Two museum openings feature on this week’s podcast—V&A East in London and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
The V&A East Museum in Stratford, London opens 18 April
Photo: Peter Kelleher © Victoria & Albert Museum, London
In our 300th episode in 2024, Gus Casely-Hayford, the director of the V&A East, told us about the community-driven programming at the museum and its connection with its local environment in East London. Now, as the museum opens, he takes Ben Luke on a tour of its commissions, displays and its first exhibition, The Music is Black: A British Story.
Exterior view northwest from Wilshire Boulevard, David Geffen Galleries at LACMA
© Iwan Baan
In California, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma) has just opened its new building by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, which cost more than $700m, and has generated some controversy. Ben speaks to our correspondent in Los Angeles, Jori Finkel, about the new building and the debate about its scale, its cost, its suitability for LA and whether Angelinos and tourists will take to Zumthor’s building.
William Blake, Satan Smiting Job with Sore Boils, c.1826
Tate, Presented by Miss Mary H. Dodge through the Art Fund 1918. Photo: Tate.
And this episode’s Work of the Week is Satan Smiting Job with Sore Boils (around 1826) by the great 18th-century artist and poet, William Blake. The work is part of a new exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland, called William Blake: The Age of Romantic Fantasy, which opened this week. Ben speaks to the exhibition’s co-curator, Anne Hodge, about the work.
- V&A East opens on Saturday, 18 April
- Lacma member previews begin on 19 April, before the full opening to non-members in early May
- William Blake: The Age of Romantic Fantasy, National Gallery of Ireland, until 19 July