Guildhall Gallery - Exhibition - Visscher Redrawn by Artist Robin Reynolds OPENS SOON

Pen & Ink Drawing by Robin Reynolds

Shakespeare's London redrawn for 400th anniversary of Bard's Death
Exhibition opens 20th February to 20th November 2016
at
Guildhall Art Gallery

Claes Jansz. Visscher 1616 engraving of London

Artist Robin Reynolds has created a pen and ink version of Claes Jansz. Visscher’s 1616 engraving of London, which will be on show at Guildhall Art Gallery from Saturday 20 February from 10am and displayed alongside Visscher’s original image. Reynolds’ single drawing has been arranged to fit the Visscher landscape, which stretches from Whitehall to St. Katharine’s Dock on four large plates. Visscher’s engraving was published in the year of Shakespeare’s death and in recognition of the 400^th anniversary this year, the new drawing includes references to his 37 plays, three major poetic works, and the sonnets.

Sonia Solicari, curator of Guildhall Art Gallery, said: “Visscher’s engraving is not only one of the most recognisable and historic images of London, it is also one of the most important, because few visual records exist of the City before much of it was destroyed by the Great Fire in 1666. I am delighted that Robin Reynolds, who set himself a huge challenge, has allowed us to display his work at Guildhall Art Gallery, and that it will be presented next to Visscher’s original. Visitors to the art gallery will certainly enjoy comparing the 400-year old engraving to details in the new work, and trying to spot Robin’s references to the plays, poetry and sonnets.”

Artist Robin Reynolds said: “The project was prompted initially by what I felt was a similarity between my style and Visscher's and subsequently, by the coincidence of landmark anniversaries in 2016. After two years’ work, I'm thrilled and grateful to Guildhall Art Gallery for granting the finished piece such exposure in this prestigious venue. I hope that, as they explore the new panorama, visitors to the art gallery will be able to share some of the fun that I have had compiling it.”

Visscher Redrawn: 1616 – 2016 runs from 20 February to 20 November at Guildhall Art Gallery and forms part of a programme of special events and exhibitions to mark the 400^th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, which includes the Shakespeare Son et Lumière show in Guildhall Yard on 4 and 5 March. For full details, please visit www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/visscher and www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/shakespeare400

Currently on show in the Heritage Gallery in the Art Gallery is the lease of a property in Blackfriars signed by William Shakespeare and a first complete works of his plays by John John Hemminge and Henry Condell. Open daily.

The Georgian Dining Academy - The Piscean Party - 10th March 2016

Presents

The Piscean Party

Miss Kitty Pridden and Miss B are once again pleased to invite you to join them for a special evening of Georgian conviviality and hospitality to celebrate their Birthdays!

10th March 2016

at Simpson's Tavern, 38 1/2 Cornhill, London EC3V 9DR

Miss B & Miss Kitty Pridden - your hosts - Image: Paul Lindus

Experience the glittering splendour within the candelit atmosphere of Simpson's Tavern. The C18th chophouse will be transformed into a theatre of laughter and gastronomic indulgence. 

A warming punch on arrival to sweep away the chill of the journey, then to enjoy sumptuous fare in good company, washed down with fine wine and port. All the time being entertained with Georgian anecdotes, frivolous pastimes, song and talk, with more than a little mystery. A magical evening indeed!

All we ask of you is to wear a mask on arrival, preferably much adorned with feathers and frippery!

Further information:

A Three Course Supper with drinks, and performance throughout included in the price! 
A bargain, ‘theatre’ and dining combined!

Dressing up as a Georgian is most definitely encouraged but not obligatory.

The menu which offers three choices for starter and main courses, a dessert or a savoury will be sent to you for pre order two weeks prior to the event. 

If you wish to discuss arrangements for a party table of 6 or more please contact the organiser. MissBtakesawalk@gmail.com

Vegetarian and other dietary options available.

BOOK HERE: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-georgian-dining-academy-simpsons-tavern-tickets-20035517773

FUTURE DATES;
9th June 2016
1st September 2016
1st December 2016

See some of our previous events on our FaceBook page : https://www.facebook.com/GeorgianDiningAcademy?ref=hl

Image: Paul Lindus

LITERARY AFTERNOON ‘No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960-1990’ at Guildhall Art Gallery

Groundings:  Radical Readings from the Walter Rodney Bookshop at the Guildhall Art Gallery
A literary afternoon in the company of Britain’s leading Black publishers and writers
 

Sunday 27^th September 2015 from 12.30pm – 4.30pm Admission:  £5.00 (plus booking fee) from Eventbrite

Throughout the tenure of its ground-breaking exhibition ‘No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960-1990’ , one of the most comprehensive surveys of Black British cultural heritage and social history in recent years, the Guildhall Art Gallery is playing host to a series of scheduled accompanying events.  On Sunday 27^th September, the gallery will be bringing together the key Black publishers and writers of the time for ‘Groundings: Walter Rodney Bookshop’, a unique opportunity to share stories, experiences of publishing and opinions regarding Black publishing in the future.

The Walter Rodney bookshop opened in Ealing, West London in 1975 by pioneering Black publisher and Black rights campaigner Eric Huntley, together with his wife Jessica. Originally called the Bogle L’Ouverture bookshop after Huntley’s publishing company, it was renamed in Walter Rodney’s honour after this Guyanese activist and scholar was assassinated in 1980. The bookshop hosted numerous meetings, talks and readings, which were known as ‘Groundings’ and became a cultural hub for like-minded literary and political activists, such as John La Rose, of New Beacon Bookshop. Between them, with ‘Race and Class’ journal, they created the International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books, which took place between 1982 and 1995.

Highlights of the ‘Groundings’ literary event at Guildhall Art Gallery include:
 

• A live interview with Eric Huntley by Dr. Margaret Andrews, chair of the Friends of the Huntley Archives and author of the acclaimed biography ‘Doing Nothing is Not an Option: The Radical Lives of Eric and Jessica Huntley’.
• A fascinating insight by renowned artist and curator Dr Michael McMillan, into the process of recreating the multi-sensory, multi-visual Bogle-L’Ouverture Walter Rodney Bookshop which forms the centrepiece of the ‘No Colour Bar: Black British Art in Action 1960-1990’ exhibition at the gallery.
• ‘Publishing then, Publishing Now’: an open discussion with leading publishers of the era, including Arif Ali (Hansib Publications), Sarah White (New Beacon Books) as well as a conversation between Dr Michael McMillan, literary activist, live artist and poet Dorothea Smartt and Kadija (George) Sesay RSA, an award-winning literary activist, publisher and poet, on the community publishing output of the Centerprise Publishing Project in East London, which was founded by Black publisher Glenn Thompson in 1971.

​The afternoon will close with readings from leading contemporary Black poets:

• John Lyons, one of the exhibiting artists in the ‘No Colour Bar’ exhibition, who published his first poetry collection ‘Lure of the Cascadura’ with Bogle L’Ouverture Publishing (1989) will be reading from this work and his latest books published by Peepal Tree Press and Cane Arrow Press.
• Dorothea Smartt will be reading from her acclaimed chapbook, ‘Reader, I married him and other queer goings-on’ (published by Peepal Tree Press). She will also be sharing extracts from a new work based on archival research and a recent trip to Panama, which imagines the lives of West Indians as they moved from Barbados to work on the Panama Canal at the turn of the 20^th century.

Books by and about all the publishers and speakers will be available for sale at the Guildhall Art Gallery.