In the last few weeks, the Bayeux Tapestry has been talked about everywhere. You’ve probably seen it on the news, front pages of newspapers and scrolled past posts about it on social media. The Bayeux Tapestry documents the Norman conquest of England in 1066, aka the Battle of Hastings from 1064–1066. It’s culturally significant because… Continue reading The Bayeux Tapestry — what is the medieval artefact about?
Now displayed in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Frederic Leighton’s 1895 oil painting Flaming June orbits an unconscious female subject. Against the painting’s calculated — almost architectural — composure, this image of female repose becomes a charged site where sex and sexual desire are insistently inscribed. Leighton choreographs the woman’s body into a carefully… Continue reading The trouble with Sleeping Beauty — desire, desirability and the unconscious female body
There are times when I think of Monet, not the artist immortalised on posters and tote bags, but the man standing knee-deep in mud beside the Seine, brush trembling in cold fingers on an autumn morning much like this one. The sting of rejections whirling through his mind, and the quiet ache of believing in… Continue reading Monet and the cost of creation
In her latest body of work, artist Tarka Kings turns her eye to the ritual of outdoor swimming, focusing on the Serpentine Lido in London’s Hyde Park — a place she swims most mornings. The result is Mornings at the Lido, a quietly absorbing exhibition of new drawings at Offer Waterman, on view from 25… Continue reading The quiet ritual — Tarka Kings’ morning meditations at the Serpentine Lido
Thomas Dane Gallery – 28 February–3 May 2025 Thomas Dane Gallery presents an exhibition of new paintings by Ella Kruglyanskaya (b. 1978, Riga, Latvia), the first in a series of three exhibitions across the year, with the second opening in Basel at Contemporary Fine Arts in June and the third in the autumn in New… Continue reading Ella Kruglyanskaya – Shadows
One day, not long after Mark Edwards had completed his first collection of ‘white wood’ paintings, he got chatting to a tourist who was visiting Mark’s native Scotland. The visitor was a psychologist and he was very interested in the work. “The trees in your paintings…” said the psychologist. “They’re all dead aren’t they?” The… Continue reading Overcoats and snow, the mystery of Mark Edward’s exhibitions
Featuring Pam Hawkes and George Underwood, each belonging to a particular strain of European art – one that focuses on the senses and the mind over pure logic and realism, a tradition stretching back to the dark ages via Fuseli, Bruegel and Bosch. Pam Hawkes This new collection of work by Pam Hawkes is an… Continue reading Modern Gothic at the Catto gallery
Born in Florence in 1386, Donatello was, and remains, celebrated as one of the most skilled sculptors of the Renaissance. Studying under the likes of Ghiberti and Brunelleschi, he developed a style influenced heavily by the classical language of architecture but not restricted to this. He used materials ranging from wood to bronze and produced… Continue reading What makes Donatello’s sculptures so compelling?
Caroline Westerhout, born in Weert in 1970, asks “Why are we all pretending to be normal when we could be insanely interesting instead?” in her Instagram biography — an entirely appropriate reference to the spirit that courses throughout her art. Westerhout’s artistic practice primarily features unique, non-traditional portraits rooted in classical techniques. The Dutch artist… Continue reading Why be normal? Inside the asymmetric world of Caroline Westerhout
Inspiration often comes from unexpected places. For Rachel Deacon, it was a home extension that sent her artistic practice in an entirely new direction. When the building work was complete, Rachel was left with a large blank wall that demanded a statement painting. She searched for the right abstract work but found nothing that felt… Continue reading Rachel Deacon at the Catto Gallery
