The heart can’t help but sink when you learn that this show was inspired by research revealing that British schoolkids are better at identifying Pokémon than our native wildlife. Adults aren’t much better: only a quarter of us can spot an ash tree. I’m surprised it’s that high. Continue reading “Review: The Lost Words, The Foundling Museum”
Category: Art
Dali and Duchamp: these mischievous mavericks shaped the 21st century
Marcel Duchamp and Salvador Dalí: two titans of modern art who might appear to have little in common. One is the father of conceptual art, who turned his back on the commercialisation of that world in favour of playing chess; the other is famous as a painter – and just as famous for embracing fame, a dandyish personality who knew how to sell himself. Continue reading “Dali and Duchamp: these mischievous mavericks shaped the 21st century”
The ‘most painted woman in the world’
She is known as ‘the most painted woman in the world’: around 225 artists have captured the captivating likeness of Suzy Solidor, including Tamara de Lempicka, Jean Cocteau, Francis Bacon, Man Ray and Francis Picabia. A French cabaret star, she was a major mainstream recording artist in the 1930s – even though she sang really rather explicit songs of lesbian desire. Today, however, the chanteuse is hardly a familiar face. Continue reading “The ‘most painted woman in the world’”
Review: Martin Creed’s Words and Music, EIF
Artist Martin Creed’s show defies easy categorisation. He shares some thoughts, from the problem with trousers to the inadequacies of language to explanations of his sculptures. He plays some songs: some illustrate his musings, some are aural non-sequiturs. Continue reading “Review: Martin Creed’s Words and Music, EIF”
Maria Balshaw: Tate’s northern powerhouse set for the challenge
The new Tate director, Maria Balshaw, can pinpoint the explosive moment that started her journey to the job: visiting a blown-up shed. In 1991, a Cornelia Parker installation, Cold Dark Matter, saw the artist hang pieces of a detonated garden shed from the ceiling. Continue reading “Maria Balshaw: Tate’s northern powerhouse set for the challenge”
‘My body shall be all yours’: the startling sex letters of Joyce, Kahlo and O’Keeffe
“I did as you told me, you dirty little girl, and pulled myself off twice when I read your letter.” He might be celebrated for his epic and allusive novels, but James Joyce came straight to the point when writing to his partner, Nora Barnacle. This was the opening salvo of a letter from 1908 and is just one of scores of explicit missives he sent her. Continue reading “‘My body shall be all yours’: the startling sex letters of Joyce, Kahlo and O’Keeffe”
Simeon Solomon and the Victorian view of same-sex desire
Starting in 1861, with the abolition of the death penalty for sodomy, and ending in 1967, when the act between consenting men was decriminalised in England and Wales, the new exhibition Queer British Art at Tate Britain in London offers just over a century of works exploring fluid gender identities and same-sex desire. Continue reading “Simeon Solomon and the Victorian view of same-sex desire”
Legacy: Photographs by Vanessa Bell and Patti Smith, Dulwich Picture Gallery
Being a member of the Bloomsbury Group doesn’t always help your reputation. Now remembered as much for their tangled love lives as their experimental work, Bloomsburies can inspire a degree of hostility for their perceived snobby elitism. Certainly, it’s hard to credit the fact that the painter Vanessa Bell – sister of Virginia Woolf – has never had a major solo show till now. Continue reading “Legacy: Photographs by Vanessa Bell and Patti Smith, Dulwich Picture Gallery”
My Story: Marina Abramovic
Published in ELLE on December 1, 2016
I interviewed Marina Abramovic for ELLE magazine.
Charleston: inside the colourful home of the Bloomsbury group
Published in Tatler on November 1, 2017
I wrote a piece on the 100th anniversary of artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant moving to Charleston, for the Homes section of Tatler.
