This was one of the most purely exciting exhibitions I’ve seen in a long time. So vibrant and visually assured, it stimulates one’s sight in the same way a complex gourmet meal explodes in multiple flavours across the taste buds. Seasoned visitors to the V&A might not be surprised by this. Quick note for those…
Category: contemporary art
Fright wing: ‘The Horror Show’, Somerset House, London
Emergency! Emergency! I made it to this show unforgivably late in the run, and at the time of writing it only has a week remaining. If you’re in or near London and can find the time, I would recommend it purely for the heady, intense experience it offers. Failing that, I hope you find the…
Motion captures: William Kentridge at the Royal Academy of Arts, London
As I write, there is just under a fortnight left – including two weekends – to see the Royal Academy’s retrospective of South African artist William Kentridge. I urge you to go if you can. Kentridge also directs and stages opera, and it’s thanks to English National Opera (‘ENO’) that I first encountered his work….
Organised K-os: ‘Hallyu! – The Korean Wave’, V&A, London
‘Hallyu’ – the eye-catching title of this big-ticket exhibition at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum (‘V&A’) – translates as ‘Korean wave’, the phrase used to describe Korean culture’s steady rise to prominence over the last 25 years or so. Informed by a K-pop aesthetic, it’s a heady, day-glo, assault-on-the-senses experience. Throw yourself into it and…
Picture This : Serge Bloch
Ce qui m’intéresse dans le collage, c’est le contraste, la rencontre entre le trait et l’objet que je colle ou l’élément graphique que je rapporte. C’est aussi la relation entre le temps de la collecte et le temps du dessin. Pour moi le collage, c’est l’humour, la poésie de ces associations, la complicité de ces…
Lightbulb moments: Cornelia Parker at Tate Britain
The exploding shed is probably the image familiar to most. But the joy of seeing so much of Cornelia Parker’s work all in one place shows just how consistently she has sought to reach the heart of the (subject) matter by systematically taking it apart or changing its form – violently or otherwise. * The…
Picture This : Featuring Artist Oliver Merrington
The original idea for this painting, which is part of a series, started with images of polluted skies and landscapes blacked by industrial waste. The bright colours of chemicals being poured into rivers and streams for example. When I start painting, I have these images in my head, that evolve very quickly and become something…
Hang about: Andreas Gursky (White Cube, Bermondsey); ‘For the Record’ (Photographers’ Gallery)
A few Saturdays ago, I went to two photography exhibitions. When you see two shows more or less together like this – even though they are nothing to do with each other – it’s hard to stop unlooked-for, and occasionally revelatory, connections popping into your head and affecting how you perceive the work. Both the…
Field work: Zadok Ben-David, ‘Natural Reserve’ at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Art emergency! If you are planning – or even vaguely considering – a visit to Kew Gardens over the next week or so, make sure you take in its current exhibition: ‘Natural Reserve’, the latest show from Zadok Ben-David. I first came across Ben-David’s art through being a Peter Gabriel fan. Even since his early…
Spirit levels: ‘Unsettling Landscapes’, St Barbe Museum & Art Gallery, Lymington
How appropriate that on this occasion, during the walks between the car and St Barbe Museum & Art Gallery, the chill in the coastal air was icy enough to penetrate my fleece, and the wind strong enough to bend the bare branches of the trees further in, over our heads. St Barbe has an admirable…
ARTMUSELONDON 