Banksy versus the classics
Walking round an auction house the realities of market prices never cease to amaze me. At Christies recently, for example,… Read More
Paul’s Art Stuff
Most days Art Critic Paul Carey-Kent spends hours on the train, traveling between his home in Southampton and his day job in London. Could he, we asked, jot down whatever came into his head?
Virtually Venice
Bad news: things may change fairly soon, but it’s not a simple matter to get to Venice at the moment…. Read More
Outposts of Art
I visited three places not so typically associated with art last weekend: Beckenham, Penge and Reading. But all had their points:
Spot the Difference
Bridget Riley: ‘Measure for Measure 45’, 2020 Repetition provokes us into considering what’s changed – or what hasn’t – and… Read More
Art, Life and Everything
In ‘Art, Life and Everything’, Julie Umerle chronicles her life as an artist from 1978-2010. She hasn’t had an easy ride – for example, she’s never been represented by a mainstream gallery – but…
Beyond the Uncanny
Plenty of shows bring together paintings of figures and objects in unusual contexts or brought into unexpected conjunctions: the words ‘uncanny’ and ‘enigmatic’, ‘disturbing’ and ‘surreal’ are likely to be invoked. But, even if the paintings are good, you need more to turn such a display into a compelling whole. Two current exhibitions demonstrate how:
LONDON GALLERY WEEKEND
The first London Gallery Weekend (4-6 June) felt a very positive initiative, conveniently revealing the scale of London’s commercial art… Read More
From the Margins
last Saturday I toured six galleries at the comparative margins – Leytonstone, Woolwich, north Bermondsey (as opposed to trendy Bermondsey Street), Camberwell and Kennington – and the standard was excellent. Nor did it prove hard to get around by bus and tube…
Dandelions
I wait years for a really good dandelion painting to come along, then – on the same day – see… Read More
Seriously Funny
It’s perfectly possible for artists to be funny, yet tackle serious issues. And who doesn’t enjoy humour? Just now, there are plenty of shows up to illustrate just that.
Where Are They Now?
I had thought some of London’s galleries might close for good at the end of lockdown, but there’s no sign of any such trend. Rather, several have made good use of the last year’s hiatuses to relocate, typically to superior spaces.
SEMI-LOCKED-DOWN VIEWING
There’s a surfeit of new things to see just now, as pretty much every commercial gallery in London – and… Read More
Spring Growth
No doubt some galleries will close, but to counter that there are some new developments. Sticking with the Mayfair zone:
Three Triples
Curiously, my first two visits without appointment on my first trip to London this year featured three part vertically-stacked abstractions –
The Artists Themselves
There’s something enticing about knowing what artists look like, even though it isn’t usually relevant to the work. Performance artists… Read More
Around the World with Ed van der Elsken
Who’s the most important Dutch photographer of the 20th century? I’m a fan of the largely street-based work of Ed van der Elsken (1925-90).
Water Everywhere
Kim Tschang-Yeul: ‘Waterdrops’, 1979 ‘If I were called in / To construct a religion’, wrote Philip Larkin, ‘I should make… Read More
Crazy Prices?
Two market developments have attracted recent attention: A Damien Hirst edition limited by time and Beeple’s NFT sale..
Quatre Bites
In a fair the size of FIAC – 215 galleries, normally in Paris in October but also online in March this year – there’s no shortage of themes one can bring together. Here are four offerings across which I detected some sort of connection:
The World from the South
SOUTH SOUTH is an online community to bring together galleries with at least 40% of their artists coming from the ‘Global South’. Its lockdown-driven first commercial initiative with 50 galleries runs to March 7th.
Not Quite in Winnipeg
Considering it’s fairly small (750,000) a lot of interesting work is made by artists in or from Winnipeg in Canada –
Being an Octopus
What is it like to be an octopus? Would that be a better model for how an AI might be regarded as ‘intelligent’ than assessing how its responses differ from the human? And what would that mean for the way people look at the world?
Virtually There
Normally, I see virtually everything. Now I see everything virtually. But it’s not all bad. Not surprisingly, the big galleries have upped their game: see for example….
Exclusive Artist Interview: Arturo the Cat
In a playful yet pointed counter to the human-centric view of the world, London-based Italian artist Ludovica Gioscia collaborates with her cat, Arturo. I was pleased to obtain an exclusive interview with him just as they opened a major show at Baert Gallery in Los Angeles.