Leonora Carrington never got her dues. While Salvador Dali, Andre Breton and others are widely recognised as the Surrealist masters, the women are often sidelined, reduced to mere muses. This 2017 documentary from BBC 4 directed and narrated by Teresa Griffiths, focuses on this oversight, with a haunting and insightful study of the artist andContinue reading “TV Review: The Lost Surrealist- Leonora Carrington”
Tag Archives: Art
Corinne Bailey Rae’s Musical Reinvention
Nobody saw this coming. The fourth album, Black Rainbows by Corinne Bailey Rae, is a fusion of furious riot grrrl inspired fury, Afrojazz and deep soul, a huge U turn from the singer-songwriter who once made nice, inoffensive Radio 2 jazz pop like Put Your Records On and Like A Star. . Erasure is furious,Continue reading “Corinne Bailey Rae’s Musical Reinvention”
Preview: Women In Revolt! @ Tate Britain
This is an enormously exciting bit of news . Tate Britain has just announced a new exhibition, starting on November 8th, showing the seismic shift in female-led art, politics and culture in the UK. Because it’s not just about Thatcher, The Clash and The Sex Pistols. WOMEN IN REVOLT!ART AND ACTIVISM IN THE UK 1970-1990Continue reading “Preview: Women In Revolt! @ Tate Britain”
The Austerity Era Hogarth
Christopher Spencer, who makes wonderful collage art as Cold WarSteve, is a Birmingham artist who I adore. He’s the austerity era Hogarth as far as I’m concerned. The main image (above) is his Coronation postcard, created to celebrate the best of the UK. It’s got everyone from Bowie to The Clash, Laura Mvula to LilyContinue reading “The Austerity Era Hogarth”
Lost In Music: The Smiths- Paint A Vulgar Picture
Since Sinead O’Connor sadly passed away last week, I’ve been thinking about her a lot, as so many of us have. This strong but fragile, beautiful and tough woman, so troubled with so much shit and abuse from her childhood, casting a long shadow. Gifted people are often the most troubled – a cliche becauseContinue reading “Lost In Music: The Smiths- Paint A Vulgar Picture”
Film Review: Boom For Real
Anyone who’s ever seen Julian Schnabel’s good but flawed film Basquiat knows where this documentary gets its name from: a news report that artist Jean – Michel Basquiat sampled this anguished line from, and turned into an artwork. Sara Driver’s documentary, from 2018, subtitled The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat , takes a muchContinue reading “Film Review: Boom For Real”
Barbara Kruger’s Legacy
What a forward-looking lady. Barbara Kruger was, making huge scale graphics and photography when the YBAs were babies. She still is. You can’t ever dilute the spirit of people like Kruger. Having cut her teeth working with luminaries like Diane Arbus, inspired by the likes of Walter Benjamin, Kruger creates unflinching, anti- capitalism work inContinue reading “Barbara Kruger’s Legacy”
Actually, You Can Judge A Book…
…By looking at the cover, sometimes. Artwork on books is increasingly becoming more important, as it can illustrate the contents beautifully. Some are so gorgeous as to be collectible. One such case is with Angela Carter and her dazzling novel, Nights At The Circus. Her main character, Fevvers, is a stunning, buxom trapeze artist showgirlContinue reading “Actually, You Can Judge A Book…”
Frank Kozik Was Bad-Ass
The American artist, best known for Kidrobot, Labbit the smoking rabbit and his wild, colour- saturated poster designs and graphics has unexpectedly passed away on May 6th at 61. If you grew up in the 90s, you’ll likely be familiar with his band poster images and magazine covers, with a plethora of cheeky, devilish characters.Continue reading “Frank Kozik Was Bad-Ass”
Aubrey Beardsley and Oscar Wilde
When Oscar Wilde wrote his play Salome in 1894, there was only one artist suitable in his mind, worthy of depicting both the ghoulishness and dark eroticism of his script – Aubrey Beardsley. The pair shared a similar aesthetic sensibility and had no time for the moralising hypocrisy of the times. It seems cancel cultureContinue reading “Aubrey Beardsley and Oscar Wilde”
Hit The North 