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We've got our art in the wrong place... unusual exhibitions around London

By CW Contributor on 16/8/2016

London is good at taking art out of its natural habitat and setting it free, letting it cause a stir. Whether it's the fourth plinth baffling tourists, Anthony Gormley's standing men imposing from on high, or opening up one of the most notorious mental institutions in the world for institutions - we're good at freeing art from the four walls of a gallery.

Here's our round up of the most surprising exhibitions in London

Tracey Emin I know I know I know Frank Fortnums Frieze exhibition

Fortnum's x Frank

To many of us, the Queen's grocer Fortnum's spells high tea, hampers and lavender biscuits in quaint tins.

This autumn, however, the 310-year-old Piccadilly institution is hosting some of the biggest names in British art. Work from Frank Auerbach, Tracey Emin, Howard Hodgkin, Keith Vaughan, Bridget Riley, Leon Kossoff and many more

Read more ...
WHEN
13 Sep 2016 – 13 Oct 2016, Monday to Saturday 10am to 9pm Sunday 11.30am* to 6pm 11.30am to 12 noon for browsing only
WHERE
Fortnum & Mason
181 Piccadilly, W1J 9EH
 A still from Mary, 2016, by Bill Viola; Executive Producer, Kira Perov, which will be inaugurated in the cathedral on 8 September. Photograph: Blain|Southern/PA Bill Viola Mary

Bill Viola: 'Mary' St. Paul's Cathedral

Two years ago, American video artist Bill Viola installed two giant plasma screens in London's greatest edifice, St. Paul's Cathedral, showing video work on the theme of the Martyrs. It remains in the south quire to this day. This autumn, a second permanent large-scale installation will come to the cathedral, it has been announced. Mary will show the Virgin Mother carrying Christ, and will be installed in the north quire

Read more ...
WHEN
08 Sep 2016 – 30 Sep 2017, Permanent installation, Mon-Fri
WHERE
St Pauls Cathedral
St. Paul's Churchyard, London , EC4M 8AD
The Line: East London's Sculpture Walk

The Line: East London's Sculpture Walk

Sculptures from Martin Creed, Gary Hume, Damien Hirst and the fabulous Abigail Fallis line these three trails. London's answer to New York's 'High Line' connects little-known parts of the River Lea to North Greenwich and the Royal Docks. It makes for a fabulous afternoon.

Read more ...
WHEN
23 May 2015 – 23 May 2016, Open to the public all day
WHERE
The O2 Arena
Peninsula Square , London, SE10 0DX
The fifty metre long swathe of rubber hangs in Westminster Hall, image courtesy Artangel

The Ethics of Dust, Artangel and Jorge Otero-Pailos, Westminster Hall

Everyone has been raving about The Ethics of Dust, a work in Westminster Hall by Spanish artist, architect and conservationist Jorge Otero-Pailos. Pailos made a cast of the east wall of the thousand-year-old Westminster Hall using latex. This application process can be used carefully to clean and restore old buildings.

With all that has happened in British politics from the end of June, to see this sheet hanging there like parliament's dirty laundry should be an arresting pilgrimage for those interested in current affairs and history alike.

Read more ...
WHEN
29 Jun 2016 – 01 Sep 2016, 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM
WHERE
Westminster Hall
Westminster Palace, London, SW1A 0AA
Ron Arad sculpture, St Pancras Station

Ron Arad sculpture, St Pancras Station

Next time you're popping on the Eurostar, look up. Israeli sculptor Ron Arad's has unveiled his cleverly-titled Thought of Train of Thought. It's an 18-metre twist of aluminium that rotates slowly above the arrivals from the Eurostar, reflecting them from above. Part of the Royal Academy's ongoing sculpture collaboration, with the station, the piece shimmers as it rotates, offering, quite literally, a moment of reflection.

