Above:

Still of Mathieu Amalric and Emmanuelle Seigner in Venus in Fur, 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 30th MAY – SUNDAY 1st JUNE 2014

First up this week we have two equally charged dramatic pieces of cinematic  goodness fresh from two of Hollywood’s reigning heavyweights, Roman Polanski and John Turturro.

Your fur, mistress
Join Turturro himself as he stars in his new film Fading Gigolo – alongside the likes of Woody Allen, Sharon Stone and Vanessa Paradis – and see his character Fioravante enter into the world’s oldest profession, eventually finding something he didn’t know he was looking for. Crude, lewd and full of cracking one-liners from everyone’s favourite Hollywood strumpet Sharon Stone, this film is in parts wonderful and in others so bad it’s bloody fantastic.

Next up is the film adaptation of David Ives’s Tony award winning play Venus In Fur; a seductive study into sexual manipulations and power play shot absorbingly through the lens of Roman Polanski. The somewhat literal climax of this film is a compelling treat but it’s all there in Venus in Fur, be it the overall air of sexual desire, dark humour or the fantastic performances from Emmanuelle Seigner and Mathieu Amalric. Ding-dong.

Fading Gigolo and Venus in Fur are showing now at The Barbican Centre Cinema, Silk St, London EC2Y 8DS. Check here for listings

Sue’s been at the photocopier…
There’s something highly entertaining happening over at the Hauser & Wirth Gallery this month and Richard Jackson is to thank for it. His recent exhibition is packed with totally engaging and ultimately fun new artworks, each playfully thought out and in some cases crudely hilarious. Take for instance the row of sculptures of men bending over forwards with their trousers at their ankles, aiming their backsides at the wall. Upon activation of Jackson’s artwork/defecation device, primary coloured paint squirts out of each of their rear ends, staining the wall. There’s a secretarial sex doll installation mounted on a photocopier too. Jackson is an artist who thankfully tends to not take himself seriously enough to give a shit about humour trivialising his artwork –  a worthy attitude.

Richard Jackson: New PaintingsHauser & Wirth, 23 Savile Row, London W1S 2ET, until 26th July

Field day
There seems to be a constant supply of new gastropubs and re-envisaged boozers popping up all over East London of late but they rarely shine as much as they are sold to us. The Plough in Lower Clapton on the other hand is an exceptionPicture a great selection of beers, good music, cracking cocktails and food from the kitchen to rival any central London diner. The honey-glazed chorizo with crispy kale goes perfectly with a Bloody Mary FYI. What more would you want for a Sunday session with the papers?

The Plough, 23-25 Homerton High Street, London, E9 6JP

Ian Fleming’s London hangout
Imagine a world-class bar tucked away in one of Europe’s best hidden hotels. The clientele are discreet and none other than James Bond author Ian Fleming would drink there once upon a time. Guess what? It is real and exists down a secluded backstreet in St. James, inside the immaculate Dukes Hotel.

DUKES BAR TROLLEY HERO MAGAZINE WEEKEND COMBO

Dukes Bar Martini trolley

If you like your cocktails poured straight from a service trolley at your table by a veteran of mixology then look no further. Be warned: the drinks are potent as rocket fuel. You won’t need any more than a couple – should you slur your way through re-ordering you’ll be politely and firmly offered a plate of bar snacks instead. That is serious class.

Dukes Bar, Dukes Hotel, St. James’s Place, London, SW1A 1NY

“Take your fucking woolly hat off and give a shit about something”
Those are the words of songwriter/drummer Joe Kondras – and he’s got a point. Hotfoot it to Oslo this evening (Hackney, not Norway) and see Issue 11‘s The Heartbreaks perform tracks from their new album We May Yet Stand A Chance, out next week. Stirring songs of audacity and revolt are the right way to kick the weekend off.

The Heartbreaks, Friday 30th May at OSLO, 1A Amhurst Road, Hackney, London, E8 1LL
. Doors open from 19:00. Tickets online here

 

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