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Isaac Julien: Once Again… (Statues Never Die)
October 22, 2024Dr. Albert C. Barnes was one of the greatest art collectors of the 20th century, and one of its most odious personalities. He made his fortune with eyewash – an antiseptic compound called Argyrol. Although he claimed to have invented this wondrous product, in reality he only marketed it. His career could serve as a […]
Art Column
White Rabbit: Laozi’s Furnace
October 14, 2024Transformation is a fundamental goal of art – base materials are transformed into things of beauty, dull objects become receptacles for daring ideas. This process extends from the work to the audience itself. As the poet, Rilke said, the work of art commands us: “You must change your life.” I’m not sure anyone will be […]
Art Column
Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses
September 20, 2024When you’re born in the same town as Hieronymus Bosch, it’s a hard act to follow. In the Prado in Madrid, visitors stand transfixed in front of Bosch’s triptych, The Garden of Earthly Delights (1490-1510), with its outlandish visions of heaven and hell, the former packed with exotic animals, the latter a nightmare scene of […]
Art Column
Sydney Contemporary 2024
September 5, 2024Sydney Contemporary has quickly found its niche in a city in which the most probing critical analysis of a work of art is usually: “How much did you pay for that?” Variations on a theme include: “Why would anybody pay that much?” and “They must’ve seen him coming.” In Melbourne, art aficianados are more likely […]
Art Column
Lesley Dumbrell: Thrum
August 31, 2024Patrick Heron, one of Britain’s most prominent abstract artists, told me he lost his job as art critic at The New Statesman for writing too much about “space”. It may have bored the readers rigid, but for Heron, space was a colossally exciting topic. It probably takes an artist to understand the thrill of seeing […]
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October 17, 2024
CHANGE OF ADDRESS
This website is now an archive of writing from 2010 – October 2024. All new writing & subscriptions may be found at: Everything the artworld doesn’t want you to know
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The Apprentice
First, a word about Donald J. Trump. Like so many, I’m completely flabbergasted that voters of any political persuasion would consider putting this man back in the White House. Not only is his campaign a policy-free zone, he’s unable to focus on any issue beyond his immediate self-interest. To advance that sacred cause he will […]
Film Reviews
Joker: Folie à Deux
October 12, 2024If you’ve been hanging out for the most depressing musical of all time, rejoice, that moment has arrived! Todd Phillips’s Joker of 2019 was a surprising film which was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and earned Joaquin Phoenix an Oscar for Best Actor. The sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, is no less surprising, but so […]
Film Reviews
Megalopolis
October 6, 2024It’s hard to recall a film being greeted with more perplexity than Francis Ford Coppola’sMegalopolis. A production that has been 40 years in gestation, cost US$120 million, and failed to attract support from the major studios, it’s like no movie ever made. As the director is one of Hollywood’s all-time greats it seemed incredible that […]
Film Reviews
My Old Ass & The Critic
September 27, 2024Margo Robbie is one of the biggest names in Hollywood today, so when she decides her company will produce the second feature by young Canadian director, Megan Park, it’s a huge endorsement. It might have been even better had Robbie acted in this movie, as a little star power would have added to its box […]
Yayoi Kusama: She always knew she’d be famous
October 16, 2024One morning last year in New York City, a queue formed at the entrance to the David Zwirner Gallery. As the day progressed, the line grew longer and longer, until it extended around the block. The occasion was the opening of a commercial exhibition by Yayoi Kusama, and the chance to spend 30 seconds in […]
Blog
So Long, Guy
July 26, 2024When I spoke to Guy Warren three years ago, on the occasion of his hundredth birthday, I walked away feeling like I’d never felt following an interview. I felt energised. Talking to Guy, 100 not out, and so full of life he could have kept going all day, I realised that if I managed to […]
Blog
How the ancient Egyptians found an afterlife in the British Museum
July 18, 2024In terms of sheer longevity, writes Egyptologist, Toby Wilkinson, the 3,000-year reign of the Pharaohs represents “the greatest political and religious system the world has ever known.” It was, however, a fiercely hierarchical affair that bestowed wealth and luxury on the king and the elites, while condemning the poor to a life of drudgery. Ramses […]
Blog
Laura Jones is the Winner
June 8, 2024This year’s Archibald Prize announcement will remain etched in my memory for the peculiar way one of the speakers pronounced the name of the venue. Forget about “Naala Badu”, from now on I shall always think of the place as the Art Gallery of Nudist Whales. The other striking memory will be director, Michael Brand, […]
John McDonald
For over thirty years he has been one of Australia’s best-known critics. He writes a weekly art column for the Sydney Morning Herald, a weekly film column for the Australian Financial Review, and contributes to a wide range of local and international publications.
Jeffrey Smart, ‘The Bather, Bondi’ (1962)
June 16, 2023JEFFREY SMART (1921-2013) The Bather, Bondi 1962 oil on board 49.0 x 72.0 cm signed lower left: JEFFREY SMART Provenance: South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne, 1962 Jean Parker (formerly Ramsey), Melbourne Estate of the above Amanda Addams Auctions, Melbourne, 13 April 2008, lot 285 Private collection, Melbourne Exhibited: Jeffrey Smart, South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne,11-24 November 1962, cat.7 […]
Journals
John Olsen, ‘Lake Alexandrina and Dirt Roads’ (1997-98)
JOHN OLSEN Lake Alexandrina and Dirt Roads 1997-98 oil on canvas 199.0 x 183.0 cm signed and dated lower right: John/ Olsen/ 97-98 signed and inscribed verso: Dirt Roads & Lake John/ Olsen Provenance: Savill Galleries, Sydney Private collection, Melbourne Exhibited: John Olsen: Recent Work 1995-1998, Olsen Carr Art Dealers, Sydney, 7-25 April 1998, cat.13 (illus. […]
Journals
Jeffrey Smart: ‘Petrol Station’ (1975)
March 10, 2023JEFFREY SMART Petrol Station 1975 oil on canvas on board 34.5 x 39.5 cm signed lower left: JEFFREY SMART Provenance: South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne (label attached verso) Private collection, Melbourne Leonard Joel, Melbourne, 4 November 1981, lot 25 Private collection, Melbourne Exhibited: (Probably) Jeffrey Smart, South Yarra Gallery, Melbourne, 3 April 1975 (Or) Jeffrey Smart, South […]