Summer Has Arrived: Here’s a List of Great Things to Do This June

Exhibitions and Events

Cindy Sherman at the National Portrait Gallery, London: June 27 – September 15, 2019
The National Portrait Gallery’s long-awaited Cindy Sherman exhibition finally opens this month. The American artist’s iconic series Untitled Film Stills, in which she inhabits the role of various different stock female film characters, will be on show among 150 of her works dating from the 1970s to the present day, with some being shown for the first time. If Sherman’s weird and wonderful Instagram account is anything to go by, her newest works will feature the slightly disturbing shape-shifting that we have come to expect from her.

Basquiat’s ‘Defacement’: The Untold Story at the Guggenheim, New York: June 21 – November 6, 2019
The starting point for the Guggenheim New York’s upcoming study of Jean Michel Basquiat is a painting the artist created in 1983: Defacement (the Death of Michael Stewart). Michael Stewart of the painting’s title was a black artist who was arrested by a member of New York City’s transit police for spraypainting in a subway station and died 13 days later in hospital, and his death sparked outrage over police brutality in the city. Basquiat created a number of works following Stewart’s death, many of which (including Defacement, of the exhibition’s title) were never meant to be publicly exhibited. Alongside other works by the likes of Keith Haring and Andy Warhol also dealing with Stewart’s death, Basquiat’s ‘Defacement’: The Untold Story looks at the wider cultural movement that surrounded the loss and how Basquiat addressed issues of black identity in the city.

Keith Haring at Tate Liverpool: June 14 – November 10, 2019
Tate Liverpool is staging a long overdue major UK exhibition on Keith Haring this summer. In his fleeting career – the artist died in 1990 at the age of 31 from an AIDS-related illness – Haring created vibrant, impactful work in New York for all to enjoy, and used his growing popularity in the city to raise awareness for the growing issues of AIDS and drug addiction. A contemporary of Basquiat and Warhol, Haring’s exuberant and politically charged output came to define the emerging art scene of 1980s New York.

Get Up, Stand Up Now at Somerset House, London: June 12 – September 15, 2019
Somerset House’s forthcoming exhibition Get Up, Stand Up Now is a celebration of black creativity over the last half century. An astonishing wealth of artists feature in the show, hailing from Britain and beyond, a number of whom have created new work for it – the list includes Anthea Hamilton, Steve McQueen, Lubaina Himid, Grace Wales Bonner, Ronan McKenzie, Gaika, Jenn Nkiru, Mowalola Ogunlesi, Campbell Addy and Yinka Shonibare. The exhibition’s starting point is the filmmaker Horace Ové, who made Pressure, the first feature film by a black British director in 1975 – and Ové’s son Zak curates Get Up, Stand Up Now – and painters, photographers, sculptors, designers, filmmakers, writers and textile artists have contributed work and archival material that speak to their own experiences and lives.

Helmut Newton: SUMO at the Helmut Newton Foundation, Berlin: June 7 – November 10, 2019
The Helmut Newton Foundation is celebrating two anniversaries this month: 20 years since Taschen published a mammoth tome on Newton (the first of the publishing house’s ‘Sumo’ series, which has since spotlighted the likes of David Hockney and David Bailey) and a decade since an exhibition that celebrated the groundbreaking publication, with its pages hung on the walls of the Berlin institution. Featuring many of Newton’s most iconic images shot for some of the world’s most established fashion publications, the new exhibition remembers the photographer’s extraordinary oeuvre. Three Boys from Pasadena is also on show at the Helmut Newton Foundation, an exhibition originally shown in 2009 that focuses on work by three of Newton’s  former assistants: Mark Arbeit, George Holz and Just Loomis.

Kiss My Genders at the Hayward Gallery, London: June 12 – September 8, 2019
Gender and identity is at the centre of a new exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, entitled Kiss My Genders. Gender fluidity and the recognition of non-binary, trans and intersex individuals have been on the rise over the last 50 years, and the Southbank Centre exhibition charts these developments via a range of artworks – over 100 feature in Kiss My Genders – spanning sculpture, video, installation, painting and photography, all aiming to challenge typical notions of beauty and the body.

The Challenge: Tadao Ando at Armani/Silos, Milan: until July 28, 2019
Innovative architect Tadao Ando is widely known for his fusion of traditional and contemporary styles in his structures, and Giorgio Armani has long been an admirer of his work (the designer commissioned Ando in 2000 to create Armani/Teatro, his namesake brand’s showspace and headquarters in what were formerly industrial buildings in Milan). At the designer’s Milan foundation, Armani/Silos, an exhibition featuring photographs, sketches, models, notes and videos of the Japanese architect’s extraordinary work is currently on show. Titled The Challenge, the exhibit is an in-depth look at Ando’s fascinating practice and consistently awe-inspiring oeuvre.

Hassan Hajjaj: The Path at New Art Exchange, Nottingham: until June 23, 2019
Catch three of Hassan Hajjaj’s captivating series – one of which, Between, has not previously been exhibited in the UK – in Nottingham this month. The British-Moroccan artist’s singular style fuses portraiture with documentary photography and brings in a wealth of pattern and colour, with his photographs encased in his signature framing of vibrant materials or numerous shelved cans of food (Hajjaj has at times been referred to as ‘the Andy Warhol of Marrakesh’ for his use of such devices). The photographer works in the street and favours a spontaneous approach, meaning that his images are imbued with a palpable energy.

