Museum openings: V&A East and Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Plus, William Blake in Dublin
4/16/20261 hr 1 min
Two museum openings feature on this week’s podcast—V&A East in London and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
In our 300th episode in 2024, Gus Casely Hayford, the director of the V&A East, told us about the community-driven programming at the museum and its connection with its local environment in East London. Now, as the museum opens, he takes Ben Luke on a tour of its commissions, displays and its first exhibition, The Music is Black: A British Story. In California, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Lacma) has just opened its new building by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, which cost more than $700m, and has generated some controversy. Ben speaks to our correspondent in Los Angeles, Jori Finkel, about the new building and the debate about its scale, its cost, its suitability for LA and whether Angelinos and tourists will take to Zumthor’s building. And this episode’s Work of the Week is Satan Smiting Job with Sore Boils (around 1826) by the great 18th-century artist and poet, William Blake. The work is part of a new exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland, called William Blake: The Age of Romantic Fantasy, which opened this week. Ben speaks to the exhibition’s co-curator, Anne Hodge, about the work.
V&A East opens on Saturday, 18 April.
Lacma member previews begin on 19 April, before the full opening to non-members in early May.
William Blake: The Age of Romantic Fantasy, National Gallery of Ireland, until 19 July.
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First 90 secondsBen Luke· Host0:00
[intro music] Hello, it's The Week in Art. I'm Ben Luke. This week, big museum openings on both sides of the Atlantic, V&A East in London and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, plus William Blake in Dublin. [music] In our three hundredth episode in twenty twenty-four, Gus Casely-Hayford, the director of V&A East, told us about the community-driven programming at the museum and its connection with its local environment in East London. Now, as the museum opens, he takes me on a tour of its commissions, displays, and its first exhibition, The Music is Black: A British Story. In California, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, or LACMA, is about to open its new building by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, which cost more than seven hundred million dollars. I speak to our correspondent in Los Angeles, Jori Finkel, about the new building and the debate about its scale, its cost, its suitability for LA, and whether Angelenos and tourists will take to Zumthor's building. And this episode's work of the week is Satan Smiting Job with Sore Boils from around eighteen twenty-six by the great eighteenth-century artist and poet William Blake. The work is part of a new exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin called William Blake: The Age of Romantic