With the fourth plinth fun coming to a close tomorrow, and the Serpentine Pavilion coming down on Sunday, it seems summer's finally being packed away on London's art scene. But are we glum about it? No way - look at all the exciting stuff going on this week!
Be There First: London Shows Opening
Exhibitions opening today include a major retrospective of LA conceptual art bad boy John Baldessari called Pure Beauty at the Tate Modern. Or you can go green at Eco Home at the Geffrye Museum and find out how eco design is changing our worlds.
Tomorrow sees the start of another major retrospective of an LA artist, this time at the Hayward. Ed Ruscha does pop, conceptualism, realism and surrealism... Or pop over to the Wallace Collection where Damien Hirst's No Love Lost also opens tomorrow: skulls, butterflies and Francis Bacon feature in the 25 works made between 2006 and 08.
From Thursday, you can choose from 60s photos at the National Portrait Gallery in Beatles to Bowie: The 60s Exposed; Suburbia at the London Transport Museum; and Yinka Shonibare MBE at the Stephen Friedman gallery on Old Burlington Street: carnivalesque photos inspired by Death of a Salesman. Or get arty outdoors this week at Freize Art Fair in Regent's Park.
Fans of dancey-circusy things should check out Swedish group Cirkus Cirkör's Inside Out at the Peacock Theatre opening on Friday. Or Raoul at the Barbican; the amazing-sounding new solo show by acrobat, clown, poet and magician James Thiérrée.
Over in theatreland, these are our highlights for the forthcoming week: Wednesday sees Trevor Griffiths' Comedians open at the Lyric in Hammersmith. It stars Nationwide Building Society ad-man Mark Benton, and Matthew Kelly who we thought was great at The Globe earlier this year.
On Thursday at the Rose, you can take part in the following name-dropathon: the Peter Hall directed Alan Ayckbourn play, Bedroom Farce, starring Jane Asher, Lucy Briers and Nicholas Le Prevost. (It's playing alongside Miss Julie, with a similar cast.) Or you can see Samuel Beckett's Endgame at the Duchess starring Mark Rylance and Miriam Margolyes from Thursday.
Last Chance to See: London Shows Closing
Friday is your last chance to catch An Experiment With An Air Pump at the Hampstead Theatre and Doctor Faustus at the Greenwich Theatre. Saturday sees the end of School for Scandal at the same venue, Judgement Day at the Almeida and The Fastest Clock in the Universe, again at the Hampstead Theatre.
And on Sunday, well-received opera Tristan Und Isolde closes at the Royal Opera House.
Artswise, don't forget to catch the Serpentine Pavilion before it's dismantled on Sunday. Gay Icons at the National Portrait Gallery and Exquisite Bodies at the Wellcome Collection both close on the same day. Enjoy.
Image shows: The Duress Series: Person Climbing Exterior Wall of Tall Building/Person on Ledge of Tall Building/ Person on Girders of Unfinished Tall Building 2003 © John Baldessari
