December Recommendations

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Still from Ophelia Has a Dream by Miharayasuhiro
Still from Ophelia Has a Dream by MiharayasuhiroPhotography by Paolo Roversi

AnOther's selection of festive and non-festive highlights this December include camp film classics, a children's game turned into digital art and an exhibition of contemporary jewellery...

Miharayasuhiro and The Fabric of Art: Legacy of the Pre-Raphaelites in Contemporary Fashion at Tate Britain December 7 & 13
Two special events at Tate Britain, organised to coincide with their current exhibition The Pre-Raphaelites: Victorian Avant-Garde, consider the profound influence of the revolutionary genre upon fashion design. Miharayasuhiro's beautiful short film Ophelia Has a Dream (shot by Paolo Roversi and featuring the S/S12 Mihara collection), will be screened on Friday 7th, sitting alongside John Everett Millais’ renowned painting from which it draws its inspiration, while a panel discussion on Thursday 13th, between Roksanda Ilincic and Penny Martin, and chaired by AnOther columnist Donatien Grau, will shed further light on this interesting overlap of art and contemporary fashion, within a specifically British context.

Würfel-Mosaik App
The new Würfel-Mosaik app is available in a range of different versions: a perfect creative outlet for adults and children alike. Based on a simple historical game, Würfel-Mosaik offers a learning experience through the use of colour, initiative, design, symmetry and composition.

For Adam at XOYO – December 12
A memorial party organised by the friends and family of Adam Connolly, who tragically took his own life on 14th November, aims to celebrate his life and raise awareness and funds to prevent suicide among young men. Bands and Djs set to play include Friendly Fires and Errol Alkan's Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve. Click here for tickets.

Thomas Dozol: Côtes d’Azurs – Until December 16
New York based artist Thomas Dozol connects black and white bodies with prominent fluorescent colours in his latest exhibition, Côtes d’Azurs. These enigmatic pieces are made through the use of stencil technique, which Dozol began experimenting with about a year ago.

Whatever Happened To Baby Jane at The Curzon – December 14-20
This month, a handful of Curzon cinemas are offering viewers a chance to revisit Robert Aldrich’s camp yet sinister classic. A melodrama outlining the story of two sisters – a former child star and one-time movie queen, played by Bette Davis and Joan Crawford – it traces the repercussions of when, forced to live together in a decaying Hollywood mansion, their mutual hatred is exacerbated to a murderous extent.

The Art of Scent 1889-2012 – Until February 24
A new exhibition at New York's Museum of Arts and Design is the first major show of its kind to recognise scent as an important medium of artistic expression and creation. Curated by celebrated perfumier Chandler Burr, the show focuses on twelve cardinal works and their creators, including Jicky, the 1889 fragrance by Aimé Guerlain and Ernest Beaux’s iconic Chanel N° 5 from 1921, to illustrate the key innovations in scent design over the past century.

Film in Space at The Camden Arts Centre – December 15-February 24
A group show selected by filmmaker Guy Sherwin, Film in Space is a consideration of expanded cinema, a movement that emerged in Britain in the early 1970s. The works are deeply experimental, a deliberate riposte to mainstream cinema, and place particular emphasis on "film, light, and sound as material to be constantly re-worked, manipulated and experimented with". Original works will be exhibited among films by younger artists who continue to explore the versatility of analogue media in the digital age.

Unexpected Pleasures: The Art and Design of Contemporary Jewellery – December 5-March 3
The late 1970s saw the development of the contemporary jewellery movement, in a time that lended itself to the profound rethinking of jewellery and its social context. Curated by jewellery designer herself Dr. Susan Cohn, Unexpected Pleasures challenges the conventional function of jewellery through a number of themes and explores the ideas of financial value to personal association.

Holiday Explosion at Dover Street Market – Until December 1
Comme Des Garçons have created ‘Holiday Explosion,’ collaborating with the late Japanese superstar artist Taro Okamato. Exclusive to Dover Street Market, as well as select Comme Des Garçons stores, the range of products will include t-shirts, bags, trainers, chairs, a watch and a selection of notebooks to make for the perfect gift.

Text by Daisy Woodward and Jane Fayle