Announcing the Morgan Stanley Lates at Somerset House with The Courtauld

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

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 Filipino 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.

Somerset House’s on-site cafés and bars will 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 be the site of the street food pop-up and bar and sundown DJ set to sustain and entertain Lates audiences 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 19^th-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.