Tate Modern’s exhibition Expressionists: Kandinsky, Münter and The Blue Rider is a great opportunity to see a significant part of the Lenbachhaus collection on loan from Munich. But as an exhibition it only really gets going towards the end. Let’s Start at the Beginning: Expressionism Unless you’re new here you know the Salterton Arts Review […]
The Glorious French Revolution is part history lesson, part boundary-pushing and unexpected devised ensemble theatre. The Glorious French Revolution Now this is range. The last work I saw by YESYESNONO was small in scale, but covered billions of years and included a John Denver singalong. This one hones in on a few crucial years in […]
Michael Craig-Martin fills the Royal Academy‘s main galleries with a riot of colour in a full-scale career retrospective. Sir Michael Craig-Martin, RA If you’re looking for an exhibition to combat the oncoming gloom of the colder months, this might just be the thing. Sir Michael Craig-Martin, a Royal Academician known for his brightly coloured paintings […]
A well-curated and somewhat delayed exhibition at Tate Modern, Philip Guston is a journey into abstraction and back again. Content warning: contains discussion of racism and violence. Philip Guston I love an exhibition on an artist I know little about. I also love a bit of drama. And so I was happy to finally have […]
The Barbican’s timely survey of Carrie Mae Weems’ work is a perfect introduction for UK audiences to Weems’ immense talent and reflections on the Black experience. Carrie Mae Weems This is the third monographic exhibition of a female artist’s work in a row for the Barbican. Late last year we had Carolee Schneemann: Body Politics, […]
A large-scale exhibition on modern art at the National Gallery, After Impressionism has some lovely works to offer, but slotted into a narrative that plays it rather safe. And where are the women? A Popular Subject, A Popular Exhibition This is perhaps my own fault: I went on a Saturday afternoon. Please somebody stop me […]
Peter Doig’s recent works show why he is such an important contemporary painter. This small Courtauld Gallery show gives space to the complexity and uniqueness of his art historical and personal references. Peter Doig Long-time readers know that the Courtauld Gallery’s exhibition space is one of my London favourites. The main reason is that it […]
Tim Edge’s darkly comic work Under the Black Rock, set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, is a reminder of what’s at stake and a study in the long-reaching effects of violence. Content warning: mentions of violence, torture, suicide. Under The Black Rock In a month where the political arrangements in Northern Ireland are back […]
A survey of four female painters working in Germany at the start of the last century, Making Modernism leaves me pondering the dilemma of female artists then and now. Making Modernism A few days on from seeing this exhibition at the Royal Academy, I have yet to unpick my thoughts and decide what to make […]
A review of William Kentridge at the Royal Academy. The RA’s large galleries give these thoughtful and creative works the space they deserve. William Kentridge Before seeing Sybil at the Barbican earlier this year, William Kentridge was an artist about whom I knew very little. Perhaps you are in the same boat? Let me explain […]
