Category Archive: ART
Chuck Close
Museum of Contemporary Art (Circular Quay, Sydney) (March 2015) Whilst this is more one from the lab than one from the heart, Close’s close work with photography, a computer loom, tinting and printing techniques, application of a slurry of paper and fibre, and some minor pointillism, creates a satisfying realism that seems warmer and more true than a mere photograph. MOCA had 77,727 visitors for this exhibition. Star spotting and the ‘I could of dun that (sic)’ syndrome may be clues. The precision of the process can be seen by reference to:
Continue Reading →Aboriginal Art
(by Howard Morphy) A sumptuous, encyclopaedic and expert review of indigenous visual art from ancient to modern times, from representative to decorative to spiritual to political, covering all mediums; yet another beautiful Phaidon addition to the good art libraries. Published in 1998, it could do with a new edition (to cover ‘newbies’ such as the contentious Sally Gabori, 1924-12/2/2015).
Continue Reading →Time Slip
"Let's Meet at Biba!"
I once thought I would like to wear a graceful chiton draped over one arm and ascend the shining steps to the Parthenon in Athens’ Golden Age. Certainly some of that sentiment has inspired my choice to learn Ancient Greek. However, when I thought a bit more about the role of women at that time I imagined that I might do better nibbling on pastries as I am fitted for wardrobe by Marie-Antoniette’s couturiers – but that time had its problems too. You will note that my historical imaginings are far more concerned with the fashion of the time than any…
Continue Reading →Perish Vandals
Lazlo Toth (He's not Jesus)
Art vandals can expect no clemency TVC charges the following with crimes against art, and adopting the jurisprudence of Ignatius J Reilly (aka Zorro) from A Confederacy of Dunces, sentences them to be hanged by their undeveloped testicles till dead (or if dead, to plough their graves and build thereon a new Bedlam). In no particular order: 1. Lazlo Toth (who in 1972, aged 33, took a geological hammer to Michelangelo‘s Pietá, shouting “I am Jesus Christ – risen from the dead.”) Lou Reed sang in his song I Believe – “being sick is no excuse…”. 2. Islamic State (for the wilful…
Continue Reading →Munch more than a Scream
Oslo boy Edvard Munch (12/12/1863 to 23/1/1944) got a retrospective a year and a bit ago to mark his 150th birthday (and the Munch Museum’s 50th). The visual strut of an angst-ridden tripod of tortured genius (with Ibsen and Strindberg), his paintings prefigured Freudian dream analysis (e.g. “Despair”, “Anguish”, “Night in Saint-Cloud”, “The Sick Child”, “Separation” and “The Weeping Nude”, which last was completed about the time of his nervous breakdown).
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