art blog since 2009
To reduce it all to economics, which is often tempting, artists make product to make money, or a living at least. Those who do not manage this, still put value on their work. Say the artwork’s function is to generate revenue. It has done so historically by being beautiful and hence desirable, and from the …
August 27, 2010
Two long-ish previews written this week for Culture24 and I’m looking forward to both: Preview: Liverpool Biennial 2010 Preview: Manchester Weekender 2010
August 27, 2010
Art has always had a close relationship with the frame around the work or the plinth on which it sits. At least one entire book has been written about this frequently overlooked object. In either case, the presentation brings something to the art. It adds value. No consideration of a painting is possible without some …
August 22, 2010
Just as there is decorative art, so too is there decorative news. The lightweight stories in freesheets like Metro are there to soothe. The editorial is designed to sell advertising, and this is more or less true for any commercial publication. But as soon as a newspaper is used to decorate a gallery, meaning returns …
August 22, 2010
Visitors to the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth may be shocked by the imminent arrival of a charred and mangled car that was last driven on a suicide mission in Baghdad. “There’s a central atrium as you come in, which has all the planes and missiles and so on, and it’s going to be right …
August 21, 2010
Recent reviews and previews written for Culture24. Check ’em out: Review: Antony Gormley – Critical Mass, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea Review: Tomoko Takahashi – Introspective Retrospective, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea Review: Alice Neel – Painted Truths, Whitechapel Gallery, London Preview: Ed Pien – Memento, New Art Exchange, Nottingham Preview: Jorge Santos – the …
August 21, 2010
Not many objects could be juxtaposed with an entire country. But touring the US with the wreckage from a car bomb in a Baghdad market has surely done so. You would think the crumpled car would prove as unwelcome as an early readymade sculpture in a museum of fine art. But it seems Americans are …
August 18, 2010
The face of Frank O’Hara in this portrait by Alice Neel is in its way shocking. With his bad teeth, sharp nose and wild eyes the New York poet appears ugly at first, even repellent. There is no composure in this likeness and his expression is raw. But with all its imperfections, his face is …
August 15, 2010
From the 20th century onwards, the beauty of much art is it has no need for the eye of a beholder. Conceptual works, in theory, place as much importance on the idea as the finished visual object. And while lots can be said about the dozen pieces below, the kernel of each is a thought …
August 10, 2010