The Easel

12th March 2019

The Helmet Heads review – Henry Moore should never have gone near a chisel

An excoriating review. Moore’s fascination with armour led to a decades-long series of modernist heads. “The Helmet Heads are Moore’s answer to Bacon’s screaming popes. The trouble is, they have none of Bacon’s cruel genius. [They have] neither the immediacy of a photograph nor the imaginative impact of truly original art. Moore is always a few miles from life.”

Is the Renaissance nude religious or erotic?

Nudes in the early Renaissance were most common in religious art, their realism serving to portray Christ’s sacrifice. New humanist ideas about beauty led to a sly eroticism. Male nudes particularly showed this, reflecting a society where same sex male relationships were common. The Reformation tried to re-establish modesty but “after the Sistine Chapel, “everyone wanted their artists to paint nudes.”

5th March 2019

Phyllida Barlow interview: ‘A cul-de-sac has the claustrophobia of suburbia’

Barlow’s sculptures are without aspiration to beauty. Tilting timber objects, ungainly slabs of building materials, draped fabrics, they all manipulate the space around them in a humorous, gentle way. “My work has always been an enjoyment of the absurdity of the made object that isn’t going to have any useful function in the world other than for itself.” A good bio piece is here.

Marina Abramović – The Life, Serpentine Gallery: ‘a slow, minimal, intimate encounter with a virtual Abramović

You can see the attraction of 3D imaging for Abramović. Such technology may allow her to “perform” in virtual reality without being present. A first-ever such “mixed-reality art experience” has just finished in London, to mixed results. One critic complains “The tech overshadows the art”. Responds Abramović, the technology makes her feel like “the first woman on the moon”.

From Charcoal to Lipstick, Drawing’s Potential for Experimentation and Rebellion

New York and London both have institutions dedicated to drawing, as if the art form needs special support. Some see it as just a working tool, more bridesmaid than bride. London’s Drawing Biennial 2019 suggests it reigns supreme as a means of experimentation and caricature. Says one artist, it’s “a space of reflection and speculation … the fulcrum of [my] practice”.