Pipilotti Rist and George Condo, Hayward Gallery

The Hayward Gallery doesn't conform, and this winter presents a programme of weird and wacky artists on their grey brutalist walls: George Condo and Pipilotti Rist running in tandem in the Southbank venue.

You enter the Pipilotti first... a collection of works under the title 'Eyeball Massage'. It is a sensory playpen, ethereal video installations and unconventional constructions to experience. Pipilotti invites the viewer to freely engage and immerse him or herself in her otherworldly creations - I found some of these pieces to be very disorientating. The exhibition brings together thirty works from the mid 1980s to the present day, including a vast new installation created especially for the Hayward. Pipilotti is interested in both magnified and micro worlds, and my favourite works were the miniature ones, tiny video screens arranged in handbags or shells, or even in the floor - they are captivating.

George Condo presents an equally eccentric collection of works; his retrospective is appropriately titled, ‘Mental States’. Condo hails from New York and is considered to be one of the most original and provocative painters of his generation. This exhibition includes work from the last three decades and is split into thematic sections: Portraiture, Abstract-Figuration and Mania and Melancholy.

It is an angry collection, Condo seems to have a lot of deep rooted, seething frustration and angst that he lets loose through his creations. I found the portraiture to be quite disconcerting, a strange mix of humour and disgust, a few of the cartoon like characters even made me laugh out loud. Some images reminded me of the crazy Dr Seuss books I read as a child, exaggerated bizarre characters that really stick in your mind, in particular I will retain ‘Red Antipodular Portrait’ and ‘The Butler’.

My favourite pieces were the Picasso inspired linear abstract paintings. Expansive canvases with confused but beautiful mind maps of shape, colour and figurative hints like the fascinating Fallen Butler of 2009. They are works created in the 1980s when Condo became preoccupied with depicting non-representational forms tightly packed and overlapped, the artist called them ‘drawing paintings’ because although they are on canvas they are drawn in charcoal, pastel and acrylic paint, rather than the more traditional oil paint.

Mania and Melancholy features the most grotesque of the lot, yet very intriguing to observe. Aggressive and upsetting paintings that ‘reflect the madness of everyday life’, apparently! The exaggerated features and frenzy evoked in these paintings is not dissimilar to traits found in Outsider Art.

I left the Hayward Gallery feeling dazed and bewildered by the two very different artists minds I had entered. Both are intensely imaginative individuals and I felt privileged to be welcomed into their worlds.

Pipilotti Rist and George Condo continue until 8 January, 2011.

VINTAGE at Southbank Centre PREVIEW

Since Hop Farm and Latitude I have been getting serious Festival withdrawal symptoms so my ears pricked up when a friend told me about Vintage at Southbank Centre, Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway’s award-winning festival which was launched last year at the highly acclaimed Goodwood event.

This three day extravaganza takes place along the Southbank, with the Royal Festival Hall being transformed into a dressing up box for vintage enthusiasts. There will be all kinds of retro events to try out: vintage clothes galore to delve into, catwalk shows, live music and DJ’s, pretty foodie treats, film and art events, cocktails and makeovers. All the ingredients for the chicest festival in town...

Celebrating the 1920 to the 1980s every kind of vintage will be on show. In the daily catwalks vintage connoisseurs Jo Wood, Pearl and Daisy Lowe and Sue Tilley will be delighting audiences with their own personal collections and prized possessions. For each of the catwalk shows models will be showcasing wacky hairstyle trends from bygone eras thanks to the beauty experts from Urban Retreat salon at Harrods.

I am particularly excited about the Fashion Workshops; the glamorous Horrockses brand will be demonstrating how to make dresses from bed linen, and at the fashion reworking station Chop & Change will show you how to make a unique skirt out of a man’s shirt!

If, like me, you hate trudging round the overpriced vintage boutiques for rare and often overpriced gems, you will enjoy the Vintage Marketplace. Here some of Europe’s finest vintage traders will be offering you their best stock. This pop up high street will display brands from past and present, so if you have any themed parties coming up, you will find your perfect outfit here. A vintage hair salon from Batiste and a beauty salon by Benefit will both be doing decade-specific makeovers, to get you in the mood.

My favourite thing about this festival... It is mud free, so leave the Hunters at home and bring your best vintage heels out to play!

Vintage at Southbank Festival takes place 29-31 July, buy tickets here.

Dishoom Pop-Up Restaurant on Southbank

Rippling waves, golden sand, and delicious beach snacks... all found in London’s most exciting holiday destination... Embankment?!

Dishoom markets itself as London’s first and only Bombay cafe, selling authentic and traditional food of India’s famous city. This quirky restaurant set up a temporary pop-up on Embankment a few weeks ago providing hearty meals for hungry Southbank workers and visitors alike. The cafe is uniquely decorated with recycled newspapers, beautiful coloured bottles and amusing portraits. A bar lines one side and high stools the other, the atmosphere is friendly and relaxed.

