Now in its sixth iteration, Mayfair Art Weekend (28 to 30 June) is an opportunity for this well-heeled area of London to entice visitors from across the capital and beyond, with a programme of exhibitions, live performances, talks and displays, which take place in a slew of blue-chip galleries, independent spaces and even luxury retailers throughout the area.
The nucleus of this swirl of activity is undoubtedly the Royal Academy of Arts, which is currently showing the egalitarian Summer Exhibition (it’s the largest open submission art show in the world, whose work is for sale) and has commissioned Royal Academician Michael Craig-Martin to produce a series of flags that can be found brightening up the West End streets.
The three-day event kicks off with an out-of-hours special on 28 June, complete with thematic, self-guided tours, including the Embodied Beings Tour and the Contemporary Curveball Tour. Highlights from the programme include Penny Slinger’s investigation of mysticism and the female body at Richard Saltoun, Francis Bacon’s intense paintings of coupled figures at Gagosian, and Zoe Williams’s new film Sunday Fantasy at Mimosa House, which envelops viewers in a world of erotic desire, experienced through the female and queer gaze.