Read more ...
WHEN
07 Jul 2016 – 30 Oct 2016, Open 24 hours a day
WHERE
St Pancras International Station
Euston Road, London, N1C 4QP
Bedlam, Wellcome Collection & 'Reclaiming Asylum' Bethlem Gallery

Bedlam, Wellcome Collection & 'Reclaiming Asylum' Bethlem Gallery

Bethlem Hospital. 'Bedlam'. A place so frightful its name has come to mean uproar, or chaos. An upcoming Wellcome Collection exhibition will explore this 600 year old institution as well as our changing notion of 'madness', from Bedlam to the present day.

A parallel exhibition, Reclaiming Asylum, will pop up over at Betlhlem Gallery - a space situated on the grounds of The Bethlem Royal Hospital.

Read more ...
WHEN
15 Sep 2016 – 15 Jan 2017, Monday galleries closed Tuesday 10:00 - 18:00 Wednesday 10:00 - 18:00 Thursday 10:00 - 22:00 Friday 10:00 - 18:00 Saturday 10:00 - 18:00 Sunday 11:00 - 18:00
WHERE
The Wellcome Collection
183 Euston Road, London , NW1 2BE
Wheeeee! Carsten Höller's new Olympic Park slide

Wheeeee! Carsten Höller's new Olympic Park slide

Carsten Höller has wrapped one of his famous slides around Kapoor's ailing Olympic Park sculpture. We were one of the first to have a go. And we can't recommend it enough.

This isn't your average playground affair: we're talking 178 metres long 76 metres high. Twists, turns, vertical drops, helmets. You're given a sack to lie in, told to tuck your elbows in and then whooosh, down you go, plunged in and out darkness, speeding along, no idea which way is up or down.

Read more ...
WHEN
24 Jun 2016 – 31 Oct 2018, 10am - 6pm, last entry 5.30pm
WHERE
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
London, E20 2ST
Inside – Artists and Writers in Reading Prison [STAR:5]

INSIDE, Artists and Writers in Reading Prison

Okay, Okay. So this one's in Reading. But it's worth it, we promise. This September, for the first time ever, Reading Prison will open to the public, where some of the biggest names in art and performance respond to themes of isolation, imprisonment and Oscar Wilde - the jail's most famous inmate.

Expect works by Marlene Dumas, Nan Goldin, Steve McQueen, Wolfgang Tillmans to be installed in the Victorian prison’s corridors, wings and cells. Each Sunday, writers and performers including Ralph Fiennes, Maxine Peake, Patti Smith, Colm Tóibín and Ben Whishaw will perform Wilde's work.

Read more ...
WHEN
04 Sep 2016 – 30 Oct 2016, Opening times TBC
WHERE
HM Prison Reading
Reading, RG1 3HY
Benedetto Pietromarchi Of Saints and Sailors MESSMAN – Delgado, Nilo Jardenil 2016 Metal, fired Uruguayan clay, mixed media 180 x 80 cm each Courtesy of Josh Lilley Sculpture in the City London sculpture festival

Sculpture in the City 2016

Let's be honest. Province of bankers and brokers, Gherkins, Cheese-graters and a thousand Pret A Mangers: the Square Mile isn't the first place you'd look to find a host of arresting artworks.

And yet, every year, The City of London takes contemporary art out of its natural habitat and places it in surprising corners of the Financial District.

This year we have Sarah Lucas, Gavin Turk, Antony Caro and Jaume Plensa.

Read more ...
WHEN
28 Jun 2016 – 28 Mar 2017, N/A: Permanent
WHERE
The Gherkin
30 St Mary Axe, London, EC3A 8EP
St. Paul's Cathedral on Fire

St. Paul's Cathedral on Fire

To mark 350 years since the city was gutted by the Great Fire of London, some of our most iconic buildings wills be lit on fire. From the 1-4 September, artist Martin Firrell will set fire to the National Theatre and St Paul's Cathedral with blazing projections.

On the 4th September, as a grand finale, a vast 120-metre-long wooden sculpture of Restoration London will be set alight along the Thames.

Read more ...
WHEN
23 Jul 2016 – 17 Apr 2017, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
WHERE
Museum of London
150 London Wall, London, EC2Y 5HN
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