The Easel

16th May 2017

The profound thrill of being spooked – Alberto Giacometti, Tate Modern

Giacometti’s emaciated bronze figures are so famous they almost obliterate everything else about the artist. A London show tries to remedy this. His early Surrealist works “[crackle] with violence and dark eroticism”. The big revelation of the show is his “scuffed and vulnerable plaster sculptures”. They “de-familiarise” his work and give it “the atavistic magic it once had”. An excellent video (4 min) is here.

David Hepher – Grain of Concrete

Many think London’s monolithic council flats are a cause of social dysfunction. For David Hepher they are simply the “landscapes of urban life”. His paintings of these buildings have gradually become more abstract -and often include graffiti. Graffiti suggests “the human side of these buildings. I also liked the idea of the staining and things … It’s a bit like painting an old person’s face”. More images are here.

Image: Flowers Gallery London