REVIEW: Sculpture Victorious – everythng here was made to make us marvel
1 March 2015 • Mark Westall
Tate Britain, London
In room after room of busts and bling, Tate Britain’s Victorian sculpture show brings out the best and worst of a patriotic era
Tag: Reviews
REVIEW: History is Now: 7 Artists Take on Britain – the ultimate Blue Peter time capsule
15 February 2015 • Mark Westall
Hayward Gallery, London
From flak jackets to flotsam to Farrow & Ball, seven artists curate an inspired cultural history of postwar Britain
Me me meme: artists’ selfies paint the full spectrum of self-obsession
28 January 2015 • Mark Westall
Turner Contemporary, Margate
From a Van Dyck self-portrait to Ian Breakwell’s heartbreaking valediction as he lay dying of cancer, this absorbing show sorts the vain from the glorious
REVIEW: Jockum Nordström: For the insects and the hounds @DavidZwirner
22 December 2014 • Mark Westall
David Zwirner; National Gallery, London
Sweden’s Jockum Nordström unsettles with work that seems to tap into childhood. And prepare to be surprised by the long-forgotten art of Peder Balke
The best art books of 2014
7 December 2014 • Staff
The year saw contemporary art stars prove thoughtful in print while Whistler and Rembrandt drew perceptive analysis
Conscience and Conflict: British Artists and the Spanish Civil War review – rousing, revelatory and poignant
16 November 2014 • Mark Westall
Pallant House, Chichester
How did British artists respond to the war that so famously inspired Picasso? This exemplary show is the first devoted to finding out
Takashi Murakami review: a welcome return to a more disturbing style
13 November 2014 • Mark Westall
His collaborations with Kanye West and Louis Vuitton have made him rich and famous, but the Japanese artist’s new works, inspired by Fukushima, are more than gaudy trinkets for the super rich
REVIEW: Transmitting Andy Warhol – white light and black angels in an immersive explosion
8 November 2014 • Mark Westall
Tate Liverpool
The first major Andy Warhol exhibition in the north of England recreates the world of the Factory and the Exploding Plastic Inevitable – and Warhol is revealed in all his compassion and searing insight
Death, drugs and survival: DV8 Physical Theatre tells the story of John
6 November 2014 • Mark Westall
Lyttelton, London
Physical theatre group DV8’s new piece explores abuse and intimacy – but an unbalanced narrative dulls the impact
• Death, drugs and survival: DV8 Physical Theatre tells the story of John
Re-view : Onnasch Collection : Hauser & Wirth Galleries
16 November 2013 • Mark Westall
This autumn the Hauser & Wirth Gallery hosts the exceptionally rich private collection of Reinhard Onnasch; the German/American gallerist and collector (b. 1939 in Germany)
Review: Sarah Lucas: SITUATION
4 November 2013 • Mark Westall
Racy imagery, tongue-in-cheek euphemisms, feminist interpretations and breath-taking sexualistion of everyday objects in Lucas’ work, is all brought together in a stunning retrospective of her entire collection, enabling “Situation” to bring something to the table for every visitor.
Walk Through British Art – review
19 May 2013 • Mark Westall
Tate Britain’s ambitious rehang has been widely hailed as a triumph, but our critic finds the new display congested and frustrating
Frieze New York turns two with a giant balloon dog and a VIP-free speakeasy
11 May 2013 • Mark Westall
The second edition of the art fair has its own restaurant scene, an inflatable dog that mocks Jeff Koons and a gratifying number of female artists
Fiona Rae; New Order: British Art Today – review
28 April 2013 • Mark Westall
Towner Gallery, Eastbourne; Saatchi Gallery, London
Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: The Happiest Man; Two Mountains – review
9 April 2013 • Mark Westall
Ambika P3; Sprovieri Gallery, London
Hanging Man: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei, by Barnaby Martin – review
6 April 2013 • Mark Westall
This account, based on illicit interviews, reveals an artist weakened by incarceration, but a figurehead still for China’s vital cultural movement
Fabrice Hyber: but is it fruit?
27 March 2013 • Mark Westall
Fabrice Hyber has filled the Baltic with vegetable men, mini-weather systems and a salt mountain. Is he just trifling with us?
David Bowie Is becomes the Victoria and Albert’s fastest-selling event ever
19 March 2013 • Mark Westall
Exhibition spanning the artist’s career shows how Ziggy Stardust has cast his influence over everyday life
Read fashion editor Jess Cartner-Morley’s verdict on the exhibition
V&A exhibition shows how David Bowie shaped fashion history
18 March 2013 • Mark Westall
The Starman leotards and Ziggy Stardust bodysuit are still dazzling, but tailoring is the real star of this show
Read music critic Alexis Petridis’s verdict on the exhibition