What’s It Worth at Auction?
27 February 2019 • Paul Carey-Kent
Both Sotheby’s (S) and Christies (C) have major London auctions this week, head to head in impressionist, modern and surrealist categories.
Tag: Paul’s Art Stuff on a Train
Bonnard: The Colour of Memory and The Memory of Colour
20 February 2019 • Paul Carey-Kent
Here, from the Tate’s show ‘The Colour of Memory’, is everything you want in a Bonnard. ‘Young Women in the Garden’ (1921–3, reworked 1945–6) centres on his model and lover Renée Monchaty (1900-25), who committed suicide..
Andy Holden’s Laws of Motion
13 February 2019 • Paul Carey-Kent
Andy Holden has sourced over 400 illustrative clips, the range of references – from cave painting to Futurism to Slavoj Žižek to quantum mechanics – is dizzying, and the analogies he draws out of the material are persuasive and witty.
The Pleasures of Tracey’s Traumas
6 February 2019 • Paul Carey-Kent
You might describe Tracey Emin’s huge and superbly orchestrated show ‘A Fortnight of Tears’ at White Cube as a pleasurable maximisation of pain.
The Tate for Two Year Olds
30 January 2019 • Paul Carey-Kent
I was surprised to find recently just how much there is at Tate Modern which might entertain the typical two-year-old year old.
Gypsies and the Role of Political Art
23 January 2019 • Paul Carey-Kent
Polish Roma artist Krzysztof Gil’s ‘Welcome to the Country where the Gypsy Has Been Hunted’* was an interesting and unusual exhibition emerging from his parallel art practice and PhD research into how discrimination against the Roma took place much longer ago than we might suppose.
Islam Expanded: Idris Khan at the British Museum
9 January 2019 • Paul Carey-Kent
The dominant contemporary feature of the British Museum’s well-received received new Islamic Gallery* is a site-specific work by Idris Khan.
Edward Burne-Jones: Feat Piano, Sleep and Feet
2 January 2019 • Paul Carey-Kent
Sir Edward Burne-Jones’ serious intent can seem laughable, so here are some somewhat less serious points from Tate Britain’s comprehensive presentation of his work:
Edward Woodman’s Superior Records
26 December 2018 • Paul Carey-Kent
The John Hansard Gallery in Southampton has (to 2 Feb) an unusual exhibition: ‘Space, Light and Time’
Clare Price: painting, performance and the self
19 December 2018 • Paul Carey-Kent
The actions of Clare Price are visible in her series of rapidly-made paintings ‘Fragility spills’. The works are scaled to the artists body
David Ostrowski’s Show of the Book
12 December 2018 • Paul Carey-Kent
By way of an interesting reversal of the usual hierarchy, David Ostrowski’s ‘The Thin Red Line’ (to Jan 19) delivers more ‘the show of the book’ than ‘the book of the show’.
Munnings Beyond the Horse
5 December 2018 • Paul Carey-Kent
Here is an unexpected exhibition in an unexpected location: the impressively refurbished National Army Museum, which reopened last year, is showing some 50 Alfred Munnings paintings
Anyone for Ashtrays and Fans?
28 November 2018 • Paul Carey-Kent
Ceramics and textiles are increasingly accepted as mainstream art materials. Ashtrays and fans, though, are less likely to come to mind than sculptures and wall hangings. But..
Peter Funch and the construction of the self
21 November 2018 • Paul Carey-Kent
Paris Photo takes the photo book very seriously. All the top photographers are there, signing their latest. I returned with ‘42nd and Vanderbilt’ by Peter Funch (TBW Books 2017).
Frida the Modern
14 November 2018 • Paul Carey-Kent
How does a painter currently making her way respond to the life and work of Frida Kahlo? I attended the V&A’s ‘Making Herself Up’ with Emma Cousin whose paintings recently made a splash at Edel Assanti gallery.
Significant Others: Ana Mendieta and More
7 November 2018 • Paul Carey-Kent
Ana Mendieta would have been 70 this month (18 November 1948 – Sept 10 1985) had she not fallen 34 floors to her death at just 36.
Martin Eder’s toxic beauty
24 October 2018 • Paul Carey-Kent
‘Parasites’ is the tenth exhibition at Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery, which opened in 2015. The German painter Martin Eder, shows 53 works
CLOUDS AT THE V&A
18 October 2018 • Paul Carey-Kent
The Victoria & Albert Museum’s re-presentation of its photography collection in a newly opened ‘Photography Centre’ strikes a nice balance between image and information, method and content, historic development and contemporary relevance.
Popular at Frieze
10 October 2018 • Paul Carey-Kent
We’ve just had the first Frieze during which I was on Instagram (follow me at www.instagram.com/paulcareykent ). I posted 20-odd works as of interest, and these were the most popular three…
Anomie with Rodgers and Ketter
3 October 2018 • Paul Carey-Kent
It may look an improbable pairing, but two shows opening last Thursday felt as if they had a common core.
To Deptford
26 September 2018 • Paul Carey-Kent
The annual Deptford X (21-30 Sept) may be a relatively small event in organisational and funding terms, but makes for a packed visit.
Abstract Expressionist Women on the Rise
19 September 2018 • Paul Carey-Kent
Around 65 years after its productive highpoint, it’s interesting to speculate how the history of abstract expressionism will look in another 65 years.
The Joys of a Small Biennale
12 September 2018 • Paul Carey-Kent
I’ve just returned from the third Biennale to be held in the small (pop 43,000) German town of Halberstadt, 100 miles west of Berlin.
Art, Duchamp and Retinal Chess
29 August 2018 • Paul Carey-Kent
Art and chess have often been linked, most famously via Marcel Duchamp, who was addicted to the game to the extent that not only did he switch his focus from Athena to Caïssa, but it contributed to the failure of his marriage in 1927.