Viva Brighton Issue #85 March 2020

ART
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ART & ABOUT
In town (cont.)
Coming up early next month, the first ever annual Brighton
Design Show takes place between the 2nd-5th of April in Wagner
Hall. Part of Design Brighton – a new festival featuring the urban environment – it focuses on products
and interiors showcasing the best established and graduate designer/makers working locally. Enjoy the
retail exhibition, design installations, pop up design and book store, and a varied schedule of talks and
workshops for all ages. (See brightondesignshow.com for details)
Spark & Bell
Cliffs at Peacehaven Early Spring by Julian Le Bas
Out of town
Encounters – a solo exhibition of new
works by Julian Le Bas – is at Lewes
House from the 7th-15th (10am-
5pm). Born in 1958, Julian is a master
of plein air painting and has been
capturing the light rolling across the
Sussex Downland for decades. This
exhibition features familiar local vistas
as well as seascapes and landscapes
from the Scilly Isles, along with still
life paintings and drawings. (See
sarahokane.co.uk for details)
Whist at AltPitch
AltPitch is in Hastings
this month (20th, 27th and
29th). This mini festival
merges the arts, technology
and business communities
with a programme of
workshops, talks, performances
and networking
opportunities designed to help “people think about
technology in a more responsible way”. Free tickets
for under 20s (altpitch.org). The programme for the
31st Charleston Festival (15th-25th May) has been
published, with themes including the interaction
between art and politics, the climate crisis, inspirational
change-makers and identity politics weaving
through it. Highlights include appearances by Salman
Rushdie, Ai Weiwei, Bernardine Evaristo,
Tom Stoppard and Gloria Steinem and actors
Helena Bonham Carter and Tobias Menzies read
the intense love letters that passed between Lydia
Lopokova, star of the Ballets Russes, and brilliant
economist John Maynard Keynes in a specially commissioned
piece. Priority booking is underway; general
ticket sales open on the 5th March, with 1,000
£10 tickets available for festival goers aged under 30.
The exhibition of early works by Alan Davie and David Hockney continues at
Towner Gallery. Comprising 45 paintings, collages and drawings made between
1948 and1965, the exhibition explores the convergence between these two major
figures of post-war British painting, tracing their parallel paths and shared preoccupations
with passion, love, sex and poetry. Brink – an exhibition of works from the
Towner’s own collection, curated by Caroline Lucas – continues alongside.
David Hockney, Self Portrait, 1954
© David Hockney
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