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An awesome and ridiculous film that leaves you thrilled beyond the point of your natural endurance
2012
Theatre
The show has suddenly become quite wonderful, and the galvanising factor is the terrific stage debut of Melanie C
Blood Brothers
Music
The British pop music industry may be eating itself but if Muse are the pick of what it can offer the world in 2010 then British music is in rude health indeed
Muse
I was smitten by both Gilberts enormous luxuriant moustache and the intelligence and nuance of this highly entertaining play
I totally recommend Babbo to anyone who is looking for really good and traditional Italian food
Always been a fan but never seen them live. I was ecstatic to be part of this epic event. WOW!
London,
Evening Standard rating
Reader rating
Description: A collection of pieces exploring the idea of the book and how it is represented in the modern day.
Phone: 0207942 2000
Website: www.vam.ac.uk
Email: vanda@vam.ac.uk
Trains: Tube: South Kensington 
, Tube / Bus: 14, 74, 414, C1 
Extra info: Party Hire, Food, Pub, Telephones
In the moment: Damien Hirst's I want to spend the rest of my life everywhere, with everyone, one to one, always, forever, now, 1997
Suitcase: Detritus by Francis Bacon
Artistic licence: Anselm Kiefer's Steigend
No shame: Joan Miro's Le Courtisan Grotesque
Revealing all: Anthony Caro's Open Secret
There's only a drop or two of blood on paper, in this unassuming but exquisite show of artists’ books. You’ll find the red stuff in Stains, an ultra-ironic, methodical volume of marks on the white stuff produced by various everyday substances from the cult American conceptual painter Ed Ruscha.
Still, to make up for the shortage of blood there is gunpowder on paper from the Chinese artist Cai Guo Caing, cracked earth on paper from Anselm Kiefer, dried mud on paper from Richard Long, fabric as paper from Louise Bourgeois, a laser-cut fissure through a pile of paper by Anish Kapoor and plenty of lithographer’s ink on paper from a fairly inclusive list of the 20th century’s greatest artists.
This bold display of work ranges from Matisse to Rauschenberg to Hirst. It includes great surprises, such as the saturated totemic prints of abstract Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida. There isn’t an overriding theme but the curators have selected works which demonstrate great craftsmanship, which is appropriately so very V&A.
The book has been a hugely popular medium for modern artists but exhibitions of them are rare. It’s a broad genre which ranges from fragile portfolios in tiny editions, collected then stored in a dark place by obsessive collectors, to mass-produced artist’s catalogues, which, if out of print, have recently soared in value.
Among the greatest pleasures of the exhibition are the illustrated books of poetry. The conjunction of artist and poet inspires thoughts about the shared cultures of different eras — opposite Allen Ginsberg’s anti-war poem, “Whom bomb? We bomb them!”, is a print of explosions by Roy Lichten-stein; a play by Antonin Artaud, the inventor of the Theatre of Cruelty, is accompanied by some tor tured lithographs by German Neo-Expressionist Georg Baselitz.
This is not an exhibition that is free of frustrations. It’s far too small. There are odd omissions (where is Sophie Calle, one of the most prolific artist-book-makers of the past two decades?). Considering the fascination of the material, the absence of explanatory wall texts is a big mistake. Also, any show of rare books comes with one inevitable frustration — you can’t turn the pages. Most of the time this is understandable, but I don’t know why the hilarious paperback titled The Jeff Koons Handbook was installed behind glass.
I picked one up for a few quid in a second-hand book shop three years ago — perhaps it’s now worth a fortune.
Until 29 June. Open Sat-Thurs 10am-5.45pm, Fri 10am-10pm; admission free. Information: 020 7942 2211, www.vam.ac.uk
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