Staff wander about welcoming you in, very eager to help, they wear hilarious neon t-shirts (that are also available to buy for £15) with bold slogans across their chest like “Bombay on Thames”. I am always on embankment, milling around before going to see a production at The National or The Old Vic and this pop-up perfectly suits my needs of needing a quick, filling, and interesting meal before a show. I went the other day before a play and tried the chicken curry and the popular Dishoom spicy lamb wrap. Both were delicious, much better than I expected. Rich and full of flavour the curry is thick and tangy, perfectly cooked chicken in a tomato based sauce that is packed full of spices, is comes with a separate portion of toasted naan. The wrap was a little too hot for me, but is a wonderful mix of crunchy vegetables and marinated meat.

To drink I tried a Chaijito made from chai infused Pampero run, fresh mint and lime. With no sugar (a crucial ingredient in a normal mojito) I found the cocktail a little too bitter, but it was an intriguing mix and certainly a refreshing accompaniment to go with the food.

Dishoom’s Chowpatty Beach will be adding spice to London’s Southbank until 4 October, so plenty of time to try out this bollywood Bombay bonanza for yourself.

The National Theatre Festival - The Chipolatas

Watch This Space Festival is the National Theatre’s free summer celebration of outdoor theatre, circus, dance, acrobatics, storytelling and film for all ages which takes place in Theatre Square, in front of the National Theatre.

I went on the sunny bank holiday Monday to celebrate the end of summer with some close friends. We watched ‘The Chipolatas’ billed as ‘gentlemen of the road and masters of the street’. They were great fun, and even though the show was clearly geared towards children we all really enjoyed it! The National Theatre cleverly introduce theatre and music to young children through free performances such as this. They jump around, play music, juggle with fire and much more. The audience participation captivated everybody's attention despite the difference in ages. I particularly love the accordion and drum accompaniment, which they seem to improvise and the acoustic rhythms they incorporate into their medieval style music.

The Chipolatas were established in 1992, and their performance style is quite unique, combining high-octane circus skills, music, theatre and dance. Their repertoire includes a range of educational outreach projects, with a mission to pass on skills and performance techniques to new generations.

The National Theatre Festival continues until 26 September 2010.

EXPOSED at the TATE MODERN

The EXPOSED timeline

EXPOSED- Voyeurism, Surveillance & the Camera is the photography exhibition currently on show at London's Tate Modern. We all enjoy watching others once in a while but do we know who is watching us?

You certainly get your money's worth at this show - with 14 large rooms to wander round you will need a good hour. EXPOSED explores the idea of the 'unseen photographer' and the interesting qualities of snapshots taken often without the subject's permission. The result is intriguing and sometimes shocking.

Amongst the lesser known artists you can spot some celebrated photographers including Guy Bourdin, Lee Miller, Helmut Newton and Man Ray.

I was particularly excited by the earlier rooms which explore the tactics of some undercover photographers and displayed the objects within which the cameras were concealed: shoes, walking sticks, even inside suit jackets. Do they still make these detective like items? If so where can I get my own?

A Photograph display in the EXPOSED shop

A few rooms on, in a rather more crowded space, are hung photos of celebrities. I began to think of a time when cameras weren't so accessible and photos of our favourite celebrities not so common and widespread. Teenagers would attend a concert to not only hear the music but to catch a glimpse of their idolised singer. Imagine the excitement of seeing a band for the first time after only having listened to them. Nowadays we expect to see every move every celebrity makes through photographic images, almost all curiosity is lost.

The final rooms of EXPOSED were not so appealing to me, and by the time I got to them I was exhausted from the rest of the exhibition. Photos and documentation of violent events are displayed. These are surprisingly harrowing to see and bring home the reality of those suffering. It is not an exhibition for children, but for those interested in photography and the way it insidiously records us whether we like it or not, it is worth a visit.

London's Elephant Parade

Three elephants, including a design by Lulu Guinness

Elephants are stomping throughout London. How many have you spotted? Working in Hyde Park Corner means I am greeted by them every day on my way to and from work, and then there is the whole family of them living in the park itself.

The public exhibition is known as an Elephant Parade, and similar events have previously taken place all over the world. It raises awareness and money for an important cause - the crisis faced by the endangered Asian elephant. Those art lovers who are especially keen can start their trail for the elephants (of which there are over 250) at The Scoop on the South Bank, where many of the elephants are displayed.

There are elephants for the fashionistas too - and with designers like Lulu Guinness designing for the cause there are some pretty groovy creatures out there. Outside Waterstone's in Notting Hill there is even a literary themed elephant, appropriately covered completely in words.

The real deal: a baby elephant

Our elephants are only with us until the 29th June when they go on sale at Sotheby's, so enjoy this chance to see these rare animals.