Visual Arts Reviews
Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse, Royal Academy, Exhibition on Screen/Facebook Premiere - a hardy perennial returnsTuesday, 28 April 2020
Anyone lucky enough to have a garden will be newly appreciative of the oasis that even the humblest of outdoor spaces can provide. Based on the Royal Academy’s hugely successful 2016 exhibition of the same name, and broadcast on Monday evening by Exhibition on Screen via Facebook, Painting the Modern Garden opened the door to a different world. Read more... |
Van Eyck: An Optical Revolution, Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent online review - capturing the unrepeatableThursday, 23 April 2020
Newly conserved and restored, the eight exterior panels of Jan Van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece, 1432, are the focus of an exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent, cut short by Covid-19, but now available to view via an online tour. Read more... |
Rebuilding Notre-Dame: Inside the Great Cathedral Rescue, BBC Four review - a race against timeThursday, 16 April 2020
One year on the world is drastically altered, but footage of Notre Dame’s stricken spire collapsing in flames is no less shocking. That this event, endlessly replayed, has not paled against the new reality of daily death tolls is testament to the scale of the loss. Read more... |
Léon Spilliaert, Royal Academy review - a maudlin exploration of solitudeTuesday, 10 March 2020
What a spooky exhibition! Léon Spilliaert suffered from crippling insomnia and often spent the nocturnal hours in the conservatory of his parents’ house in Ostend drawing his haggard features (pictured below right: Self-portrait, 1907). Read more... |
Among the Trees, Hayward Gallery review - a mixture of euphoria and dismaySaturday, 07 March 2020
Paradise, according to German artist Thomas Struth, is to be found in the tropical rain forests of Yunnan Province, China. His gorgeous photograph Paradise 11 is the first thing I saw on entering the Hayward Gallery and, immediately it had a soothing effect on my frazzled urban psyche. Read more... |
Nicolaes Maes: Dutch Master of the Golden Age, National Gallery review – beautifully observed vignettesThursday, 05 March 2020
A young woman sits sewing (pictured below right: Young Woman Sewing,1655). She is totally immersed in her task, and our attention is similarly focused on her and every detail of her environment. The cool light pouring though the window illuminates her work and also gives us a clear view. Read more... |
Bill Brandt/Henry Moore, The Hepworth Wakefield review - a matter of perceptionTuesday, 03 March 2020
Bill Brandt’s photographs and Henry Moore’s studies of people sheltering underground during the Blitz (September 1940 to May 1941) offer glimpses of a world that is, thankfully, lost to us. Read more... |
David Hockney: Drawing from Life, National Portrait Gallery review - an anatomy of loveFriday, 28 February 2020
For David Hockney, drawing is born out of familiarity: his portraits both express and fulfil the urge to know someone deeply and well.
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Masculinities: Liberation through Photography, Barbican review – a must-see exhibitionMonday, 24 February 2020
The exhibition starts on the Barbican’s lift doors, which are emblazoned with photographs from the show. They include one of my all-time favourites: Herb Ritts’s Fred with Tyres 1984 (pictured below right), a fashion shoot of a young body builder posing as a garage mechanic, in greasy overalls. Despite his powerful muscles, he looks tired and petulant. Read more... |
Steve McQueen, Tate Modern review – films that stick in the mindFriday, 14 February 2020
The screen is filled with the head and shoulders of a man lying on his back; he could be dead in the morgue or lying on the analyst’s couch. He doesn’t move (it’s a still), but we hear his voice recounting the terrible story of the day he accidentally killed his brother. Read more... |
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