Arts Editorial - London: From Old to New

This week feels like an homage to the greatness of London as a cultural centre. In what other city do you have such a wide variety of art on offer, whatever your taste? First of all, we have Dara’s My Art article, where she professes her undying love for the Barbican Centre, so often derided as a brutalist monstrosity that weighs heavy on the city’s skyline. Hopefully, her article will help convert some to the way of 60’s architecture.

Next, we have Lizzie’s look at the world of Giovanni Battista Moroni, an artist that history seems to have forgotten. As Renaissance portraiture goes, there really is no one better! I mean, just look at the way he captures the sitter’s emotion. But we’ll let Lizzie tell you more about that. With any luck, this exhibition will bring him back onto people’s radars after much too long.

Now looking more at the modern day, Fred talks about The National Videogame Arcarde opening in Nottingham, which looks to throw the art world into chaos as it redefines what art is in the digital age, where people’s greatest exposure to design and creativity is often through the medium of video games. We’ll see how it all pans out.

The Anatomy of Melancholy is part of a rare breed, a contemporary opera. Such is the skill and expense required to create an opera that you hardly ever see a new one come on the seen. We sent Elizaveta to go and see whether the production lived up to this expectation and whether it was able to tackle the gargantuan issue depression with any new insight.

Well there you go, from Brutalist architecture to Renaissance painting, video games and finally contemporary opera, London (and Nottingham) has it all! What more could you want?