Tue 5 Feb, 2013 The Culturist London’s cultural highlights this February Things get real in February. The dry spell is over (if you ever started), hardcore health plans have loosened up considerably and you're willing to start being sociable again. And doesn't London know it? She's throwing out all sorts of cultural offerings this month, from two major retrospectives, to must-see foreign film and theatre, and one of the most highly anticipated restaurant openings of the year. Time to get back on the map. ART: Lichtenstein: A Retrospective A big-hitter but a goodie. Book tickets now for Lichtenstein's Retrospective at Tate Modern before the hoards descend (the advance open day is Feb 20). It's gone full circle – Tate first staged a solo exhibition for him back in 1968, the first ever showcase completely dedicated to a living American artist. See 125 of his most definitive paintings from hand-painted landscapes to comic strips – including his first masterpiece Look Mickey – and decide who did the Ben-Day dot better: him or Warhol. February 21 – May 27, £14 Tate Modern, Bankside, SE1 9TG EAT: Balthazar Balthazar, the almost-mythical creature of New York's restaurant scene, is finally coming to London (along with a few others…). And it's not just resting on its laurels. Instead of being a carbon copy of its NY mother, the London outpost will use the best of British served up French brasserie style. We just hope the $99 three-tiered seafood platter makes the cut. As in NY there will also be a bakery next door selling bread, pastries, sandwiches and other lunchtime goodies. They're being very hush-hush about the official opening – we do know it's mid-Feb and staff training has begun… Balthazar, opens mid-February The Flower Cellars, 4-6 Russell Street, WC2B 5HZ READ: Philip Treacy by Kevin Davies His list of commissions reads like a who's who in modern day society yet he still continues to surprise us – remember his MJ-inspired comeback show last year? Now, the futuristic milliner master Philip Treacy celebrates a new book that has been 20 years in the making. Chronicling his life and works from the past two decades, the tome, made up from photographs taken by close friend Kevin Davies, candidly captures his day-to-day life, behind-the-scenes commotion and the many, many masterpieces. Now available, £39.95 FILM: No Pablo Larraín's third film is based on true events that happened in Chile in 1988 ahead of the national referendum on dictator Pinochet. House name Gael García Bernal (who also co-produced the drama) plays René Saavedra, an advertising executive who is tasked with creating the "NO" campaign against Pinochet's re-election. The plan? To overthrow the dictatorship with happiness. Opens February 8, £13.75 Curzon Soho, 99 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 5DY THEATRE: Peter and Alice Director Michael Grandage is pulling out all the stops for the first season of his new West End theatre company. Peter and Alice, the second play from six-Tony award winning John Logan, is the tale of an encounter between Alice Liddell Hargreaves (the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland) and Peter Llewelyn Davies (the inspiration for JM Barrie's Peter Pan) in 1932 at a Lewis Carroll exhibition. Did we mention the leads are Ben Whishaw and Judi Dench? The company will also stage A Midsummer Night's Dream with Sheridan Smith and David Walliams, and Henry V with Jude Law. Get booking. Like now. March 9 – June 1, tickets from £12.00 Noël Coward Theatre, St Martin's Lane, WC2N 4AU V-DAY: The Midnight Moment If we must do the big V then we pick Tracey Emin's neon memos in New York. Three minutes before midnight every night this month, Emin's romantic neon messages will appear on video screens across Times Square. Paris is also getting their own taste of New York signage. NY artist Baron Von Fancy – who pays homage to the old school sign-painter artists of his city via tongue-in-cheek clichés – exhibits at Colette this month, where you can also pick up tees, postcards and bags. The Midnight Moment by Tracey Emin Every night from 11.57pm until Feb 28 Times Square, New York Baron Von Fancy at Colette, February 4 – 23 Colette, 213 Rue Saint-Honoré, 75001, Paris MIX: Smalltown DJs Best of 2012 If you need some toe-tap-inducing encouragement to embrace 2013 we urge you to get familiar with the (not so) Smalltown DJs from Calgary. They are the self-proclaimed KISS of dance music so expect tunes that make you want to get up (and down). Download mix NEW YEAR: Bao Chinese New Year If you thought the street food fad was oversaturated then you were wrong. Bao have travelled the night markets of Taiwan to perfect their take on Xiao Chi, literally "small eats". Their signature dish, Gua Bao (pork bun), is a fermented tangzhong (a brioche-like bread) bun filled with slow braised pork belly, pickles, coriander and peanut powder. If you missed their first pop up event, then head to the Dead Dolls Club for Chinese New Year where they'll be cooking up a Taiwanese storm: soya milk fried chicken, razor clams, daikon croquettes and red bean crumble, not to mention the lucky Gua Baos. February 11, from 6pm (no bookings required) Dead Dolls Club 428 Kingsland Road, E8 4AA PHOTOGRAPHY: Man Ray Portraits The National Portrait Gallery is staging the first major retrospective dedicated to the portraits by prolific modernist photographer Emmanuel Radnitzky, aka Man Ray. 150 vintage prints taken throughout his working life in Paris, New York and Hollywood (and for publications such as Vogue and Vanity Fair) will be on show, featuring artists, musicians and performers such as Catherine Deneuve, Salvador Dalí and Kiki de Montparnasse, the famous subject of his most iconic piece, Le Violon d'Ingres. February 7 – May 27, £14 National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, WC2H 0HE SPOTLIGHT BOOK NOW Sex Guru Sponsored Listing Funny, provocative and always intelligent, this is a bold, new approach to once again resolve the battle of the sexes. Described as the World's funniest Sex Guru, you'll be sure to leave the theatre satisfied, smiling and with more than a few tricks up your sleeve (it's been seen by more than 600,000 people worldwide too). This is one comedy show to scream about! Sex Guru: The Sexological Comedy Show, February 14, March 1 – 23, April 5 – 20, Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Place, WC2H 7BX Tickets from £10 0844 873 3433 by JC LIKE SHARE FORWARD PREVIOUS EDITION (c) 2013 Urban Junkies. All rights reserved. Reproductions of any portion of this website only with our express permission. Urban Junkies is a free daily mailer. All listings and features are editorial: We do not receive any payment from venues, artists or promoters. Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of information listed but we cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions.