Reviews Archives

Lucian Freud And His Circle Surveyed In Two London Exhibitions

A noted John Deakin photograph of Michael Andrews, Frank Auerbach, Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud in Soho in 1963

Mayfair: London Gallery Round-Up December 2022 – Nico Kos Earle

This month, Gavin Turk unveiled a series of meticulously rendered still lives of candles after Gerhard Richter’s renowned photorealist work.

Emma Witter: A Moveable Feast Portman Estate Marylebone – Nico Kos Earle

‘A Moveable Feast’ is a presentation at of small sculpture and digital prints by the artist Emma Witter at The Portman Estate in Marylebone.

Women Making Modernism A Revisionist History – Royal Academy – Sue Hubbard

The title ‘Making Modernism’ implies that the artists included in this Royal Academy exhibition were at the forefront of the avant-garde. That they were an essential component in breaking the boundaries of 19th-century academic art for new freedoms. They would probably be very surprised to find themselves seen thus. It has taken more than a century for their importance to be re-evaluated and appreciated. Why? Because they were women.

A Question Of Clay: Strange Clay – Hayward Gallery – Revd Jonathan Evens

Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in ceramics from artists and the public, from the popularity of The Great Pottery, Throw Down to Theaster Gates’

New York In November: Alex Katz – Edward Hopper And More – Ilka Scobie

Decades ago, when I lived in Soho, a familiar sight was the sweatshirt-hooded Alex Katz on his daily early morning jog.

Laure Prouvost: An Immersive Migration – National Museum Norway

Her latest site-specific, immersive installation for the Light Hall at Norway’s new National Museum is spectacular.

Turner Prize: Liverpool Hosts Challenging 2022 Edition – Alice Lenkiewicz

The Turner Prize has arrived at Tate Liverpool for the second time in 20 years. Visitors can now explore the work of this year’s nominees free of charge.

William Kentridge: Merging Politics With Aesthetics – RA – Revd Jonathan Evens

“Drawing is the starting point to nearly all of Kentridge’s work. He sees drawing as a testing of ideas, a slow-motion version of thought.”

Power Of The Sea: Turner And Fofana- Tate Liverpool – Alice Lenkiewicz

The current Exhibition at Tate Liverpool, “Dark Waters”, consists of works by Joseph Mallory William Turner and Lamin Fofana.

Cezanne The Road To Modernism Tate Modern – Leila Lebreton

The Tate Modern’s Cezanne exhibition is probably one of the most elaborate and rich exhibitions this year. Spanning the entirety of Cezanne’s painting career, from beginning to end,

Maya Ramnarine & Yetunde Yusuf Curate Electro Studios Exhibition – Jude Montague

This show celebrates the friendship and belonging of more than 30 young and emerging artists in Hastings

Tribeca And Noho’s Best Exhibitions An Equinox Excursion October 2022 – Ilka Scobie

Returning to New York on Air Fair Weekend, I missed Independent, the Armory and Spring Break while nursing an airplane cold (luckily, not covid).

Winslow Homer: Beyond The Sea – National Gallery – Revd Jonathan Evens

Homer is an artist that, although a household name in America, is entirely unrepresented in UK public collections.

Bruce Nauman: Paradoxical By Nature – Pirelli HangarBicocca – Nico Kos Earle

At Bruce Nauman’s first MoMA retrospective in 1995, the art critic Robert Hughes said “no show was ever noisier…” but concluded that Nauman…

Carolee Schneemann Breaking Artistic Boundaries At The Barbican – Sue Hubbard

Until the 1960s, America and Britain, both recovering from the effects of war, were largely conservative, hidebound and patriarchal societies. This makes the work of the American artist Carolee Schneemann (1939-2019), now on show at the Barbican in the first major survey and the first show since her death, all the more remarkable. For before Feminism was even a thing, she was breaking artistic and social boundaries.

Rencontres Photographiques d’Arles Returns – Virginie Puertolas-Syn

I was thrilled to return to Arles in Provence, France, for Les Rencontres Photographiques after a 3-year break due to the pandemic.

Hidden Depths: The Woman in the Window – Dulwich Picture Gallery – Revd Jonathan Evens

It’s such a simple motif – a woman at or by a window – yet, as curator Jennifer Sliwka ably demonstrates in this show, is one that contains hidden depths.

Juan Muñoz: Drawings Centro Botín, Santander – Nico Kos Earle

I approached the Centro Botín from the right – its smooth, pixellating belly cantilevered over the silvery waves.

Allora Festival Of Art And Cinema Puglia – Virginie Puertolas-Syn

I was delighted to attend the first edition of the Allora festival (Art & Cinema) in Ostuni, Puglia, which took place at the end of June, not only as an Art lover but also as a Puglia lover.

Channeling Andrew Wyeth: Jeffery Becton And Andrea Hamilton Between Two Worlds – The Poetics of Coastal Places

It is a work that has deeply influenced the practice of countless artists, in particular fine art photographer Jeffery Becton.

George Shaw: Reanimating The Post War Council Estate – Sue Hubbard

The British painter George Shaw embraced the liminal spaces of the council housing estate of his childhood to create paintings…

Summer Art Shows In NYC Three Exhibitions Not To Miss – Ilka Scobie

Marina Adams What Are You Listening to? LGDR I first saw Marina Adams’ bold, beautiful abstractions in a 1998 show at the wonderful “Art in General. The group show,” Crossing Lines”, curated by Denyse Thomasos and

Theaster Gates Black Chapel Serpentine Pavilion – Sue Hubbard

Built by the Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates, a one-time urban planner turned artist, in collaboration with the award-winning British architect Sir David Adjaye OBE, Black Chapel sits somewhere between sculpture and architecture.

Cornelia Parker A Conceptual And Sculptural Vision Tate Britain – Lee Sharrock

Cornelia Parker’s inaugural survey show in London spans a 35-year period, from the 1980s through to 2022…

Hew Locke And The Christian Roots Of Carnival – Tate Britain – Revd Jonathan Evens

The word carnival derives from Latin expressions meaning either to remove meat or say farewell to meat. These indicate the Christian roots of carnival which are to be found in the period leading up the fasts of Lent.

Seafaring Hastings Contemporary A Symbiotic Experience – Jude Montague

In a stormy wind, the choppy waves of the Stade Hastings felt dangerous. No fishing boats could be seen out today on the lively sea, although the working beach was active with a few tidying up and taking care of things on land.

Steven Campbell Dressing Above Your Station Fashion And Textiles In His Work – Clare Henry

Fashion and Textiles in the Life and Work of the Artist Steven Campbell tells his story using the thread of his dramatic outfits.

Les Lalanne, Schütte And Gursky London Spring Exhibition Highlights – Revd Jonathan Evens

Les Lalanne, the late French wife and husband artistic duo, are the dreamers who re-enchant.

Sensuous Sickert and Philpot Two Major UK Solo Exhibitions – Rev Jonathan Evens

The first major exhibition of Glyn Philpot R.A. (1884-1937) in almost 40 years is currently at Pallant House Gallery, while Tate Britain has the first major retrospective of Walter Sickert at Tate in over 60 years. The differences and similarities between these two artists whose careers overlapped are instructive.

Radical Landscapes: A Reaction To Nature – Tate Liverpool – Alice Lenkiewicz

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Radical Landscapes, but it went beyond my expectations. As usual, Tate Liverpool has developed a thought-provoking and in-depth exhibition on this subject.

New York In Focus Whitney Biennial Plus Gallery Round-Up – Ilka Scobie

The Whitney Biennial is big, sprawling across the entire museum, featuring 59 artists and bravura curation.