Jun
10
Toko-Ri
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One of Vienna’s most consistently reliable sushi houses has opened a new city centre branch. More high-tech stylish than their first restaurant, the latest Toko-Ri offers the same superb suchi and sashimi that originally made their name but with the addition of a teppanyaki bar seating 12. Diners can also choose between booths or the bizarre main bar – an aquarium filled with slightly grotesque tropical fish. Toko-Ri is conveniently situated for those on a tour of the Bermuda Triangle end of Vienna’s first district.
Jun
01
Francis Bacon In Dublin
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Curated by leading Bacon authority David Sylvester, this exhibition at Hugh Lane is the first major showing of the artist’s work recovered from his studio. It illustrates the close correspondence between Bacon’s source material and his finished works. The exhibition also includes nine works from the Francis Bacon Estate, seven of which were recently rediscovered in storage. ‘Francis Bacon in Dublin’ traces the development of of his artistic career from early works, after he left Ireland in the late-1920s, to his monumental portraits of the 1980s.
May
22
Iris Viewing
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It’s no great secret that Japanese people have a thing about flowers, and the blooming of the irises in the mid-June rainy season is seen as the traditional harbinger of summer. Just about all of the city’s traditional gardens – including the popular Meiji Jingu inner garden – will be filled to bursting with cameras, tripods and amateur photographers, but if you can see past them, the iris flowers are actually quite spectacular.
May
02
Oscar D’Leon
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Possibly the most recognised Venezuelan artist outside of his own country, idolised salsa singer Oscar D’Leon is an extraordinary showman who quickly takes charge of the stage before singing a note. From humble origins in Caracas, D’Leon synthesises influences from the great Cuban ’soneros’ such as Beny Moré and the 1960s New York sound of Eddie Palmieri and the Fania All Stars. With over 50 albums to his credit, D’Leon comes to Madrid complete with his thumping Latin orchestra to open the summer in grand style.
Apr
26
Robert Wilson: Time and Space
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Robert Wilson is hard to pigeonhole. His is at once a theatrical designer, best-known for his stagings of ‘Einstein on the Beach’ and ‘Black Rider’; a performer in his own right; a furniture designer and an artist. This exhibition makes no real attempt to compartmentalise him, but rather revels in the man’s many sides, with amazing photos from his stage work, drawings and sketches, and even a couple of Wilson-designed chairs. A great appreciation of a master of all trades.
Apr
22
Rosanna Casano
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The oil paintings in this intriguing exhibition, by one of Barcelona’s young established artists, display intricate urban landscapes impregnated with human presence, but absent of any figures. Fragments of the city viewed from the sky are repeated over and over to the point of abstraction, yet, these bits of rich form and colour are still charged with the deep solitude of city life. The works are based on a formal study of architecture and act as powerful metaphors of the human condition in urban spaces.
Apr
21
Mojo
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Situated in the new and ultra hip W hotel in West LA, the customers at Mojo are as much an attraction as the food. Music blares as patrons in designer clothes wait patiently behind velvet ropes outside and then sit provocatively in the bar flooded with red light or in the sea bar bathed in blue. The menu is nuevo Latino, with entrees like pork chops in a poblano chile salsa and roast chicken in a pistachio mole followed by a tequila ice cream sundae. If you like good cocktails and loud music, it’s the new stylish place for you.
