Channel is Somerset House’s new curated online space for art, ideas and the artistic process.
For the first time in its shared history, Somerset House and The Courtauld launch an exciting new Lates series - Morgan Stanley Lates at Somerset House with The Courtauld - in a true site-takeover of Somerset House, where doors around the spectacular central courtyard will be thrown open for a special evening of exclusive experiences themed around current exhibitions.
Taking place just three times per year – in April, June and October in 2022 – these fun nights out offer after-hours access and activities hosted by artists and curators, plus street food pop-ups and bars and sunset DJ sets to see you through the evening.
After-hours exhibition entry will be free to those aged 25 and under and many activities will be free of charge to everyone.
Morgan Stanley Lates at Somerset House with The Courtauld, 13 April 2022 (7-10pm)
Exhibitions open: The Arks of Gimokudan by Leeroy New; The Morgan Stanley Exhibition: Van Gogh. Self-Portraits; Sony World Photography Awards 2022
In the Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court
Live interactive sculpture with artist-designer Leeroy New and contemporary dance performance from choreographer Julia Cheng, plus Philippine-inspired street food from Bongbong's Manila Kanteen
The first Lates event celebrates the global spirit of artists and subjects on show across Somerset House in April, including a major new courtyard commission from Philippine artist-designer Leeroy New, The Courtauld’s exhibition of Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh, who was inspired to paint across Western Europe, and the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition, showcasing the best contemporary photography from across the world, with submissions to this year’s competition being entered from 211 different countries.
Leeroy New will be one of the special guests opening the first ever Lates event. Best known for his colourful, futuristic sculptural transformations of random recycled objects, collaborating with the likes of Lady Gaga on her otherworldly outfits and exhibiting at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, New will lead a free, live interactive sculpting event in front of his first major UK commission – The Arks of Gimokudan – a striking outdoor installation of fantastical ships, constructed using recycled goods, docked in the centre of Somerset House’s courtyard throughout the month of Earth Day.
Each vessel draws upon the history, culture and mythologies of New’s home nation, the Philippines, the country cited as being most at risk from the climate crisis, bringing attention to the communities which face irreversible damage from the effects of rising sea levels and temperatures, but which are often merely an afterthought in today’s climate change debates.
Taking inspiration from his large-scale sculpture, audiences have the opportunity to work with locally recycled items, guided by New to mould and manipulate materials by hand, transforming waste into new works of art to be exhibited at the Lates event.
Leeroy New will be joined in the courtyard by choreographer Julia Cheng. Especially for this first Lates event, Cheng will choreograph an electrifying new contemporary dance piece in response to The Arks of Gimokudan, accompanied by a new sound commission composed by Nicola Chang and performed by dance artists Rajib Manandhar and Faye Stoeser. Manandhar and Stoeser will don some of New’s distinctive wearables, created by the artist for this one-off live performance. Julia Cheng is founder of House of Absolute, an all-female collective of multidisciplinary dancers, a judge and mentor of BBC Young Dancer, and the choreographer behind the new West End production of Cabaret.
A special pop-up from Bongbong’s Manila Kanteen will be situated in the courtyard, bringing soul-warming Philippine-inspired street food to the first Lates event, in honour of the artist behind April’s courtyard installation. Lates audiences can tuck into authentic dishes whilst they soak up the sounds of DJ set as the spring sun sets over London. Somerset House’s on-site cafés and bars will also stay open for a special Lates service, including WatchHouse who will offer a carefully curated wine, cocktail and locally crafted beer list alongside an assortment of appetising small plates, available both inside and at tables in the courtyard.
In The Courtauld
Exclusive curator tours, pop-up talks and object study sessions inside its galleries, including The Morgan Stanley Exhibition: Van Gogh. Self-Portraits
Connecting to the international theme, The Courtauld explores the global artists in its esteemed collection for the first Lates event. The Courtauld’s world-class art historians, conservators and curators will host unique tours, pop-up talks and object study sessions across its three floors of gallery space, including the critically-acclaimed Van Gogh. Self-Portraits exhibition, focussing on art moulded by the movement of people.
From Van Gogh, who was inspired to paint in his non-native France, to the Huguenots who designed and produced silverware objects after fleeing religious persecution, the evening’s exceptional events give voice to the stories and perspectives of artists who communicate and challenge our sense of belonging or feeling of alienation in the world.
In the East and West Wing Galleries
After-hours access to the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition
Throughout the evening, visitors aged 25 and under will receive free access to the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition, located within Somerset House’s East and West Wings, showcasing some of the world’s best photography from the past year, with a special selection of works by the renowned Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky.
Morgan Stanley Lates at Somerset House with The Courtauld, 22 June 2022 (7-10pm)
Exhibitions open: Eternally Yours; The Morgan Stanley Exhibition: Edvard Munch. Masterpieces from Bergen; Traces: Renaissance Drawings for Flemish Prints
In the Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court
Transforming time with artist Abigail Conway
The second Lates event takes inspiration from the themes of Somerset House’s summer exhibition Eternally Yours, showcasing diverse examples of creative reuse, from historical samples of the Japanese art of Kintsugi and Boro, to works from contemporary artists who put repair at the heart of their practice, to explore the unexpectedly hopeful and healing stories that repair reveals.
For the second Lates event, Somerset House invites artist Abigail Conway to present her playful, participatory live art piece – Time Lab – for the very first time in London in the spectacular surrounds of its courtyard, having been held around the UK, Asia and Australasia.
