Tired of the telly? All Playstationed out? Over the next three days we'll bring you a guide to the best holiday season art exhibitions.
So grab your coat, we’re goin’ down the galleries.
National Portrait Gallery: Cornel Lucas - Shooting Stars
Brings together fifty of Cornel Lucas's portraits including iconic images of Joan Collins, Dirk Bogarde and Lauren Bacall.
Why you should see it:
Four words - Brigitte Bardot in fishnets.
National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place WC2. Tel: 020 7306 0055. Daily 10am - 6pm, Thursday & Friday to 9pm. Free admission. Until 22 January 2006.
National Gallery: Tom Hunter - Living in Hell and Other Stories
The life of the ordinary residents of Hackney is the subject for Tom Hunter's new work, as reported in local newspapers. The images are played out in staged photographs derived from Renaissance paintings.
Why you should see it:
Doesn’t matter if you’re high brow or low brow, there’s something in here for everyone.
Sunley Room at the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square WC2. Tel: 020 7747 2885. Daily 10am - 6pm, Wednesday to 9pm. Free admission. Until 12 March 2006.
Royal Academy: China - The Three Emperors, 1662 - 1795
Never-seen-before paintings, scrolls, porcelain, textiles and bronzes from the Qing Dynasty, the majority from the Palace Museum in Beijing. They suggest advance booking.
Why you should see it:
Time called it “dazzling”. Nuff said.
Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly W1. Tel: 020 7300 8000. Advance booking on 0870 848 8484. Sunday - Thursday 10am - 6pm, Friday & Saturday to 10pm. £11, £9 seniors, concs available, under-7s free. Until 17 April 2006.
The Serpentine: Ilya and Emilia Kabakov - The House of Dreams
The Russian artists have transformed the Serpentine Gallery with their installation, creating a series of meditative spaces which "encourage visitors to enter into a world of fantasy and daydreams.”
Why you should see it:
The exhibition allowed the Guardian to channel Lenin, “sleepless in his mausoleum, tormented by incomprehensible voices of the 21st century” - so sounds like a laugh.
Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London W2 3XA until January 8, Tel: 020 7402 6075.
