art blog since 2009
Just as Joseph Beuys once declared his reciprocal love for America, in this film you will see a Haitian artist state: “I like vodou and vodou likes me.†He goes so far as to add, “Everyone likes vodou.†But whatever ghetto sculptor Guyodo might think or say, not everyone does like vodou. Not unless you …
October 30, 2012
Between the condoms by the notorious bed to the film about abortion, childlessness has emerged as a major theme in the work of Tracey Emin. As if she has traded creative fecundity for motherhood, her prolific art has more in common with masturbation rather than procreation. She sketches the former activity at length. In a …
October 24, 2012
Unless you live in Ilfracombe, it’s been a relatively quiet week. Anyhow, here are the links: The Independent predicts that over time the Great British Public may grow to love Verity by Damien Hirst. But The Telegraph gives the former YBA a kicking over animal rights. Butterflies are people too. Art Info reports on a …
October 22, 2012
First up, you can win, Win, WIN this artwork and then stick it on your phone, tablet, monitor screen or TV. Thanks to s[edition], it’s the very first criticismism competition. So what to say about After Closer? It pulls together more than two decades of iconic design for an inseparable pair of bands from Manchester: …
October 18, 2012
There’s a rug shop in Brighton called GAFF (Great Art For Floors). This might raise a few eyebrows and concerns for art’s proper place in the world. But then there’s this piece Mona Hatoum. Perhaps great art does belong on the floor. Quality rugs, such as this one, demand a measure of true respect. They …
October 17, 2012
We begin and end with Frieze, which seems only Fair (ahem). The other stories are good too: Chloe Nelkin was on a pleasingly alliterative gallery binge last week. Take a deep breath and enjoy her Frieze Frenzy. The Independent may be pushing it to call the Wiltshire monument an art gallery. But the findings of …
October 15, 2012
Back from another short break with another flimsy excuse; please forgive these links for their occasional sporadicity: Story of the fortnight goes to the attention-starved goon who defaced a Rothko painting. Lets hope this is the first and the last we hear of Yellowism. Speaking of philistines, read all about minister Michael Gove’s architecture policy. …
October 8, 2012
Read just a little of the literature about cave art and you’ll come across a report of some or other high-minded archaeologist bursting into tears at the sight of it. But this was never going to happen at the Museo de Altamira. The caves are closed to the public. Instead visitors are invited into a …
September 29, 2012
Apologies for the fortnight off, but my weekly link selection is I hope back on track: Romance of the ruin doesn’t sound half bad, but Steven Thomson is concerned that, in the wake of the Olympics, two of the most signifcant East London art projects were too nostalgic. A new service brings you “Everything you …
September 24, 2012
To some degree this is art for the feet. Serra’s eight sculptures invite you to walk them in sequence. In fact they demand it. How else will you get to see them? Thus it takes half an hour to simply cover the ground of this semi-permanent show in the Arcelor-Mittal Gallery here at the Guggenheim …
September 22, 2012