Latest news with #LeBal
Time Out
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Edward Burra at Tate Britain
Born in London in 1905, the British artist Edward Burra suffered from acute rheumatoid arthritis and pernicious anemia from a young age. He travelled regularly, with a special fondness for Paris and New York. In photographs, though, he appears dour, studious and sickly. Most of the paintings that line the walls of his latest retrospective at the Tate couldn't be further from this image. In its first room, paintings on paper depict bars, cafés, weddings and cabaret shows, replete with voluptuous and lively characters. Though relatively small in scale, each sheet contains multiple scenes that unfold at once. Burra collapses our sense of perspective, stacking his subjects vertically to fit as much action as he can into each image. Each shape is impossibly smooth and rendered so precisely as to look airbrushed. In these works, painted during visits to France early in Burra's career, everything is voluminous. It's not just biceps, breasts and bottoms that bulge; at Burra's hand, pillars, plant pots, light fittings and fruits become equally taut, fleshy affairs. A dainty champagne coup sits in the foreground of Le Bal (1928), dwarfed by the monuments that surround it – from the tubular streamers that hang from the ceiling to the room's many animated revellers. In their curvaceousness and volume, Burra's subjects convey a playful sense of abundance that borders on kitsch. In today's context, where distorted figuration is the order of the day, it's a style that feels a little hackneyed. Remembering that these paintings are close to a century old makes them feel incredibly fresh. In Three Sailors at the Bar (1930), a casual drink with three uniformed friends becomes a dizzying, almost erotic arrangement of shapes and patterns (apparently, Burra and his friends would blow kisses to sailors on the street). Burra's France is a trip that brings to mind the swirling casino carpets of Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Subsequent rooms contain later works where many of the 20th century's cultural and historical moments are described in Burra's unique language. The Harlem Renaissance, Spanish Civil War and Second World War all get the treatment, the latter two demonstrating that a world of blobs and bulges isn't always a light hearted one. During more traumatic times, Burra's paintings become increasingly fragmented. Camouflage (1938), for example, is a composite image covering a number of pasted-together sheets. At first, it's difficult to make sense of what's happening in it, but using its globular shapes as a starting point helps. Two of them turn out to be the buttocks of a soldier laying on his side as he fixes a military vehicle. While Burra's style is a natural fit for the Roaring Twenties in France, it feels incongruous in this context. The result is a confusing, though still formally impressive, group of paintings. The show loses momentum somewhat with a room focussed on Burra's work as a costume and set-designer. Here, his wings appear to have been clipped and he paints naturalistically for the first time. After seeing the artist at his most bulbous, these works feel impoverished. The final room doubles down on this to devastating effect. Burra spent his final years painting English landscapes, sometimes dotted with figures who appear slender and glum. In Landscape, Cornwall, with Figures and Tin Mine (1975), painted the year before Burra's death, they stand against a bleak, grey sky; suits crumpled, faces severe, eyes pointed downwards. The buffet of ripe and inviting objects and forms that this show starts with are routinely undermined as it continues, Burra willingly disrupting his own light-hearted style to allude to grim realities and a sense of existential anguish. Only when it's snatched away do we come to understand the optimism of Burra's early vision.
Time Out
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Le Bal
As part of the French May Arts Festival, Tai Kwun is bringing a touch of European splendour to the heart of Hong Kong. Over the course of several evenings, head to the main Parade Ground inside the heritage compound of Tai Kwun to see dreamy performances and sumptuous costumes inspired by the Impressionist artworks of Renoir and Degas. Featuring lampshade-like costumes that light up, horse-drawn carriages, stilt-walkers, mysterious dancers, and circus performers, Le Bal transports visitors back to the late 1800s' elegance of La Belle Époque. This era in French and European history was characterised by enlightenment, romanticism, and cultural innovation when the arts, literature, music, and theatre all flourished – and this special performance is a surreal and sublime tribute to French beauty. Entrance to Le Bal is free, so make your way to Tai Kwun from now to 18, where the street performance will take over the main courtyard between 6pm to 6.30pm, followed by 7.30pm to 8pm.
