Year: 2013
Succès de Scandale in Adelaide
Friday, February 22nd, 2013 Blog,Letters to The Adelaide Advertiser: “I am absolutely apalled and disgusted how this sculpture can be classed as ‘art’.” “I, for one, will not be going to see this outrageous monstrosity.” “The picture of a horse hanging, with no head, displayed as art was disgusting. I will never again visit the Art Gallery if they […]
Anna Karenina & West of Memphis
Saturday, February 16th, 2013 Film Reviews,William Faulkner, Nobel prize winning author and sometime Hollywood scriptwriter, was once asked to nominate the three greatest novels of all time. He replied: “Anna Karenina, Anna Karenina and Anna Karenina.” The problem with making a film adaptation of a literary masterpiece is that it is impossible to translate the complexity of the book into […]
Linde Ivimey
Saturday, February 16th, 2013 Art Column,Linde Ivimey is the most conspicuous beneficiary of the Gothic turn that Australian contemporary art has taken over the past few years. A decade ago she was virtually unknown, making a living by sculpting cakes while pursuing sculpture in her spare time. Nowadays her pieces are eagerly sought after by private collectors and public galleries. […]
Lincoln & Elles
Saturday, February 9th, 2013 Film Reviews,It’s impossible to watch Lincoln without thinking how little, and how much, American politics has changed since the days of the Civil War. The same ramshackle cast of opportunists, ideologues, yes men and non-entities sits in the House of Representatives, but nowadays the radical thrust comes from the right not the left. The radicals of […]
Song Dong
Saturday, February 9th, 2013 Art Column,There are many ways to make a portrait of one’s mother. Probably the most famous example is James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s painting of his old mum sitting in a chair, looking a stiff as an Egyptian statue. He titled the picture: Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (1875). In Waste Not, one of the […]
J.M.W. Turner: A Preview
Saturday, February 2nd, 2013 Art Column, Art Essays, International Art,“Soapsuds and whitewash,” they said. “Portraits of nothing and very like.” In the manner of the Biblical prophet, not without honour, but in his own country, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) spent his entire career being insulted and derided by British commentators. Although we think of him today as the greatest of all British artists, […]
Zero Dark Thirty & The Impossible
Saturday, February 2nd, 2013 Film Reviews,Zero Dark Thirty arrives at our cinemas with a readymade controversy: “Should director, Kathryn Bigelow, and scriptwriter, Mark Boal, have included the scenes of the CIA torturing prisoners?” Although it was driven home by the scandal of Abu Ghraib, surely noobdy will be surprised to learn the Americans practised torture. Indeed, it would have been […]
Candice Breitz: The Character
Saturday, February 2nd, 2013 Art Column,It’s hard to stand out from the crowd in an exhibition such as the Venice Biennale, in which hundreds, possibly thousands of works are competing for the attentions of the cognoscenti. If you manage this feat, your career prospects as contemporary artist take a sharp turn to the north. Candice Breitz was born in Johannesburg […]
Django Unchained & The Guilt Trip
Saturday, January 26th, 2013 Film Reviews,A typical Quentin Tarantino film combines relentless bloodshed with a dry humour that releases the tension whenever the tide of gore starts lapping at one’s ankles. This formula has enjoyed such critical and popular success that a new Tarantino flick such as Django Unchained arrives on a tidal wave of anticipation. Like Tim Burton, Tarantino […]
Anish Kapoor
Saturday, January 26th, 2013 Art Column,Some artists have greatness thrust upon them, others keep waiting but it never seems to turn up. Even if you are among that select group of the rich and famous, with every museum and collector clamouring for your latest creation, there is no guarantee it will make life easier. Material success has a strange tendency […]