Jonathan Jones's Blog, page 63
April 2, 2021
Eye-popping $2m doodles and genius special effects – the week in art
A taster of Jean Dubuffet’s cartoon-like pictures are online, National Galleries of Scotland gives Ray Harryhausen a ‘virtual experience’ and the British Museum delivers a brief history of the world through objects – all in your weekly dispatch
Jean Dubuffet: 37 People
Many commercial art galleries have started publishing prices in online shows, which has eye-popping results here: a cartoon-like painting best described as LS Lowry meets South Park will set you back $2m. But there are good reasons for Dubuffet to be in vogue. He recognised the power of graffiti, setting the scene for today’s street art … and $2m doodles. This is a nice taster for a big survey of his work opening soon at the Barbican.
• Timothy Taylor Gallery online until 22 April.
March 26, 2021
Leonardo, ladies' man: why can't we accept that Da Vinci was gay?
A new series focusing on the great artist’s relationship with muse and supposed lover Caterina da Cremona rests on virtually no historical evidence
The woman in Leonardo da Vinci’s life is finally getting her due. The new drama Leonardo, due to start on Amazon Prime on 16 April, drags Caterina da Cremona out of the shadows. Billed as his “muse” and played by Matilda de Angelis from The Undoing, this forgotten woman of the Renaissance appears in publicity images deep in intimate dialogue with Aidan Turner as Leonardo. It looks as if they’re about to go full Poldark.
You may have heard rumours the great Renaissance man was gay. That’s not the full story, says the show’s writer Steve Thompson. “Some of his relationships were with men; those were significant relationships,” he told Variety. “But perhaps the most significant relationship in his life was with a friend who was a woman, with whom he was very close, and we unpack that.” Note he’s claiming a historical basis for the show’s breathy encounters between De Angelis and Turner. Even though Leonardo is framed as a murder mystery, it claims to use this device to get at the reality of who Leonardo was.
Continue reading...Subverted Warhol and the world's largest painting – the week in art
Art Basel explores samplings of influential contemporary artists, Tate Liverpool’s democracy show provokes, and it’s your last chance to catch Titian – all in your weekly dispatch
Pioneers
Leading commercial galleries offer their samplings of influential contemporary artists from Victoria Miro’s delve into the work of British conceptualist Stephen Willats to Helly Nahmad’s presentation of Antoni Tapies. All the fun of the fair without leaving home.
• Art Basel online until 27 March.
From Skyspace to The Scallop: 10 of the best outdoor art works
Bronze lozenges, Cumbrian moss and a colossal female nude: as restrictions lift, here are the greatest alfresco spectacles
Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips
Continue reading...March 19, 2021
Liverpool Biennial opens, Canaletto meets his match, and Tate takes a queer walk – the week in art
The happenings start happening on Merseyside, Tate takes an LGBTQ+ tour, Vivaldi and Canaletto team up, and Roni Horn unveils her latest drawings – all in your weekly dispatch
Liverpool Biennial
Public commissions by Rashid Johnson, Linder, Larry Achiampong and others launch this city-wide art happening before the gallery components can open later.
• Until 20 June.
March 12, 2021
Prints, paradoxes and $70m for a digital collage – the week in art
Let Rothko take you to the edge of consciousness and explore the high streets of Sheffield – all in your weekly dispatch
Online Print Fair
Artists have been making prints ever since printing began. The art is still going strong as this event featuring Aliyah Hussain, Christopher Jarratt, Janet Milner, Print Wagon, West Yorkshire Print Workshop and many more proves.
• The Hepworth, Wakefield, until 28 March.
March 5, 2021
Stunning staycations, digital breathing and whirlwind LA – the week in art
Armchair getaways from Jon Tonks, a glimpse inside 80 LA galleries, and a chat with Gilbert and George about their haunting response to the pandemic – all in your weekly dispatch
Jon Tonks
Romantic photographs of remote British landscapes that offer images of getaways and ideas for adventurous staycations.
• James Hyman Gallery, London, online until 21 March.
February 28, 2021
Gilbert and George on their epic Covid artworks: 'This is an enormously sad time'
The artists have responded to the pandemic with comic, haunting works showing themselves being buffeted around a chaotic London. They talk about lines of coffins, illegal raves and ‘shameful’ statue-toppling
As they call themselves living sculptures, I can’t resist asking Gilbert and George what they think of all the statue-toppling that took place last year. When I ask for their verdict on the removal of public works that have been accused of celebrating slavery and colonialism, they are sceptical.
“We would call that shameful behaviour,” says George. “And it’s very odd – because normally those statues are totally invisible. Nobody ever looks at them. I remember, very near my home town, there’s a statue of Redvers Buller, the hero of the Boer war, surrounded by dying Zulus and things. And if you asked people in Exeter, ‘Where’s Buller’s statue?’, none of them knew. It’s a bit silly. Rewriting history is very silly.”
You don't go to Rome and take down all the sculptures – even though these people must have done very bad things
For 45 years we were looking up in the air when we walked. Now we're looking down, towards the earth
Continue reading...February 26, 2021
A dance with Rothko plus Gilbert and George explore Covid chaos – the week in art
Mark Rothko’s chapel turns 50, the British Museum examines the male and female lives of the Chevalier d’Éon and Britain’s favourite odd-couple artists capture the new normal – all in your weekly dispatch
Gilbert and George: The New Normal Pictures
Psychedelic hallucinations of the London streets in lockdown that capture the sheer strangeness of our time.
• White Cube online from 2 March (and later at White Cube Mason’s Yard)
February 19, 2021
A security camera tour of London and madcap chain reactions – the week in art
Frida Kahlo is laid bare and Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg saves bees, while Lindsey Mendick is one to watch – all in your weekly dispatch
Lindsey Mendick
You don’t know what to expect from this beguiling artist – it could be lovely ceramic sculpture of food or a violent installation about power and abuse. Mendick has talent and imagination to spare and is, as they say, one to watch. She will be in a show at Carl Freedman Gallery curated by Russell Tovey when lockdown ends – meanwhile the gallery website has a fine spread of her work.
• Carl Freedman Gallery, Margate
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