Four Horsemen
Written by Martin Gollan
in
Visual Arts
Visual Arts
"What do you think an artist is? He’s a political being, constantly alive to heartrending, fiery, or happy events, to which he responds in every way. No, painting is not done to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war, for attack and defense against the enemy."
Pablo Picasso
Photographs that sing: In memory of Chris Killip, 1946-2020
Written by Graeme Rigby
in
Visual Arts
Graeme Rigby writes a memorial piece about Chris Killip, who died recently. Above image of Chris ® Kent Rodzwicz It was late 1982. My first paid gig as a writer was from Side Gallery, which Amber film and photography collective had set up in 1977. It was to write a…
Peace
in
Visual Arts
Written by
Friedrich Farshaad Razmjouie
Coal mines become gift shops: Black Suns at Louvre Lens
in
Visual Arts
Written by
Dennis Broe
Dennis Broe reviews Black Suns at Louvre Lens in France, on until the end of January 2021 Lens was a small but highly important town in the industrial era of the late 19th century, located in the former French-Belgium coal belt. It is now the home of the satellite museum…
Disgraced Monuments
in
Visual Arts
Written by
Adam Stoneman
Adam Stoneman discusses how public monuments and statues mask the arbitrariness of power. Above: the Edward Colston Statue (photo: Bristol City Council) “Great monuments are erected like dams, opposing the logic and majesty of authority to all disturbing element; it is in the form of cathedral or palace that Church…
Happy birthday NHS
in
Visual Arts
Written by
Martin Gollan
Statues also die
Written by Dennis Broe
in
Visual Arts
Dennis Broe reflects on the recent attacks on European colonialism and support shown to Black Lives Matter, through the defacement and removal of statues The first week of European and particularly French and Francophone protests in the wake of the US Black Lives Matter movement concerned parallel police actions against…
Portraits from the pandemic: Artists highlight the role of NHS workers
Written by Nicholas Baldion
in
Visual Arts
Nicholas Baldion discusses art, portraiture and the Covid-19 crisis, illustrated by some of his portraits of NHS workers. The painting above is of Karl, who works for the NHS in Oxford, and it's by Tim Benson In the ancient Roman Republic, there were laws preventing anyone but the patrician class…
The three wise monkeys: rich, powerful and extremely alert......
Written by Martin Gollan
in
Visual Arts
The arts, trade unions, and working-class identity
Written by Anthony D. Padgett
in
Visual Arts
Anthony D. Padgett reflects on the arts, trade unions, and working-class identity “Hold tight” I call as we ride on my vintage motorcycle through the steep terraced streets of Lancashire towns. My last day of freedom as I lose all my work to the Coronavirus crisis. We pass the tall…
