Newbury Weekly News - May 11th 2017

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Newbury Weekly News

UK solo debut at Oil Galler y PRELUDE , the debut UK solo show by Christopher Luigi Veggetti Kanku, opens at Oil Gallery in Hungerford tomorrow (Friday) . “His use of bursting colour or monochrome sepia splashed with acid just pops to the eye and intoxicates your Christopher Luigi Veggetti Kanku show opens

ARTIST Luigi Christopher Veggetti Kanku is a Congolese-born artist who grew up in Northern Italy. He is one of the principal artists of the Italian contemporary art scene. PROJECT AFROITALIANI ...is an exhibition to show a series of portraits dedicated to important citizens of African descendants who grew up or lived in Italy, from the past through to the present day. The portraits will represent all the well-known and successful people for their work and their position in the community and whose personal experiences and achievements have had a strong impact on the path of racial integration of Italy. The people’s portraits will include

senses,” says gallery owner Justin Cook. “And this is what makes Luigi different. You sense that he is becoming someone who is building a real legacy.” Luigi's latest commission for 2017 is AFROITALIANI for the Italian Government and will feature in Manifesta 11 , the European Biennial of Contemporary Art 2018 . He will paint 25 portraits, to be exhibited in Milan and New York. The works will then be distributed for hanging through Italian embassies around the world and one or two will be presented to government and cultural organisations. Justin says: “Oil is delighted to be hosting Luigi’s debut solo show in the UK and honoured to receive him after his legacy- building AFROITALIANI project in Italy. “It promises to be something memorable.” You can find Oil Gallery at 5 Bridge Street, Hungerford, RG17 0EH. www.oilgalleryhungerford.co.uk

Luigi is a commercially-successful artist building a legacy through his work and commissions. He lives and works in Brianza, Milan. His career so far has seen him win prizes, press and plaudits, starting with first prize, in 2008, in the Prize Ghiggini Arte, in the young painters section. He was then signed to a publishing deal through Italian publisher Umberto Allemandi and started releasing art books, 30 Tele in 2010, Forte Dei Marmi in 2012 and Monza e Brianza, due for release in 2018. He has appeared in major Italian magazines such as Arte Mondadori and Flash Art . Luigi’s work is represented in galleries in Berlin, Milan, Florence, Stockholm and London and he has held numerous solo and groups shows across many galleries. His work consists of portraits, urban street scenes and rural landscapes. Luigi’s style is born in the classic and executed in the modern.

writers, artists, politicians, entrepreneurs, athletes and others.

Comic book hero s play it for laughs

ALSO NOW SHOWING AT A CINEMA NEAR YOU

But is that enough? Not a whole lot actually happens in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2,

Alien:Covenant Hostile alien lifeform forcesthespace explorers intoafight forsurvival ADog’s Purpose (PG) Re-born dogsear ches formeaning inhis multiple lives Unlocked (15) LoneCIAagent riesto saveLondon from terrorattack TheirFinest (12A) Anewpatriotic filmis planned toboostBritish moraleduring theBlitz. Gemma Arterton stars Guardians ofthe GalaxyVol2(12A) Theteamscontinue theiradventures asthey

traverse theouter reaches ofthecosmos. Review thispage

FastandFurious 8 (12A)

Street racerTorettoand hiscrewaretearing up theroadsoncemore, in NewYorkandCuba NTLive:Obsession JudeLawinthe Barbican’s production TheHappiest Dayin theLifeofOlliMäki (12A) TruestoryoftheFinnish featherweightboxer

says film reviewer CHARLIE MASTERS

COMIC book cinema has inherited the logic of its source material – to attempt a new Marvel movie without having viewed the last dozen releases is to expose oneself to a dizzying, incomprehen- sible plot, a mind-numbing host of heroes and villains and some of the most downright nonsensical action sequences yet to have graced the multiplex. Guardians of the Galaxy, the definitive sleeper hit of 2014, took this sorry state of affairs and, with indomitable energy and ruthlessness, turned it on its head. This was a comic book flick that ENCOURAGED us to laugh at its excess and stupidity, which dropped high-octane space battles alongside engaging characters, a killer soundtrack and gags that were actually funny – The Hitchhiker’s Guide meets Flash Gordon meets Spaceballs . A fantasy sequel either ups the ante, opting for effects overkill and flagrant crowd-pleasing, or dials down the madness for the sake of storytelling and dramatic introspection. The first film being the unlikely, tongue-in- cheek blockbuster that it was, GotG Volume 2 here finds itself in an interesting position, unable to deliver on either pitch without upsetting a large chunk of the audience. Forced

Dancer (12A) Portrait oftheRoyal Ballet’s young Ukrainian dancer SergeiPolunin

into a delicate balancing act, it plays a strange game – the explosions, jokes and alien exotica are all here, but it’s within the context of an across-the-board personalisation of the action that does not always sit well with the story’s galactic scale. Everyone’s favourite spacefarers now find themselves embroiled in an intricate web of family and identity issues – Gomora (Zoe Saldana) in a feud with her sister (Karen Gillan), Earthling Quill (Chris Pratt) wrestling with the return of his alien father (Kurt Russell), and buccaneer Yondu (Michael Rooker), a blue-skinned outcast, struggling to find his place in the universe. It’s by no means a slow or unlikeable movie (the impenetrability and OTT-ness of the plot is totally played for laughs), but one cannot help but feel that Vol 2 is at its best when it puts the melodrama aside and sticks to what GotG does better than any

other super-franchise. Star-racoon Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) is marvellous as ever, stealing the show in his interactions with the hapless, adorable Baby Groot (voiced by, of all people, Vin Diesel); their stretch aboard a pirate ship boasts all the best lines. Director James Gunn demonstrates, once again, his keen ear for music, not bad for the ‘mind’ that brought us the live-action Scooby-Doo movies – Awesome Mix Vol 2 , featuring the likes of Parliament, Fleetwood Mac and Cat Stevens, comes dangerously close to besting the first film’s legendary soundtrack. But those inspired moments do little to paper over the biscuit-thin execution – the movie takes the safe route, sticking squarely to its predecessor’s legacy. Constant injections of energy and humour cannot distract from the fact that not a whole lot actually happens; it’s as if a conscious decision has been

made to keep story and character development to a minimum in preparation for a blowout threequel, and such a Spartan treatment rarely works wonders where the sci-fi genre is concerned, demanding as it does around-the-clock thrills and real human drama (NOT, it must be said, the half-baked soap opera we get in bucketloads here). The second Guardians outing is a fun, occasionally smart and spectacular slice of cosmic pie, but we really deserved more.

FILM CINEMA

FRI12–THU18MAY

THEHAPPIESTDAY IN THE LIFEOF OLLI MÄKI (12A)

Fri 14:30 Sat 13:00 Sun 14:45 Tue 20:45

DANCER (12A) Sat 18:05 Tue 14:30 Parents and Babies Wed 11:00 LOSINGSIGHT OF SHORE Q&A Screening Sun 12:00

THEIRFINEST (12A) Fri 17:55, 20:35 Sat 15:20, 20:30 Sun 17:00 Silver Screen Mon 14:30 Parents and Babies Tue 11:00 Tue 18:05 Wed 13:15, 16:05 Thu 12:15, 17:55, 20:35

RSC ENCORE: JULIUSCAESAR Wed 19:00

Guardians oftheGalaxy Vol2(12A) Running time2hr16min Rating PPP

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