Town mouse - Jessica Fellowes

Jessica finds the art scene in London burgeoning, as Damien Hirst's latest work causes a stir in the capital...

Town mouse; country life
town mouse new
(Image credit: Country Life)

London may be a den of iniquity, with grime on the streets and air so polluted we should all be wearing Second World War gas masks, but it is also a hotbed of cultural activity, breeding creative ideas as fast as the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis. Damien Hirst's £50 million diamond encrusted skull encapsulates this perfectly. Whatever your view of the 'Britart' movement, there is no doubt that this Hoxton-dwelling collective put London back on the artistic map, with the White Cube gallery as the epicentre.

The East End's favourite adopted daughter, Tracey Emin, once the enfant terrible of the art world, has landed on the Establishment lap and is representing Britain at Venice's Biennale exhibition. The Britartists blazed a trail that the new generation of emerging artists are keen to follow. New galleries have been opening at an 'unprecedented' rate, according to reports. There are also burgeoning art fairs and numerous graduate shows drawing the crowds and the buyers. It's worth remembering, however, that the whole city can be enjoyed as a permanent exhibition look again at the statues, the architecture, even the graffiti. All yours For free.

Country Life

Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.