Second Home Serpentine Pavilion by SelgasCano at La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles: June 28 – November 24, 2019
With its iridescent walls and winding labyrinthine structure, the Second Home Serpentine Pavilion – designed by SelgasCano and originally staged in London’s Hyde Park, hence the ‘Serpentine’ of its name – arrives as an event space in Los Angeles this month, and will remain at the La Brea Tar Pits until November. Expect a host of events and talks at the enticing space, with focus placed on the city of LA’s past and future: talks with the likes of Hans Ulrich Obrist and Bret Easton Ellis will be held, as well as cultural debates. Ahead of a permanent Second Home site opening in Hollywood this year, this exciting cultural programme (which is free and open to all) is not to be missed.

The Best of Film

While we’re all celebrating June’s sunny skies, any rainy days can be happily whiled away in the cinema thanks to this month’s plethora of great new films. Julianne Moore shines as the titular protagonist in Gloria Bell, Chilean director Sebastián Lelio’s English-language remake of his 2013 movie Gloria. It’s the story of a fun-loving divorcee and mother of two disinterested adult children, who finds herself unexpectedly swept up in a passionate new romance and all the complexities of dating, and will have you laughing, cringing and crying. Don’t miss Dirty God, the powerful drama from Sacha Polak, starring mesmerising newcomer Vicky Knight as a young British mother trying to rebuild her life after being badly scarred in a violent acid attack. For coming-of-age fans, We the Animals, based on Justin Torres’ acclaimed semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, is a sumptuously filmed, perfectly acted tale of a young boy with a big imagination, and his quest to blaze his own trail as he finds himself increasingly estranged from his family.

A Season In France, from Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, is a searing critique of Europe’s refugee crisis, following an African teacher who flees to France with his family in search of asylum after a personal tragedy. For a hearty dose of horror and comedy, look no further than In Fabric, a weird, wonderful, somewhat Lynchian tale of a killer dress from British filmmaker Peter Strickland (The Duke of Burgundy). Meanwhile comedy-drama Support the Girls stars Regina Hall as the kind, long-suffering manager of a Hooters-style bar in Texas, offering a refreshingly nuanced yet hard-hitting look at the struggles and double standards faced by women in the service industry. Fashion fans, be sure to catch Halston, a new documentary on the life and legacy of the American designer (and creator of Jackie Kennedy’s iconic pillbox hat); while plant appreciators will delight in Five Seasons: The Gardens Of Piet Oudolf, a wonderful look into the flower-filled world of the revered Dutch garden designer.

Food and Drink

Marchesi 1824, London: open now
Prada pastries have arrived in London. Marchesi 1824, the historic Italian bakery which the Prada Group acquired in 2014, is famed for its pannetone, chocolates and pastries and equally delectable interiors, and its shop on Mount Street marks the first to be opened outside of Italy.

Crispin, Spitalfields: open now
Housed in a striking pavilion in the heart of Spitalfields, Crispin’s cosy interiors boast delicious food to match (plus a terrace perfect for upcoming summer warmth). The wine bar and cafe’s evening menu consists of sharing plates – think burrata or smoked salmon and capers to start, and cod with fennel and clams or short-rib with red pepper. The option to choose ‘one of everything’ on the menu is especially tempting, along with a glass of natural wine.

West Contemporary at Kerridge’s Bar and Grill, London: open now
Art and food come together in London’s Corinthia Hotel, as Tom Kerridge’s eponymous bar and grill collaborates with West Contemporary to bring work by emerging British artists to the restaurant and bar space. Work by the likes of Chris Moon, Jim Threapleton, Robi Walters, and Matt Roe are currently on show in the restaurant (and available to buy).

Lant Street, Borough, London: opening June 15

The brainchild of design dealer and interior designer Jermaine Gallacher, Lant Street is a new bar opening on – you guessed it – Lant Street, near Borough tube station. Dubbed “a space to enjoy design and wine”, the bar is the fruit of a partnership between Gallacher and Lant St Wine, with whom he shares the premises. The bar itself has been designed by artist Charlie Froud and its opening will feature a curation of offbeat furniture, design and objets d’art by a group including Lukas Gschwandtner, Miranda Keyes, Viola Lanari, Rosie Oliver, Janina Pedan, Ksenia Peden, Polly Philp and Gallacher himself.

Beauty

Pulse Light Clinic London: open now
Specialising in laser and light technology for nearly two decades, Pulse Light Clinic offers skincare therapy with a difference. Whether you’re struggling with rosacea, ezcema or acne, they offer very specific treatments, along with sessions with their amazing in-house nutritional therapist Lisa Borg, who will arm you with brilliant dietary advice aimed at improving your skin and healing your body with nature’s best medicine: food.

Great Performances

There are plenty of reasons to head to the theatre this month. First up, Bronx Gothic at the Young Vic – “part theatre, part dance and part visual art installation” from multi-talented performer Okwui Okpokwasili, which offers an absorbing exploration of girlhood, based on Okpokwasili’s memories of growing up in the Bronx. Then there’s The End of History…, the new collaboration from writer Jack Thorne and composer John Tiffany at The Royal Court. A 90s drama-musical, it centres on leftist parents Sal and David, who have managed to reunite their three children (each named after their socialist heroes) for a rare family weekend. The Hunt at the Almeida is a new stage adaptation of Danish director Thomas Vinterberg's 2012 thriller about a teacher falsely accused of sexual abuse by one of his students, with set design by the brilliant Es Devlin. Meanwhile, if you missed Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Sweat during its Donmar run, fear not: it transfers to the West End this month, offering audiences a chance to catch the Lynette Linton-directed tale of a group of factory workers set in an all-American bar in Pennsylvania.

Opera fans can see Ivo van Hove’s remarkable take on Czech composer Leos Janácek celebrated song cycle, The Diary of the One Who Disappeared, at Linbury Theatre from June 5-8. While dance aficionados must be sure to catch the spellbinding stars of the San Francisco Ballet in their special programme at Sadler’s Wells, showcasing eight fresh productions from some of the most exciting choreographers working today.