Eye Magazine

What is it about the last Thursday in November in London, asks John L. Walters? There were at least half a dozen events competing for our attention: Sanky doing a D&AD lecture; the launch of the AR’s Emerging Architecture at RIBA; Jost Hochuli at St Bride; the ‘Deface Value’ view at Mutate Britain; and so on . . . The one I opted for was a specially commissioned presentation of live audio-visual work at the Upper Gulbenkian Gallery at the Royal College of Art.

We’re halfway into the London Jazz Festival, and the annual event has already delivered three great audio-visual experiences, writes John L. Walters, including movies, animation – and now some black and white documentary photography.

Coming into town on a damp Tuesday morning, it was cheering to see a graphic design splash on the front page of free newspaper Metro. Reminded us of our own dear Queen, as envisaged by Colors.

From 1956 to 1998, FotoRamblas was a photography studio on Barcelona’s main pedestrian boulevard, the forever hip and happening Las Ramblas, writes Liz Farrelly.

OK, maybe it’s not a classic cover. But the 40th anniversary issue of New York Magazine has all the other ingredients that non-New Yorkers expect from (and value in) the title: meaty, readable features, effective use of illustration, funny and revealing info-graphics and great photography, such as these punchy portraits (below) of New York actors (‘They’re here, they walk among us’) by Dan Winters. Other subjects include Meryl Streep, Tim Robbins and Robert De Niro. Of course.

The Spin exhibition is small, free, easy to find (if you’re in or near London) and won’t take up too much of your time, writes John L. Walters.

A few pictures from the Eye party at Kemistry.