Lollypop Lollypop
C-Type photograph
150 x 114 cm
2011

Until 9 March

Sarah Maple, It’s a Girl

Toying provocatively with culture, feminism and religion, Sarah Maple – brought up as a Muslim by parents of mixed cultures and religions – fearlessly explores the circumstances of living as a Muslim woman in modern British society. Showcasing a selection of her feisty and often brilliant works over the next month, It’s a Girl opens at Shoreditch’s Aubin Gallery today.

Sarah Maple, It’s a Girl at The Aubin Gallery, 64-66 Redchurch Street, London, E2 7DP; Running until 9th March.

Until Mid March

The Cosmopolitan’s Pop-Up Wedding Chapel, Las Vegas

OK, we tried, and we failed. Here’s ‘token Valentine’s Day feature #1′… One of The Strip’s more stylish residences, The Cosmopolitan, are celebrating the season of love with a very Vegas kinda pop-up. Say hello to the pop-up wedding chapel. Offering a tongue-in-cheek twist to the traditional Sin City nuptials – The Cosmopolitan welcome faux-weddings, and even pet-weddings. We’re really hoping that’s two pets getting married, but then this is Vegas…

Pop-Up Wedding Chapel at The Cosmopolitan, 3708 Las Vegas Boulevard South; Running until Mid March. Open Sunday to Wednesday 12:00pm – 10:00pm and Thursday to Saturday 12:00pm – 12:00am

11 February – 14 February

Pop-Up Cannoli Counter, The Foundry

Cannoli – “irresistibly crunchy pastry curls filled with a rich and airy ricotta cream filling” – are a classic Sicilian Carnival delicacy that date back to the 17th-century. Camden’s very stylish The Foundry are bucking the traditional Valentine’s schmaltz and declaring their own love for these traditional pastries with the Pop-Up Cannoli Counter. Chocolate Chilli cannolo – made with fresh chilli peppers, grown at the venue – sound delightful enough for us to fall in love at first bite.

Pop-Up Cannoli Counter at The Foundry, 3-7 Delancey Street, London, NW1 7N; Running 11th – 14th February. Book now to experience their Valentine’s Day spectacle and enjoy a three course Sicilian feast featuring the Cannoli menu and live jazz

Image courtesy of The Third Line and The Artist

Until 8 March

Elsewhen by Ala Ebtekar

Born in the US to Persian-Iranian parents, Ala Ebtekar explores the ancient mysticism of his culture’s history – fusing it with concepts of time travel, science fiction and the future. His otherworldly imaginations of the present day, clashing with mythology, comprise this solo show at Dubai’s The Third Line gallery.

Elsewhen by Ala Ebtekar at The Third Line Gallery, Al Quaz 3, PO Box 72036, Dubai, UAE; Running until 8th March. Open Saturday to Thursday 10:00am – 7:00pm

Limited Period

The Verbena Spa at Feversham Arms Hotel

‘Cupid’s Retreat’, ‘Valentine’s Package’, blah, blah… Yep, it’s the same as usual – repackaged with a shiny non-anatomical heart and a cherub with a crossbow. But, if you want to treat Mrs, or Mr (or Mistress, for that matter), then pure, heavenly bliss – at a get-away-from-it-all retreat – doesn’t come much better than at this swanky North Yorkshire spa hotel.

Cupid’s Retreat Valentines Package at The Verbena Spa, Feversham Arms Hotel, Helmsley, North Yorkshire, YO62 5AG; Available for a limited period although there are alternative packages available at all times

Kris (Graffiti Map),
graphite and ink on cut handmade paper,
44×58″, 2011

Until 17 March

Ben Durham, Found Graffiti

LA’s Country Club present their 2nd Chicago exhibition – in collaboration with Andrew Rafacz Gallery – a curious body of work from American artist Ben Durham. Turning very low-brow street art – the graffiti in public toilets, for example – into very high-brow pieces of conceptual art, Durham uses stained glass and graphite and pen, on handmade paper, for his series of artworks and installations. Creating elegant and beautiful works from such primitive – almost tribal – forms of self-expression, Ben Durham’s Found Graffiti is an interesting study in art, but also psychology and society.

Ben Durham, Found Graffiti at Country Club, 835 W. Washington Boulevard, 2nd Floor, Chicago, 60607; Running until March 17th

Images © David Pearson

Until 15 April

Louis Ghost Chair, Bath

Iconic designs rarely deserve the tag ‘iconic’. In fact, ‘iconic’ – and we’re certainly guilty of this – is one of the most overused adjectives of our times. One such design that does warrant this misused label, however, is the unquestionably ‘iconic’ Louis XV armchair. From quintessential period-piece to modern design object (in the form of Philippe Starck’s ‘iconic’ Louis Ghost Chair), the 18th-century Rococo classic has a genuinely intriguing past. And it’s exactly this past that Simon Martin explores in this 17-minute homage, showing now at Bath’s Holburne Museum.

Louis Ghost Chair, The Holburne Museum, Great Putney Street, Bath, BA2 4DB; Running until 15th April. Open Monday to Saturday 10:00am – 5:00pm and Sunday 11:00am – 5:00pm.
Free Admission

Ongoing

The Lounge at Odeon Whiteleys

Forget the romanticism of dry-humping on the back seats at your local movie house this Valentine’s, the Odeon at London’s Whiteleys Shopping Centre have upped the luxe-cinema ante; introducing a “Finger, Fork and Spoon” menu, courtesy of top chef Rowley Leigh. So, if you fancy flirting with red mullet and prawn risotto, hot dog or popcorn – whilst watching some big-budget codswallop like War House – this February 14th, this is the gig for you.

Odeon Whiteleys – The Lounge, Whiteleys of Bayswater, Queensway, London; Open Daily