W11 Area Guide

Cris Contini Contemporary London concludes a successful year with a solo exhibition by German artist Jens Hesse, Glitch & Glamour: Perfectly Imperfect. The show celebrates Hesse’s distinctive painterly language, where the precision of digital aesthetics meets the sensual imperfection of tactile surfaces. His works unfold in the space between these poles, translating the technical errors of our media-saturated era into gestures of painterly intimacy. A former fashion designer, Hesse approaches painting as both fabric and image. The surface — sometimes corduroy, sometimes bouclé — is never neutral; it recalls texture, touch, and wear. These tactile foundations become the site where the “glitch” appears: not as a mistake, but as a revelation. What the screen hides behind its promise of seamless perfection, Hesse reveals through brushstrokes, layering, and distortion. His portraits and figurative scenes seem at once familiar and disturbed. Pixels bleed into brush marks; compression lines cut across faces; digital interference coexists with the softness of oil and textile fibers. These works do not imitate technology — they expose its fragility. By transforming visual defects into painterly language, Hesse reclaims the human presence within the technological gaze. The exhibition’s title, Glitch & Glamour, evokes this duality. “Glamour” — the polished image, the seductive surface — meets “glitch”, the breakdown that disrupts illusion. Hesse situates beauty within the fault line between these states. In doing so, he reminds us that imperfection is not the opposite of glamour but its hidden core: the shimmer that occurs precisely when control falters. In an age obsessed with clarity, correction, and resolution, Hesse’s paintings invite us to dwell in ambiguity. They ask us to look again — not for perfection, but for presence. Within the glitch, we find the trace of the hand, the residue of the body, the persistence of the real. Perfectly imperfect.

Join us for winter holiday family activities at the Museum of Brands! Join Frosty’s festive trail and hunt for snowy items hidden through the decades in our Time Tunnel. Find them all to win a sweet treat! Get inspired by our Space: 1999 winter jumper in the new exhibition, then grab some crayons and design your own dream holiday jumper.

Super Deluxe Club & Clunk Magazine present an all day event in association with the PRS Foundation. With an arts/merch fair to start the day off, and hours worth of live performances from some of the best bands the UK has to offer! Line up: World News Absolutely Anytime Big Long Sun Green Gardens Unlucky Honest Work Eli Carvajal Doors: 5pm // tickets: £13 Bring ID! Presented by Super Deluxe Club. This is an 18+ event

Take a nostalgic journey through 200 years of consumer culture, social change and lifestyle at the Museum of Brands, located in the heart of Notting Hill. Established in 1984, the museum features over 12,000 original items and images from iconic brands, as well as housing over half a million items. The collection aims to concentrate on areas that have transformed daily life- from entertainment, to children's toys, to wartime ephemera, royal souvenirs and more! Reflecting a vast social history and the evolution of consumer lifestyle, this museum is a must for fans of history, British culture, design, and commercial art. Black Friday .hidden-word { display: none; }

Drake White grew up singing in his church’s youth choir in Alabama before becoming one of Country music’s most spirited innovators, earning four Top 40 hits and traveling the country on multiple nationwide tours. His 2013 debut single “Simple Life” introduced his brand of Country Soul, which he cemented with 2016 debut album SPARK followed by the EPs ‘Pieces’ and ‘Stars.’ In August 2019, he collapsed on stage due to a hemorrhagic stroke, and doctors told him he might never perform again. After undergoing a series of operations to repair his Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM) and months of physiotherapy, White has proved them wrong, returning to the road to spread his incredible positivity to his fans. His 2022 album 'The Optimystic' is an inspiring glimpse into the journey he has taken over the past few years. White has received accolades including Rolling Stone’s 10 Country Artists You Need to Know, The Grammy’s Artist of Tomorrow and the British CMA Awards’ International Song of the Year and has shared the bill with Country music superstars like Luke Bryan, Eric Church and Zac Brown Band

Just around the corner from the world-famous Portobello Road, this treasure trove of consumer culture showcases the evolution of household packaging, advertising and design from the Victorian era to present day, featuring over 12,000 items. Discover how food packaging, toys, magazines, technology, travel and fashion from some of the world's best loved brands have changed over the past 150 years. Black Friday .hidden-word { display: none; }