Newsletter
Newsletter 394
Monday, June 14th, 2021 Newsletter,I hope you’re keen on the Archibald Prize. This week I’m posting an Archibald review and two more Archibald-related pieces as blogs: an ‘Archibald of Archibalds’ historical article, and a review of the 2021 Salon des Refusés. There’s still one more to go: a review of the Art Gallery of NSW’s own historical survey, Archie […]
Newsletter 393
Monday, June 7th, 2021 Newsletter,No apologies this week for the late posting of the newsletter. I’ve just finished my fourth Archibald Prize-related piece in a sequence that still has a way to run. As the last three articles had to be written in three days, while the Prize was announced, updating this site had to take second place to […]
Newsletter
Monday, May 31st, 2021 Newsletter,If there was ever an elephant in the room it’s the ABC’s new TV arts program, Art Works. Having watched the program on iview, and feeling completely astonished by its unique blend of intellectual vacuity and political correctness, I was interested to see what kind of responses it’s gathered in the media so far. The […]
Newsletter 391
Monday, May 24th, 2021 Newsletter,This week I finally got the jab. I would’ve been happy to get it months ago but it took a while to secure an appointment. A lot of people seem to believe the Astra Zeneca vaccine is going to kill them on the spot but I barely noticed the injection and suffered no side effects […]
Newsletter 390
Monday, May 17th, 2021 Newsletter,Even though I almost dread to raise the subject again the Powerhouse Museum is back in the news for the usual wrong reasons. It was July last year when the Don and Dom show descended on the museum to announce that the building would be remaining in Ultimo. This seemed at the time like a […]
Newsletter 389
Monday, May 10th, 2021 Newsletter,It’s a mystery to me as to why Scummo and the gang are trying so hard to make trouble with both the Indians and the Chinese. The announcement that anyone found trying to return from India would risk a $66,000 fine and a possible 5 year gaol term was bound to go down well, especially […]
Newsletter 388
Wednesday, May 5th, 2021 Newsletter,Back in my ville natale last week on family matters, I watched the Anzac Day coverage on the local NBN news, and was amazed that it just went on and on and on. Aside from the shots of cententarians and 90-somethings marching or being wheeled through the streets of Sydney, there was footage of commemorations […]
Newsletter 387
Monday, April 26th, 2021 Newsletter,It’s Academy award time again and I’m almost inclined to take an interest. The pandemic year has had a curious effect on the kind of movies that have risen to the top of the heap. As I write, the announcements have yet to be made, but the general feeling is that Nomadland is going to […]
Newsletter 386
Monday, April 19th, 2021 Newsletter,Will we ever see this mythical vaccine? As Joe Biden and Boris Johnson vaccinate a milion people a day Scummo hasn’t even been able to vaccinate people in nursing homes and health-care workers. A bold prediction that he’d have us all vaccinated by October (October!) now looks wildly optimistic. Try next year, or maybe we […]
Newsletter 365
Monday, April 12th, 2021 Newsletter,This week’s lead story isn’t a review but a profile, looking at Guy Warren who is turning 100. It’s not something that happens every day among artists, who tend to become victims of the Bohemian lifestyle or inhale too many dangerous fumes in the studio. Guy has managed to limit himself to a whiskey every […]