Who dares to feel hope nowadays? In an era defined by climate disaster, Covid 19, and the rise and subsequent normalisation of right-wing politics, hope can be hard to find. Recently, it feels like the triumph of capitalism over community is nearing completion, the earth’s ecosystem is imploding at an alarming speed and the dystopian future we’ve all been warned about has arrived.
Read MoreArt is an immortal representation of our culture, identity, and personal histories. The gradual censorship of artistic expression in Russia has been presented as more than censorship, but a simple disregard for what art is. Putin would have you believe that art is simply an additional extra, a visual option that does not express anything deeply political or particularly relevant.
Read MoreIn this review roundup Lucy Pratt heads down to the Arnolfini to see their latest offering and Arts Editor George Trueman stumbles on a exhibition in the heart of Southville
Read MoreConceived to celebrate contemporary – and sometimes controversial – artists working with the same visionary spirit as painter JMW Turner, the Turner Prize has long bestowed us with sensationalist, headline clinching artworks. A number of its alumni are now household names: Tracey Emin, Steve McQueen and Anthony Gormley, for example. To question its relevance may feel somewhat unwarranted given the aforementioned, but I’d argue it’s a more complex matter.
Read MoreEbony enchantress and the reigning Queen of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Symone, graced us with a drag show like no other last Thursday night. Why was the show like no other? Well, because it was an all-black cast.
Read MoreMary Magdalene is mentioned around fourteen times in the canonical gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and is arguably one of the most important women in the Bible. Whether you believe in Christian doctrine or not, the treatment of Mary Magdalene throughout Church history is a fascinating (and very revealing) lens to investigate gender and power. To explore the afterlife of Mary Magdalene is to dip into the murky theological and theoretical foundations of Christianity, and to consider why the men who decided on Christian canon wanted women to behave.
Read MoreHow has the apocalypse been represented in the arts throughout history, and what does culture tell us about the current state of our fears?
Read MoreWhen an artist is accused or convicted of a heinous crime, does that mean we should no longer enjoy their art?
Read MoreCertainly, we must accept that the contemporary visual arts landscape has grown busier. Once a horizon punctuated most significantly by the pencil and paintbrush, we now see them stand alongside the presence of immersive and digital media as well as studio methods that divert from the independent craftsman and easel.
Read MoreThen we all stood in a semi circle around a tiny painting, just 82x60cm, like a jewel, all deep rich colours in a beautifully carved wooden frame. Our guide started to tell us about it, and unlike the others it really caught my imagination. I was so fascinated by the details, the symbolism of all the things.
Read MoreArtemisia - an overdue retrospective display of the artworks of Renaissance artist Artemisia Gentileschi - is the first-ever solo exhibition focussing on a historic female artist in the National Gallery’s history. Art historian Maura Reilly would deem this an act of ‘curatorial activism’; that is, an exhibition curated without excluding constituencies of artists traditionally excluded from the master narratives of art.
Read MoreThe problem with this public sculpture of Mary Wollstonecraft is that as soon as it was revealed it caused a massive controversy. The opinion that stood out the loudest by many women is the physical appearance of the sculpture, the fact that the writer is depicted as a small, naked woman.
Read MoreArt falls into two distinctive categories, decorative and meaningful, which is something I learned on my courses. There is the pretty, fun art that gets bought because it appeals to the eye and is, sometimes functional, other times not so much. Then there is the meaningful art which can still be pretty but has a deeper meaning to it, just think about Banksy and the often-political messages that his stencil “graffiti” portrays.
Read MoreNo one tells you to make art, it is something one feels within themselves that they need to do, something illogical and intuitive. It comes as a surprise that some pursue these urges even when it takes great effort and struggle to create art.
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