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White Night has quickly established itself as a major arts event. This year, as well as a number of art galleries opening the doors to the public during the course of evening (including Fabrica, Brighton Media Centre Gallery, Phoenix and Brighton Museum & Art Gallery – where a group of young people are taking over the museum for the night, using projections, animation and photography, to show the museums collection in an entirely new light) four new public artworks have been chosen based on the theme of illumination.

One of the commissions has been put together by an all-Brighton consortium of contemporary urban art organizations (Wet Paint Productions, Art Republic and Ink_d) who will be creating an interactive installation in Jubilee Square, illuminating street art in paint and pixels. Elsewhere, Claire Potter design is creating an at-sea art work inspired by the starlings and drawing attention to the birds’ threatened roosting site; Mini Murmuration will be a shimmering cloud of red lights generated by wind near the West Pier throughout the night.

In a third commission, a group called Luminance will create and install an Epiphany Dome in the North Laine. A lavishly-lit geodesic dome will host interviews with passers-by about personal epiphanies. These will be projected during the night as the evening progresses.

White Night marks the end of British Summer Time and aims to present the arts as a ‘reclaim of the streets’ and an alternative to drinking culture in the city centre. This will be the third year of the unique festival that last year attracted 25,000 people to the city centre.

White Night, Saturday 30 October. www.whitenightnuitblanche.com

Stuart Griffiths
Closer is Griffiths’ first solo exhibition, and was selected from over 200 submissions to the Brighton Photo Fringe OPEN 2010. First taking photos whilst a soldier in West Belfast in the late ’80s, in this exhibition he explores his personal feelings towards war and conflict.
Stuart Griffiths: Closer, Phoenix Brighton, 10-14 Waterloo Place, 01273 603974.
Until 14 Nov
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One of the most significant photographers of the modern era, Robert Mapplethorpe is featured in the unlikely environs of Eastbourne at the Towner Gallery.

Stealing a march on Brighton, which still lacks a substantial and dedicated contemporary art gallery, Eastbourne’s award-winning new facility is part of an Artist Rooms on Tour with The Art Fund, a nationwide initiative designed to display the outstanding art collection, which has been donated by Anthony d’Offay. The gallery is displaying 60 images from Robert Mapplethorpe’s collection as well as a selection of his lesser known sculptural works.

Encompassing self-portraits, depictions of the male form and iconic photographs of his contemporaries such as Patti Smith, Andy Warhol and Marianne Faithful, this exhibition provides an overview of Mapplethorpe’s work.

Although many of his images are portraits and studies of flowers (albeit often with a highly erotic undertow), he courted a great deal of controversy in the 1980s and 1990s for his sexual images, ensuring he became something of a cause celebre in the ongoing “American War of Culture”, with particular attention paid to the issue of freedom of expression.

Mapplethorpe died in 1989 from complications arising from Aids, and even today, some of his images have retained their ability to shock.

Robert Mapplethorpe, Towner Gallery, Eastbourne, 01323 434670, until 21 November

Brighton Photo Fringe
Running concurrently with the Brighton Photo Biennial, every two years, the Brighton Photo Fringe provides a fantastic opportunity for local, national and international photographers to engage with a diverse public audience. Set up in 2003 and continuing to grow and expand, this year’s festival includes over 130 exhibitions, projects and events, spreading as a far as Hastings in the east and Chichester in the west. Read the rest of this article »