The Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, West London. Tuesday night I watched a performance by Ludovico Einaudi, a contemporary composer and pianist. The concert focused around Einaudi’s new album ‘The Nightbook’ which was released at the end of last year. I haven’t been to the Hall since I was young (believe it or not I was there to perform with the school choir!) and had forgotten the overwhelming size and beauty of the place. The performance itself was completely amazing. His music is ambient, meditative and simply a pleasure to listen to.

The Photographers Gallery, Oxford Street. Currently showing at the gallery is the Deutsche Borse Photography Prize 2010 presenting work from what are considered the most significant contributors to photography in Europe between October 2008 and September 2009. The short list includes work from Zoe Leonard, Sophie Ristelhueber and Anna Fox (above).

London Style. This is Sophie and I spotted her looking top notch early on in the week. She wears a roll-neck and leggings from American Apparel, shoes ‘Absolute Vintage’, socks and jacket were both found for less than 5 pounds at an east end charity shop and her bracelet was picked up at ‘Primark’…Bargain!

Market Estate Project. North Road. This 1960s-built estate was transformed into a work of art before its demolition, planned for early next week. The last remaining residents moved out literally days before the event on the 6th of March. The Southern Housing Group teamed up with the Arts Regeneration Practice ‘Tall Tales’ to transform the building into a creative celebration, a colourful and rich last memory of the estate. 75 artists, all of different disciplines, developed their work in 21 vacant flats. Their work is inspired by the site’s history, architecture and the memories of the people who inhabited it for the past 43 years.

The Wellcome Collection, Euston Road, presents ‘Identity’ an exhibition of 8 rooms and 9 lives. Presented is an array of historical and contemporary ideas about the self and personal identity. Each topic is is introduced by a figurehead-a person whose ‘identity’ has opened up an area of debate. ‘While identity is currently a controversial topic, it is always a human story’. The rooms look at stories about androgynous identity, classification, identical twins, DNA profiling, personal diaries, acting and gender reassignment (above).

Deep in the heart of Hollywood, tucked away in the comfortable yet chic Palihouse were some of LA’s rising stars and fashion darlings. The fireplaces were ablaze, Blondie was blasting and the skinny jeans set took to the dance floor as DJ Donovan Leitch spinned some serious tunes. Now this is what we call a party!

Last night’s Vanity Fair and Hudson Jeans‘  Pre-Oscar Party was one for the books. Kelly Osbourne debuted her new lavender do’ (you heard it here first, lavender is the new platinum), Joel Moore couldn’t stop chatting away about Avatar’s copious nominations, and Ryan Eggold showed off his favorite pair of Hudson jeans. We admit it, we snapped a few shots of his adorable bum.

Our favorite fashion bloggers rocked the party. Special guest and fashionista, Krystal Simpson was in attendance along with the ladies from Racked LA who had it right when they said, “There are already a lot of people here. Very pretty people.”  Those VPPs certainly know how to party! The Stella Artois was flowing as it reached midnight and Hollywood’s finest couldn’t stop chatting about the party after it ended and starlets headed to their respective after parties.

New York is the city that never sleeps, right? We beg to differ!

Actor, now Beat-inspired artist Leo Fitzpatrick (L) with photographer Ryan McGinley (R), holding up Leo’s zine of work

Anyone remember scrapbooks? Well before the age of the Internet, kids used to cut out photos, make captions from letters, and paste them into paper books like automatic memorabilia. I’d bet Leo Fitzpatrick — the actor who stumbled on the screen in Kids after being discovered as a downtown skateboarder by director Larry Clark — stashed some things away in his youth.

Now, at thirty-one, he tells me, “I was inspired by the Beat poets,” as we’re looking at his recent show of captions paired with other captions and/or photos that Fitzpatrick put together and framed. “I did about eighty of these.” He tells me. His girlfriend, Sophomore designer Chrissie Miller, who is standing nearby, laughs to concur. I tell them she should use some of Fitzpatrick’s art as logos for her t-shirt line.

The show, basic in principle and execution, promotes a lot of chuckles for the irony of it alone. It’s like the minimal carpenter’s version of what Fitzpatrick’s friend, photographer Ryan McGinley does, most recently photographing stars of the Winter Olympics, dressed in Rodarte for the New York Times. Both projects strike me as parallel in a sense since Fitzpatrick’s captions and photos don’t really belong together and neither do Olympic skiers wearing Rodarte almost couture.

Thus, is the beauty of the American Dream.

(Leo Fitzpatrick, up until March 13th, at the Half Gallery on 208 Forsythe Street, NYC.)

Photo of the late artist/downtown denizen Dash Snow in July 2009, by Ari Marcopoulos

This year’s Whitney Biennial featured several videos indicating different modes and moods of America, from the elderly being interviewed on the state of their memory, to a young woman, clearly irate, speaking to herself, and another of a group of men in tights doing what looks like Pilates in a room filled with mats. Yes, the growing elderly population, neurosis in females, a gentler yet mass yogic fitness movement, all seem to be at play in our current state of mind. But, one artist, Ari Marcopoulos stood out in his video depiction of boys toying with sound petals and car models in a bedroom.

Every boy (and some girls) possesses a memory of this sort stashed in childhood slumber chambers.

Marcopoulos, now based in Los Angeles, arrived in New York City from his native Holland in the Eighties. He expected to stay a mere few months and ended up there for almost two decades. He fell in with the right insider crowd by mere artistic street instinct and ended up shooting portraits of Andy Warhol and, famously, Basquiat in a tub, before he died. So, it’s especially eerie that he captured the photogenic Dash Snow in dark days before his own suicide (above).

Marcopoulos, renowned for portraits that reveal a bit of the soul, shot this clip below, part of his short film now up at the Whitney Biennial. It kinda makes you yearn for a time of innocence, where you can make loud noises any time you like without reprimand.

The Royal Vauxhall Tavern Tuesday evenings presents new drag stand-ups and other interesting performers. This week Dusty Limits, one of the leading figures on the ‘new cabaret’ scene, performed his show for the lucky few.

‘The Doghouse’ pub in Kennington serves up great cocktails and delicious food…a great place to grab a drink with friends any night of the week.

Guy and Vicky had a children’s birthday display outside their flat last weekend…clearly it wasn’t for them!