This weekend we cross into another month, and with that comes crinkly leaves, shorter days and the harrowing feeling of another year going too damn quickly. Existential crisis to the side, here’s a big lump of lovely culture happening in London to see you into October. 

A Marilyn moment
Off the back of the Venice Film Festival, it feels as if the list of films we need to see is too long to handle. While we love a trip to the cinema, if we can tick something off that list from the comfort of our sofa from time to time, we happily will. Cue Andrew Dominik’s Blonde, out now on Netflix. The biopic charts the rise and demise of Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe with Ana de Armas taking on the leading role in an unrecognisable transformation alongside Adrien Brody and Jessica Chastain. Based on the 2000 novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates, the narrative unpicks the icon’s personal life from every angle, exploring marriages, affairs and the theory of her suspected murder.

Blonde is out in cinemas and streaming on Netflix now. 

Art in the park
Every autumn Regent’s Park gets a very arty makeover in the form of Frieze Sculpture Park, celebrating some of the world’s best sculptors before the main art fair kicks off later in the month. The outdoor exhibition, curated for the ninth time by Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s Claire Lilley, features nineteen large-scale works from the likes of Anthony Caro, John Giorno and Isamu Noguchi. Bringing together an array of pieces engaging with an extensive number of themes from folklore to mythology and poetry to politics. Even though the weather is taking a turn for the worst, the stunning fixtures will be sure to make a drizzly walk around Regent’s Park worth while.

Frieze Sculpture Park runs until November 13th, more info here. 

Artistic rebellion
Beginning as a graffiti writer in the streets of New York in the early noughties, Japanese American artist KATSU’s latest exhibition at London’s Omni Gallery showcases the trajectory of his artistic development. Titled Mecha, the exhibition has an overarching spirit of rebellion, taking a mischievous look at the world through KATSU’s eyes.

Transcending techniques of video, sculpture and drone technology, his practice dissects the ubiquitous world of digital culture and privacy. Showcasing a collection of brand new paintings using drone technology, the premise makes a playful yet powerful statement on how technology disrupts our lives. Alongside never before seen works, the artist’s sculpture collaboration from the Off-White FW21 runway will be on display for the first time.

Mecha will run at Omni Gallery until October 16th, more info here. 

Identity on stage
Waleed Akhtar’s latest show at Bush Theatre, The P Word charts the lives of two homosexual Pakistani men in Britain. Zafar flees homophobic persecution in Pakistan to seek asylum in the UK, while Londoner Bilal is living in a world of Grindr and navigating the personal complexities of being a gay man. Despite both living very different lives, the similarities in their experiences unfold as worlds collide. The narrative celebrates the richness of modern Pakistani culture while ridding the expectation that existing within the LGBTQ+ community means leaving your old identity behind. It’s already been extended due to popular demand, so make sure to get your hands on a ticket to see this devastating yet beautiful story.

The P Word runs at Bush Theatre until October 22nd, more info here. 

EXTENDED DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND: THE P WORD

Following audience and ★★★★★ critical acclaim, we are extending the run of @WaleedAkhtar's The P Word until 29 Oct.

"A wonderful piece of theatre" @RyanLanji
"It's what theatre should do" @andoh_adjoa

🎟️ https://t.co/HA3H8Spct3 pic.twitter.com/qosr7ZB9nk

— Bush Theatre (@bushtheatre) September 28, 2022

Total Freud
Opening this weekend at the National Gallery, the first retrospective in ten years of renowned British artist Lucian Freud marks the centenary of his birth in Berlin in 1922. Known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists, specialising in figurative art, his style is nothing short of distinctive. Spanning seven decades of work, over 60 paintings are on display charting the journey of Freud’s artistic development as paintings of powerful public figures are followed by private studies of friends and family. Iconic works Girl with a Kitten and Girl with a Rose from the 1940s are displayed alongside famous nude portraits and the 1988 classic, Bella and Esther.

Lucian Freud: New Perspectives runs at the National Gallery until January 22nd 2023, more info here. 

End it with a drink
Sometimes less is more and Three Sheets in Dalston is a testament to that theory. Opened by brothers Max and Noel Venning, the Kingsland Road cocktail spot is charmingly simple in its decor with whitewashed walls, tiny tables and a single shelf of booze behind the bar. The menu is split into three sections, each with three drinks that rotate weekly. Despite the element of surprise, there are always a few classics you can rely on, such as their twist on a French 75 made from gin, sweet wine, and orange flower or a Cosmo made with fermented cranberry, vodka, and citrus oil.

Three Sheet is located at 510b Kingsland Road, E8 4AB, more info here.