Time Out
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
French Impressionism inspired this surreal, dream-like parade in Tai Kwun
As part of the French May Arts Festival, Tai Kwun is bringing a touch of European splendour to the heart of Hong Kong. Over the course of several evenings, head to the main Parade Ground inside the heritage compound of Tai Kwun to see dreamy performances and sumptuous costumes inspired by the Impressionist artworks of Renoir and Degas. The street parade-like Le Bal is produced by Remue Ménage, a company specialising in visual arts, circus, dance, and puppetry, under the command of founder and artistic director Loic Delacroix, who has worked as a professional circus artist himself – so if there's a group that knows about putting on a transportative performance, it is this one. Featuring lampshade-like costumes that light up, horse-drawn carriages, stilt-walkers, mysterious dancers, and circus performers, Le Bal transports visitors back to the late 1800s' elegance of La Belle Époque. This era in French and European history was characterised by enlightenment, romanticism, and cultural innovation when the arts, literature, music, and theatre all flourished – and this special performance is a surreal and sublime tribute to French beauty. Entrance to Le Bal is free, so make your way to Tai Kwun from now to 18, where the street performance will take over the main courtyard between 6pm to 6.30pm, followed by 7.30pm to 8pm.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Apple Martin Addresses Viral Debutante Ball Moment and the Downsides of Being a 'Celebrity Child'
Apple Martin candidly discussed what life in the spotlight was really like growing up. The 20-year-old daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin recently spoke to Interview Magazine and shared that she's still "working on" not feeling so worried about public scrutiny. When asked about her highly publicized debutante ball appearance late last year and the public discussion that followed online, Apple responded, "I grew up with that uneven balance of getting out of the airport with my mom and being bombarded with cameras, and then just being a normal kid." "I remember [reading] Discipline and Punish [by Michel Foucault], which is a great book, but talking about the surveillance state," she continued. "I feel like I've grown up with that, which is really scary and makes me very anxious about making mistakes." Apple also recalled being "discouraged from doing anything in the public eye," recalling thinking, ''I don't think we need another celebrity child in the world.' ' "I just try to do what feels right and block out anything regarding me in the news to the best of my ability," she continued. "And I'm getting a lot better at being like, 'F--- it.' I'm not going to be scared. I just want to do what seems fun and figure my life out." Apple's comments come after she faced "mean girl" accusations last year after a TikTok surfaced from her society debut at Le Bal des Débutantes in Paris on Nov. 30, 2024. Related: Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin's Daughter Apple Wears Valentino Dress That Took 750 Hours to Make for Le Bal Debut In the video posted by Paris Match, Apple jokingly stepped in front of fellow debutante Countess Aliénor Loppin de Montmort as she had photos taken, which sparked controversy among social media users. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Loppin de Montmort quickly came to Apple's defense after the controversy on Dec. 6 and exclusively told PEOPLE that the comments were not true and that '[Apple's] genuinely the nicest girl ever!" "She really doesn't deserve an ounce of what she's getting," Loppin de Montmort said at the time. 'She was the nicest girl ever towards not only me but all the debs!" Related: French Countess Reveals What It Was Really Like Behind the Scenes of Debutante Ball with Apple Martin, Sophie Kodjoe (Exclusive) Loppin de Montmort also spoke to PEOPLE about her friendships with the other debutantes on Dec. 9, sharing that everyone involved, including Nicole Ari Parker's daughter Sophie and Sophia Loren's granddaughter Lucia Sofia Ponti, was "so, so nice." "We were really happy to have a group of girls that honestly didn't care," she continued. "We were all like, 'We are all just going to have a really nice time, and then whatever happens later in the media, we don't care.'" Read the original article on People
