art blog since 2009
There are several difficulties in following taxi drivers. They know the roads backwards. They love a shortcut. They can be considerate, but equally the converse. And we defer to them at junctions, because they make a living on these roads. This is a short account in which I followed a taxi driver. It was just …
July 20, 2026
In recent times, most things have been considered an art. There is, for instance, the art of baking, the art of conversation, and, for sociopaths everywhere, the art of the deal. But at J Hammond Projects in North London, one applied art form is proving to have enough legs to endure for the foreseeable future, …
July 11, 2017
I once knew a live music review to open with the following line: “Blur used the minimum of props to the maximum of effect. Damon was lowered from the roof in a giant TV set.†The author, who was a colleague on the student newspaper I wrote for, accosted me in the bar and read …
July 3, 2017
If you play Grand Theft Auto you may be closer to understanding this piece than me. So far as I gather, both artists have had to play their way into all the footage which accompanies this film. There’s not a stolen car in sight, mind you. The duo wear suits, rather than gang attire. They …
July 3, 2017
For those who don’t already know, Aston Villa FC are an underperforming English football team from the West Midlands. It might not be common knowledge in the wider art world. Three artists staged a gallery event last Saturday: Bartlett, Selmes and Roberts. We’ll drop the first names, in the spirit of football. Because all support …
November 18, 2014
Hard not to like an artist who is unafraid to quote his dad in an interview (as you can see Kjartansson does in the footage above): “It’s sad and beautiful to be a human beingâ€. There’s also an honesty about his subject matter in The Visitors. It’s not about poverty, war or global pandemic. He’s …
October 29, 2014
Written for Bad At Sports. It is more than 1,000 miles from Luton, England, to Reykjavik, Iceland. But Dominic from the UK town appears to love a good caper. Why else would he put together a group show on very little money in one of the most far flung and expensive cities in Europe? “It …
August 9, 2013
One of the best opening paragraphs I know is found in Great Jones Street by Don DeLillo. The novel meditates on a certain type of fame distinct from that enjoyed by either statesmen or kings. No, this type of fame, “a devouring neonâ€, involves: “Hysteria in limousines, knife fights in the audience, bizarre litigation, treachery, …
March 29, 2013
This film by David Blandy is to my mind haunted by the suspicion culture changes nothing. You can sing all the songs in the world, but you may never be a different cast of singer. From the Underground is nevertheless a well rehearsed feat, a perfect lip-synced rendition of one of the Wu Tang Clan’s …
September 3, 2012
This in-depth documentary about a great living artist premiered at Brighton Festival not so long after network TV screened an in-depth doc about its maker Jeremy Deller. The results were two quite different films. But the subjects have more in common than both having worked together on The Bruce Lacey Experience. Like Deller, Lacey has …
June 15, 2012