art blog since 2009
The very first gallery pays homage to Ghandi. 4,479 fibreglass bones spell out a text which pleads for non-violence so it seems perverse to name this show The Empire Strikes Back. But violent reactions wait round every corner of the Saatchi Gallery’s 11 main spaces. On this evidence, Indian art causes shudders, sharp intakes of …
February 2, 2010
Self Portrait as an Artist by Van Gogh is a defining image of the modern artist. The blue smock and bright palette are shorthand for genius. The red beard hints at the wildness we expect from this self-destructive master. But alongside this painting, the Royal Academy offers us Van Gogh in context as a hard-working …
January 20, 2010
Published on Culture24 The Sacred Made Real at The National Gallery, London, until January 2010 As you would expect from a pallid corpse in a darkened room, Dead Christ draws quite a crowd. Gregorio Fernández’s wooden bier is surrounded by a dozen curious visitors. If this was a roadside, they would be driving past slowly, …
November 25, 2009
Written for Culture24 Exhibition: Keith Tyson – Cloud Choreography and Other Emergent Systems, Parasol Unit, London, until November 11 2009 It goes something like this: n pigeons/a non-graceful tree of 2n generations where each gen has r vertices and then has r+1 edges and r and n are random integers within the limits (0<n>5) (1<r>9). …
October 30, 2009
Published on Culture 24 Turner Prize 2009 Exhibition, Tate Britain, until January 3 2010 Turner Prize art rarely speaks for itself. A deformed lump of cream-coloured plastic is fixed to the wall. It is an exhibit by candidate Roger Hiorns. “What do you see?” a mother enquires. “I see a man on horseback.” “I see …
October 19, 2009
Published on Culture 24 No Love Lost, Blue Paintings by Damien Hirst, The Wallace Collection, London, until January 24 2009. How often does middle-aged famous millionaire Damien Hirst really think about death? Well, by the evidence of his new show it is the only thing on his mind. Much has been made of his decision …
October 15, 2009
Published on Culture 24 Artists Anonymous – Lucifer Over London, Riflemaker, London, until November 21 2009 David was apparently hewn from a 27-stone block of marble after which Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel single-handed. Would he not, by the end of it, have looked something like Arnold Schwarzenegger? The question is asked on camera by …
October 6, 2009
Published on Culture 24 Exhibition: Moctezuma: Aztec Ruler, The British Museum, London, until January 24 2010 Before too long you come across a likely looking knife. The handle is sculpted into a crouching warrior and covered in tiny chips of turquoise mosaic. The blade is a vicious looking slice of obsidian. But according to the …
September 30, 2009
Published on Culture 24 Dreamscapes, Art at Five, Brighton, until September 20 2009 Matisse famously said that a painting should be like a comfortable armchair. If so, Dreamscapes could well swallow you up and leave you gasping for air. There’s a lot going on in this pictorial upholstery. The exhibition flyer coins an intriguing phrase …
September 26, 2009
Published on Culture 24 Zachary Walsh – Greek Street, Ink_d Gallery, Brighton, until August 23 2009 Zeus has you fixed with a hard stare. It’s a surprise to meet him in the flesh like this and he looks avuncular, somewhat amused, yet quizzical. It’s definitely him because stretching out behind are eagle wings and to …
August 6, 2009