Michael Sodeau chooses his must-see art and design events


The designer and designjunction creative director curates this month's diary of art, design and architecture events


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Diverse Maniere: Piranesi, Fantasy and Excess
Sir John Soane's Museum, London
Until 31 May

Forever a source of inspiration, the exhibitions here are not to be missed. Diverse Maniere: Piranesi, Fantasy and Excess looks at the relationship between Soane and the great Italian printmaker, antiquarian and architect Giovanni Battista Piranesi. We are promised large-scale 3D prints of amazing designs visualised by Piranesi in his influential publications, but never realised. Along with these prints, examples of Piranesi's interpretation of classical antiquity will be on show. soane.org

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DX Exhibition -- This is not a toy
design exchange, TORONTo
Until 19 May

What's not to like with Pharrell Williams as the guest editor of this exhibition, and containing giant wooden sculptures by KAWS, vinyl figures by Michael Lau and work by Takashi Murakami to boot. Surely no one will fail to enjoy the breadth of scale, colour anddesign that this exhibition promises, with the celebration of the conceptual toy, also dubbed 'designer toys' or 'urban vinyl'. What's more, the show goes beyond the plastic too. These art toys are a fusion and celebration of street culture, hip-hop, graffiti and fashion. dx.org

Not a toy


Edit by designjunction
Palazzo Morando, Via Sant'Andrea 6, Milan
9 March-13 April

This year we have moved EDIT by designjunction to Palazzo Morando, a historic 18th-century building in the heart of Milan's fashion district, just to the south of the Brera design district. The venue continues our ethos of finding architecturally interesting venues tohouse the designjunction showcase. We've divided the space into zones and galleries rather than stands to create a flow through thevenue. We're continuing our collaboration with La Marzocco to produce an outdoor cafe. thedesignjunction.co.uk/edit-by-designjunction/

Designedit


BAILEY'S STARDUST
National Portrait Gallery, London
Until 1 June

The iconic, gritty, glamour of David Bailey's work and his craft of the difficult portrait shot has everyone loving or hating the idea that photography is art. Set to be one of the main exhibitions of 2014, the retrospective Stardust, curated by Bailey himself, is proof that this is the photographic age, accentuated by the double portraits in which he poses with Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí. Damien Hirst, who designed the poster and catalogue cover, cements this. npg.org.uk/whatson/bailey/exhibition.php

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Arab Contemporary
louisiana museum of modern art, denmark
Until 4 May

Architecture is both a bearer of identity and promotes the shaping of the cultural distinctiveness of a country or a region. This fascinating exhibition hones in on features shared by the Arab countries -- from the Arabian Peninsula through Lebanon to Morocco. The Arab world is foremost connected by language, but there are other common features that point both to a shared understanding of space and a visual culture where one can draw lines to new cities like Dubai, and old Yemenite civilisations. louisiana.dk/dk

Anderson

 

Rasch


United Visual Artists : Momentum
Barbican Centre, London
Until 1 June

At the Barbican's Curve Gallery, London-based art and design practice United Visual Arts has created an immersive experience of sound and light. There are 12 pendulums, built from steel, aluminium and custom electronics that hang in the space, activating light and sound as they swing. It is designed to unsettle our sense of time, movement, mass and space and as you move through, you arefurther unnerved. I have always been a very big fan of UVA's work. barbican.org.uk

Medcraft.

Michael Sodeau graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design in 1994, cofounded Inflate and set up his own design studio, Michael Sodeau Partnership, in 1997. His award-winning studio has designed everything from chairs and scissors to holiday resorts and ice-cream flavours. michaelsodeau.com








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