Seek solace in an America that IS great: the best of liberal USA in London

By Lucy Brooks on 9/11/2016

Bowie, Brexit, Prince, now Trump: 2016 is just one devastating noun after another.
Find solace, or at least distraction, from the frightening prospect of the 45th president, with our selection of American art, theatre and cinema with liberalism at its heart.
Because here in London we know America is great - just not for the reasons that defined Trump's incendiary, bombastic and ultimately victorious presidential campaign.

The Beaten Path ahead, through the eyes of Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan's art exhibition, The Beaten Path - in the Mayfair Halcyon Gallery now

There was a gut-wrenching moment when Bob Dylan starting trending and internet users around the world panicked that 2016 had struck again.

Actually, the folk singer, poet and chronicler of all things Americana was awarded the Nobel Prize. Now his vision of highways and motels takes shape in a series of artworks, painted by Dylan himself.

His subject is the American landscape: "How you see it while crisscrossing the land and seeing it for what it’s worth," he has written. "Staying out of the mainstream and traveling the back roads, free-born style. I believe that the key to the future is in the remnants of the past."

Amen to that.

WHEN

05 Nov 2016 – 11 Dec 2016, Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm Sunday 11am-5pm

WHERE

Halcyon Gallery
144-146 New Bond Street, London, W1S 2PF

Shia LaBeouf and Riley Keough in American Honey

American outcasts on the big screen

American Honey - in cinemas now

Journey through those states that swung red in this stunning arty road-trip movie, in cinemas now.

Taking all the tropes of long roads, red necks and motels and twisting them into a reality peopled by outcasts, American Honey has youthful rebellion and inclusiveness at its heart.

Think a clear-eyed, complex take on on Jack Kerouac and Alan Ginsberg for millennials. It may not be cheery, but there's something sublime about the America onscreen.

WHEN

14 Oct 2016 – 16 Dec 2016, Times vary

WHERE

Various Locations

Women rule in the London Festival of American Music

London Festival of American Music - on now in Waterloo

When the pant suit conceded, hope for Hilary gave way to a white-washed White House run by a man with a track record of misogyny. (From hope to grope, you could say).

Among the many alarming implications of a Trump presidency is the potential sexism of a self-confessed 'Pussy-grabber'.

We can't offer consolation. But distraction and a little sliver of feminism comes courtesy of the London Festival of American Music. There's a program made up of the best musicians Stateside, then there's the pleasing break away from classical music's traditional male dominance:

'American female composers take centre stage alongside their male counterparts,' says Marin Alsop, conductor and organiser of the Festival.

WHEN

06 Nov 2016 – 11 Nov 2016, with pre-concert talks at 6:45PM 8-11 Nov

WHERE

The Warehouse
13 Theed Street, Waterloo, SE1 8ST