It could not have been a more contrasting evening. First to north London where the venerable Italian photographer Guido Guidi was in erudite conversation with the art historian Professor Paul Hills and photography specialist David Campany, at a cerebral event hosted by the gallery and shop Large Glass. Snr. Guidi had a fever and was too unwell to attend in person so his presence was beamed in, via Skype, from his sick bed in Cesena, north Italy. The photographer was amiable and illuminating with one of his few critical comments (made in Italian and translated on the spot) being that he considered the large scale of many of today’s photographs “childish” and that he would prefer his work to be seen “on the top of a table” than in an institution. Take note, Mr Gursky.
There was no such modesty or reticence to be found across town at the Serpentine’s annual no-holds-barred summer bash. Fleets of paparazzi were unbothered by issues of scale or decorum as they snapped a celeb-heavy crowd cavorting in and around the Serp’s psychedelic pavilion designed by the Spanish architects SelgasCano. Celebrities such as Benedict Cumberbatch, Poppy Delevingne, Lara Stone, Dasha Zhukova and Ewan McGregor —as well as the occasional artist including Isaac Julian, Richard Wentworth and Ryan Gander—bopped along to the legendary new wavers Spandau Ballet. The band declared—to blank looks from most of the crowd—that it was “like playing the Blitz Club in ’79!” The level of enthusiasm rose more sharply amongst the youthful contingent when Mark Ronson took over.
Later on, many partygoers queued both to strike more poses in a pop-up photo booth and also to throw shapes in a mini disco courtesy of Vinyl Factory. But London’s young ’uns had better ask their parents to hand over their vintage Vivienne Westwood ruffles: with New Romantics Duran Duran playing at US Ambassador Matthew Barzun’s pre- 4 July party, it seems that London is currently experiencing a new wave heat wave…