Dermot O'Brien (Not Only) But Also is one of the strongest shows I've seen in London for quite some time. O'Brien is an Irish artist who has chased rainbows, captured dust, blacked out the light, and even cast bullets from human bone. He is an alchemist in the truest...
Great Art Explained is a new book by James Payne, the creator of the hugely popular YouTube channel of the same name, in which he explores 30 masterpieces from across art history. This is a guidebook for anyone who has ever felt excluded from art history. Each highly...
Although Britt Boutros-Ghali is a seminal figure in postwar abstraction and has always been shown internationally, she is fairly unknown in the UK. Her body of work spans more than six decades, and now, in her 88th year and not showing any signs of slowing down, she...
Leigh Bowery was a groundbreaking performance artist, club entrepreneur, fashion designer, musician…. a thief, a shitkicker and...uh...he wanted to be famous. Well, that last bit is a quote from John Water’s Female Trouble. I first met Leigh in the early 1980s at a...
What defines a drawing? Is it the line, the mark, the tone? What does "drawing" actually mean? It is a question explored by the exhibition Imaginary Lines, opening 14th November, through a unique interplay of historical and contemporary works. Xenia is an artist...
Mike Kelley: Ghost and Spirit, currently on display at Tate Modern until March, 2025, offers a very extensive exploration of the American artist's multifaceted career, from the late 1970s until his tragic death in 2012. Kelley's work delves into themes of memory,...
Mark James is a British filmmaker known for his 1993 documentary FREEZE, the first TV documentary made about that iconic show, as well as his film on Carle Andre, “Upholding the Bricks”, and other films about artists, architects and musicians. He studied at...
The most coveted ticket at this year’s Venice Biennale was entry to the Giudecca women’s prison on an island in the lagoon, which dates back to the 13th century and was once a reformatory for prostitutes and unwed mothers. Why? Because it is still a high-security...
In a city that is so busy, not just during the Biennale but all year round, seeing Wallace Chan's new exhibition in a Venetian chapel is a nice way to escape the hordes of tourists and experience some zen-like calm. Chan is a world-renowned jeweller, inventor and...