Introducing Rakewell, Apollo’s wandering eye on the art world. Look out for regular posts taking a rakish perspective on art and museum stories.
Rakewell’s moles have let him on to the events of a press conference last week, at which Anish Kapoor and Carsten Holler talked up the slide the latter has designed to wind round the ArcelorMittal Orbit tower in London’s Stratford (part of which, on outgoing Mayor Boris Johnson’s request, is to be henceforth known as ‘Olympicopolis’).
While media watchers may be more concerned by Sir Anish’s confession that he had the order to create a new visitor attraction for the little-visited tower ‘foisted’ upon him by the mayor, the Rake is more concerned with a different matter entirely: namely, who will be the first paying passenger of Holler’s slide? By the time it opens in late June, Boris will be out of City Hall, while ArcelorMittal head of brand Ian Loudon pleads a diary clash. Any takers?
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This week’s strangest overheard observation of the week comes courtesy of a small boy visiting the Yves Klein and Giacometti show at Gagosian’s new Grosvenor Hill outpost with his parents. Staring open mouthed at a particularly spindly example of the latter’s sculpture, he turned to his father and asked: ‘Daddy, is that Jeremy Corbyn?’
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The organisers of the London Design Festival have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a crazy golf course in front of the National Gallery in London’s Trafalgar Square. If you find this perplexing in itself, just wait until you hear the names involved: should the £120,000 the LDF needs to raise be met, sections on the course are set to be designed by luminaries including Mark Wallinger, Zaha Hadid Architects and fashion mogul Paul Smith. Crazy golf, indeed!
Got a story for Rakewell? Get in touch at rakewell@apollomag.com or via @Rakewelltweets.
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The many faces of Mary Magdalene