Described as an “extraordinary experience” by The Scotsman, Lates audiences will be invited to transform their own unused or broken timepieces. Starting with a bang by taking a hammer to old wristwatches, attendees can then use their dismantled parts to create something completely new and unique – a ring, a brooch, a pendant, a decorative sculpture or something else entirely – with Conway and the Time Lab team on hand to help. Each maker and their transformation will be photographed to be presented in the Time Lab archive before being theirs to take away and enjoy at the end.
The process allows participants to feel a cathartic release and reflect on time as they deconstruct the very tools of measuring the passing of it, whilst discovering the joy of repair, reuse and upcycling – good for the environment, a boost for the mood and the creation of a personal design piece.
The courtyard will also host a set from West London DJ and radio presenter Scarlett O’Malley. The Natural Bar Company and Toast Beer, who use salvaged waste ingredients including banana peel and bread crusts to make their drinks, will offer refreshments. Caribbean street food from pop-up Whats On The Menu Ish? and plant-based ice cream from Mamma Dolce will also available be throughout the evening.
In The Courtauld
Exclusive curator tours, pop-up talks and conservation demonstrations inside its galleries, including The Morgan Stanley Exhibition: Edvard Munch. Masterpieces from Bergen
Following the theme of repair and renovation of the second Lates event, The Courtauld will spotlight stories of care and conservation of both its galleries (which reopened in November 2021 after three years of closure for the most significant modernisation project in its history) and the world-famous artworks housed in them. The Courtauld is custodian to a wondrous array of priceless objects and artefacts, many on public display in its galleries, yet the curation and conservation – the human hand at play – of its collection is usually entirely unseen by its visitors.
Taking Lates audiences for a sneak peak ‘back of house’, The Courtauld’s expert team will provide pop-up talks and special demonstrations on the art of conservation, unveiling the tools they use to keep the paintings in the Gallery’s permanent collection looking so vibrant, as if the artists had just finished their last brushstrokes. This will include the newly restored Botticelli’s The Trinity with Saints Mary Magdalene and John the Baptist, an awe-inspiring altarpiece from 1491-94, Cranach’s iconic Adam and Eve from 1526, and numerous 19th-century works from Georges Seurat, showcasing the influential Post-Impressionist painter’s pioneering ‘pointillist’ technique, using small dots of pure colour juxtaposed in varying concentrations and intensity to create light and shadow.
The Courtauld will also guide attendees through the curation of its temporary exhibition Edvard Munch. Masterpieces from Bergen, highlighting how to make audiences view historical works afresh and continue to capture imaginations today.
The third and final Morgan Stanley Lates event of 2022 will be announced later in the year.
Press enquiries, please contact somersethouse.org.uk/02078454624
ABOUT SOMERSET HOUSE
London’s working arts centre
Somerset House is London’s working arts centre and home to the UK’s largest creative community. Built on historic foundations, we are situated in the very heart of the capital.
Dedicated to backing progress, championing openness, nurturing creativity and empowering ideas, our cultural programme is ambitious in scope. We insist on relevance, but aren’t afraid of irreverence, and are as keen on entertainment as enrichment. We embrace the biggest issues of our times and are committed to oxygenating new work by emerging artists. Where else can you spend an hour ice-skating while listening to a specially commissioned sound piece by a cutting edge artist?
It is this creative tension – the way we harness our heritage, put the too-often overlooked on our central stage and use our neo-classical backdrop to showcase ground-breaking contemporary culture – that inspires our programme. Old and new, history and disruption, art and entertainment, high-tech and homemade, combined with the fact that we are home to a constantly shape-shifting working creative community: this is our point of difference. It is what we are proud of. And it is what makes the experience of visiting or working in Somerset House inspiring and energizing, urgent and exciting. www.somersethouse.org.uk
ABOUT THE COURTAULD
The Courtauld works to advance how we see and understand the visual arts, as an internationally- renowned centre for the teaching and research of art history and a major public gallery. Founded by collectors and philanthropists in 1932, the organisation has been at the forefront of the study of art ever since through advanced research and conservation practice, innovative teaching, the renowned collection and inspiring exhibitions of its gallery, and engaging and accessible activities, education and events.
The Courtauld cares for one of the greatest art collections in the UK, presenting these works to the public at The Courtauld Gallery in central London, as well as through loans and partnerships. The Gallery is most famous for its iconic Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces – such as Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear and Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère. It showcases these alongside an internationally renowned collection of works from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance through to the present day.
Academically, The Courtauld faculty is the largest community of art historians and conservators in the UK, teaching and carrying out research on subjects from creativity in late Antiquity to contemporary digital artforms – with an increasingly global focus. An independent college of the University of London, The Courtauld offers a range of degree programmes from BA to PhD in the History of Art, curating and the conservation of easel and wall paintings. Its alumni are leaders and innovators in the arts, culture and business worlds, helping to shape the global agenda for the arts and creative industries.
Founded on the belief that everyone should have the opportunity to engage with art, The Courtauld works to increase understanding of the role played by art throughout history, in all societies and across all geographies – as well as being a champion for the importance of art in the present day. This could be through exhibitions offering a chance to look closely at world-famous works; events bringing art history research to new audiences; accessible and expert short courses; digital engagement, innovative school, family and community programmes; or taking a formal qualification. The Courtauld’s ambition is to transform access to art history education by extending the horizons of what this is, and ensuring as many people as possible can benefit from the tools to better understand the visual world around us.
The Courtauld is an exempt charity and relies on generous philanthropic support to achieve its mission of advancing the understanding of the visual arts of the past and present across the world through advanced research, innovative teaching, inspiring exhibitions, programmes and collections.
The collection cared for by The Courtauld Gallery is owned by the Samuel Courtauld Trust.
ABOUT MORGAN STANLEY
Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in more than 41 countries, the Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For more information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com