Exhibitions
Jenny Saville
Mottled, contorted, often florid, Jenny Saville’s portraits have a distinct ability to unsettle. The former Young British Artist and Saatchi affiliate paints portraits of women that challenge preconceptions (her work on a Manic Street Preachers album cover was famously censored). Often compared to Lucian Freud, there is something even less sentimental about Saville’s studies. A new exhibition at the Gagosian showcases a series of new nudes that also see her pondering the technical challenges of figurative art.
Music
Little Mix
With the youth of today spellbound by YouTubers peddling mind-bending volumes of inanity, the output of bushy-tailed power-pop stars such as Little Mix no longer feels remotely like a guilty pleasure. Yes, the ex-X Factor girlband’s current tour is called Get Weird – which is about the least accurate description of their slick, sprightly style imaginable – but with pop this proficient, who cares?
TV
Full Frontal With Samantha Bee
Adding some much needed double X chromosomes to the boys’ club that is US late-night satire, former Daily Show contributor Samantha Bee is now hosting her own weekly show. Full Frontal sees Bee dryly comment on the pressing issues of the day - from the presidential primaries to Tennessee’s farcical “bathroom laws” - interspersed with the kind of interview takedowns that made her name in her former parish. Sadly it hasn’t been picked up in the UK but – praise be to the gods of unrestricted video content - there are entire episodes available to view on YouTube.
Clubs
Skye Live
If the Scottish island isn’t the first place you’d associate with a massive rave-up, then more fool you. This two-day event will take place amid some of the most striking landscapes in the UK, with the party-hearty contingent led by the Glaswegian DJ Jackmaster and several of his contemporaries. But the island’s musical heritage is not ignored with a commitment to folk music contemporary and traditional, too. Bring your own Aran sweater.
Event
Maker Faire UK
The makers will inherit the earth. Or if they don’t then they’ll find a way of hacking it about a bit. The collaborative power of the internet, cheap computing, 3D printing and good old-fashioned mucking about with bits of kit has turned home electronics into a burgeoning strain of hobbyism. At this weekend event at Life Science Centre in Newcastle Upon Tyne there’ll be workshops, tips and stalls, with an emphasis on families getting involved together. There’ll also be some makers who’ve made it, including the odd and awe-inspiring Lords Of Lightning.
Film
Bastille Day
The debate about Idris Elba’s suitability as the next James Bond has gone on longer than that opening tracking shot in Spectre. In this low-budget but well-executed thriller, Elba makes a credible case for being not the next Bond, but the next Bourne. There’s little charm, denim rather than dinnerwear and no gadgets. Instead, there’s an unstoppable physicality that smashes a bad guy into next week before taking a resigned sigh. Oomph rating: 9.
TV
Line Of Duty
The third series of Jed Mercurio’s police corruption drama has not disappointed. In fact it has thrilled, offering more tension in a single episode (the first, for example) than The Night Manager achieved in its entire run. What initially appeared to be an unconnected series of crooked coppers now seems to be all one densely woven conspiracy, which may or may not be within the power of AC-12 to unravel. Key to any success, you feel, will be the involvement of Keeley Hawes’s Lindsay Denton, the disbarred officer who makes Walter White look like a relatively uncomplicated hero. Having lied her way into and out of prison, she has the knowledge – and the ruthlessness – to deliver justice. But will she? We should find out on Thursday night when the final part of the drama airs.
Film
Sci-Fi London
With Ben Wheatley’s recent labour of love High-Rise reminding cinema-goers of the delights of dramatic prognostication, you might be in the mood to dig a little deeper into the joys and (mostly) horrors of the imagined future. Starting this Wednesday, the highlights of this east London-based festival include Androids Dream (a Philip K Dick adaptation sharing some thematic common ground with High-Rise), The Call-Up (an immersive video game nightmare) and Kill Command (a man versus machine fight to the death). Look out for the interactive #Hackstock virtual reality events, too; maybe the future’s fine once you get used to it.
Theatre
King Lear
It’s the big 400th anniversary this week, and there’ll be no shortage of Shakespearean activity across the country. But Don Warrington’s Lear is a standout. The Trinidadian geordie delivers an aching performance that slides from blithe confidence to bewildered chaos and opens new possibilities for the role.
Music
King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard
Frazzled Aussie psych lot KGATLW are as prolific as their name is daft: Nonagon Infinity is their eighth album in four years. In that run, they’ve managed to touch on everything from pastoral pop to droney motorik and mellow jazz interludes, but here they’ve gone back to the clattering psych-funk of their early work, sounding like White Denim if they were suffering from a disorienting case of sunstroke.
