Jonathan Jones's Blog, page 71
July 24, 2020
Galleries show their bottoms and a gender-friendly tube map – the week in art
Museums urged to boost visitor numbers by putting their best bums forward, plus why statues lie, and the return of Andy Warhol – all in your weekly dispatch
Andy Warhol
As Tate reopens all of its museums, there’s a second chance to visit its blockbuster survey of the 20th-century artist who predicted almost every aspect of 21st-century life – except coronavirus. Although, come to think of it, Warhol’s Velvet Underground did create The Black Angel’s Death Song...
• Tate Modern, London, from 27 July until 6 September.
Tate Modern reopening: 'We've never needed these unsettling visions more'
The best modern art was made in times of crisis and terror, meaning this museum has never been a relaxing visit. But where better to discover the true meaning of a changed world?
When Tate Modern first opened its doors 20 years ago, modern life seemed comparatively benign. At the opening party, JG Ballard looked on ironically from a balcony as a brass band played acid house anthems and shiny happy people queued to climb a Louise Bourgeois tower. It is about to open again. But the world has changed utterly – and quickly. Walking through the City to get to the post-lockdown press preview, I kept passing boarded-up champagne bars and To Let signs on glass buildings. Approaching the London museum I heard drums and chanting – a celebratory live art happening as Tate prepares to receive visitors for the first time since March? No. It was a demonstration by workers in Tate’s commercial arm whose jobs are under threat.
But when the normal fails, there is always modern art. So much of the greatest art in Tate Modern was made in times of crisis and terror. Out of 20th-century war, mass unemployment and dictatorships came shocking visions. I followed one of two routes you can now take through the museum – this one leads through its collection, past the Warhol exhibition that opened shortly before lockdown, and now gets a second bite.
Related: The great reopening – how Britain's galleries Covid-proofed themselves
Continue reading...July 23, 2020
'It took genius to chisel these buttocks' – the top 10 bottoms in art, chosen by our critic
They are ‘the founding curves of the Renaissance’. As Yorkshire Museum calls on collections worldwide to display their best behinds to boost attendance after coronavirus, we name our favourites
Race to the bottom: curators in battle for best museum bumRaphael died 500 years ago, it is said, after a night with his mistress left him in a weakened state. He had said that to paint perfect beauty he needed to see lots of different women. This geometrical arrangement of interlocking nudes revolving around a bottom reveals his addiction to the female body, from all angles.
• Château de Chantilly, France
July 21, 2020
Statues are lies, selfies in bronze – and you can't bring history to life with a dead art
Why are we obsessed with putting up statues of new heroes to replace old villains like Edward Colston? Reducing history to celebrity culture won’t help anyone understand the full scale and horror of slavery
The statue died as an art form 103 years ago, when Marcel Duchamp submitted a porcelain urinal to a New York art exhibition. So why, in the 21st century, are we obsessing about putting up statues of new heroes to replace the old villains? All this political radicalism is being betrayed by artistic conservatism.
The moment slave trader Edward Colston’s statue was pulled down in Bristol was a brilliantly apposite piece of performance art: a dadaist act of creativity through destruction that belongs alongside Banksy’s auto-shredding picture as a spectacle of great British cultural dissidence. But it has been followed by a sterile conversation about who does and doesn’t “deserve” a statue that adds nothing whatsoever to anyone’s understanding of slavery, the British empire, racism or any other subject.
Continue reading...July 17, 2020
From Rembrandt to Warhol: 30 exhibitions to catch as galleries reopen
With the art world tentatively returning from hibernation, here is a selection of great art to view safely across the UK
Modern Toss on galleries reopening after the lockdown ...Many of Britain’s galleries and museums are reopening, gradually and carefully, over the summer, providing a cultural activity we can all enjoy even while live performance is stilled and silenced. But art isn’t back to “normal”. Every space has to put firm social distancing rules in place before it can open. Difficulty in doing so is one reason why some institutions, including the Whitworth in Manchester, will not open until the autumn, and others have not yet announced return dates at all.
One universal precaution is that you need to book a timed slot before visiting any gallery, even where entry is free. At large museums, you are likely to have a choice of one-way routes that keep the crowds flowing safely. Smaller venues or particular rooms within museums may ask you to wear a face mask. Hand sanitiser will also be provided. In short, the galleries are responsibly restricting and supervising how we use them. It won’t impede your enjoyment. But it means you can rediscover some of the world’s best art without undue anxiety. Here are 30 exhibitions to catch over the coming months.
Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips
Continue reading...A trippy take on the magic of mushrooms and Marc Quinn's pop-up protester – the week in art
The works that gave the civil rights movement an artistic punch plus Picasso’s passion for paper – all in your weekly dispatch
We Will Walk
This timely exhibition explores a forgotten history of African American resistance. In 1960s Alabama, yard exhibitions and homely assemblages gave the civil rights movement an artistic punch. Bessie Harvey, Emmer Sewell and Thornton Dial are among the artists.
• Turner Contemporary, Margate, 22 July until 6 September.
July 16, 2020
Where are the bones of Hans Holbein? I spent lockdown solving art's grisliest mystery
He was a star of the Renaissance, an unflinching painter of death and horror in a time of rampant plague. Yet he ended up in an unmarked grave in London. Or so it has always been believed …
Baking sourdough, binge-watching Normal People or Mrs America, learning origami. People have dealt with lockdown in many ways. Personally, I went looking for the bones of Hans Holbein, the German artist who died almost 500 years ago and was dumped in an unmarked grave in the City of London. Or so it has always been believed.
Emptied out by coronavirus during lockdown, the City was the perfect place for socially distanced, government-mandated walks. And beneath its streets are the bodies of innumerable plague victims. One in particular haunts me. Holbein died in London, almost certainly of plague, in 1543. The long shadow of bubonic plague permeates his art, in its danse macabre of corpses and skeletons. It seemed appropriate to seek out this master of pestilence in a time of pandemic.
Disease was rife in Holbein's time. The average age was 35, so he did well to reach his 40s
Continue reading...July 10, 2020
Anish Kapoor shines in Norfolk and a load of men are dismantled – the week in art
The Photographers Gallery reopens post-lockdown with portraits of humour and humanity, masculinity is on show at the Barbican, and Grayson Perry’s pots are back in Bath – all in your weekly dispatch
Anish Kapoor
Mind-bending modern sculptures, including the sublime Sky Mirror, set in the elegant park of one of Britain’s most beautiful Palladian houses.
• Houghton Hall, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, from 12 July until 1 November.
July 3, 2020
Titian's fiery dreams are brought back to life as National Gallery prepares to reopen – the week in art
Elsewhere, there are provocative bodies, Don McCullin’s landscapes and a liberating take on LGBTQ+ Britain – all in your weekly dispatch
Titian: Love, Desire, Death
The Greek myths are brought to smokily erotic, achingly emotional life in the series of stupendous canvases this great Venetian painter created for Philip II of Spain in the 16th century. Closed by Covid-19 after just three days, this wondrous reunion of Titian’s fiery dreams is back for the rest of the year as the National Gallery reopens.
• National Gallery, London from 8 July until 17 January
June 26, 2020
Google's strangest street views, and other creepy wonders – the week in art
Jon Rafman scours Google’s photo archive, the National Gallery gives kids a lesson on insects, and there are online shows for Lucas Cranach, Annie Leibovitz and Helmut Newton – all in your weekly dispatch
Jon Rafman: Nine Eyes of Google Street View
Images appropriated from Google Street View give an eerily intimate and creepily intrusive vision of life on Earth.
• Sprüth Magers online until 25 July.
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