The Easel

21st November 2023

Mat Collishaw review – AI plants put the shock and sensation back into British art

Jonathan Jones | The Guardian | 21st October 2023

Much of AI-based art is ho-hum. As Collishaw demonstrates, though, it needn’t be. In a “creepy and beautiful” show of (broadly) botanical art, he uses AI to “fabricate” nature. Images of tulips imitate Dutch still lifes. Durer’s drawings of plants are animated so they ripple in the breeze. There is a 3D image of an oak tree. Collishaw’s botanical forms are recreated “with stunning exactitude while [life is] uncannily absent. It’s a natural history of our loss of nature [and] nature, it is implied, will have its revenge.”

The cathedral and the museum

Artforum, the venerated art journal, is in crisis after a staff posting about the Gaza conflict. This imbroglio fits into a broader art world malaise. Museums are under pressure to involve themselves more in social equity and diversity issues. No problem, except now “many museums are losing interest in art”. The great ability of art is to “share the human experience. Institutions which treat the image seriously stand the greatest chance of survival.”

A History of Performance Art

Kelly Grovier | Royal Academy | 16th October 2023

Performance art is so individual – literally – that it’s easy to miss its long lineage. Grovier highlights 14 notable performances over the last century, not the least of which is Yoko Ono’s “legendary” 1964 performance, Cut Piece. Even if you are sceptical about the ubiquitous Marina Abramović, this survey is a reminder of the impact the best examples of this art form can have.

The Will and Intensity of Marisol

Eva Diaz | Frieze | 23rd October 2023

Despite being hugely famous in the 1960’s, Marisol’s reputation faded quickly. A standard review of her retrospective – here – doesn’t explain why. The linked piece, although grumpy about Marisol’s wealth and glamour, does better. Marisol belonged to a world of privilege. Her sculptural portrait of the founder of Playboy is satirising but also “heroizing”, tolerant of his misogyny. “There was often too much Marisol in her works, which became ciphers for [female] profligate desire, will and intensity.” Images are here.

Marie Laurencin

Johanna Fateman | 4Columns | 17th November 2023

Laurencin was friends with the young Picasso but had no intention of following his cubist lead. Instead, she developed a world of female harmony, “diaphanous female figures in a blue-rose-gray palette”, engaged in flirtation. Notably, there were no men. To modern eyes, such images are code for gay relationships. Some might think her works too pretty but “when you’re feeling sick of great men, a dose of Laurencin is at least a sweeter kind of poison.”

What Do You Call Those Tiny, Winged Babies?

Meg Butler | Getty | 9th November 2023

How could I not recommend an article with such a cute title? There are some who delight in every last ornamental detail of baroque and rococo paintings. For the rest of us, one putto looks about the same as the next. To avoid possible dinner party embarrassment, be aware that there are putti, cherubs and Cupid. More essential details are in the Getty piece!

The revolution in Victorian fashion

Madeline Hewitson | Ashmolean Museum | 27th September 2023

Because Queen Victoria wore black mourning dresses for decades, we think of that era as gloomy. Not so. The discovery in 1853 of an artificial, cheap to produce, purple dye made purple fabric wildly popular. This set the ball rolling on a “colour revolution” that impacted many areas of the arts and fashion, and disrupted traditional colour symbolism. Sadly, the escape of men from black clothes had to wait for a later century.

14th November 2023

Camille Claudel through Five Works

Emerson Bowyer | ARTIC | 10th October 2023

Chicago continues the slow process of recognising Claudel for her achievements rather than as a “warm-up act” for Rodin. The male dominated French patronage system deemed sculpture not a “polite art” suitable for women. Even so, French critics of the day were acknowledging her work. Rodin knew as much – there is clear evidence that he borrowed her ideas. Says one critic “Claudel was the finest sculptor of her time, bar none”. A bio piece is here.

‘Wild Beasts’ at Large at the Met

AR Hoffman | New York Sun | 19th October 2023

Van Gogh’s daring use of colour inspired younger artists, Derain and Matisse in particular. They famously spent the summer of 1905 exploring a “momentous” idea – using colour not to describe but to express emotion. The idea was briefly all the rage and, in that time, Parisian artists used colour with the volume turned right up. It was one more step in art unshackling itself from realism. Henceforth, “colour was keyed to the artist’s experience.” Images are here.

Daido Moriyama retrospective: 60 years of influence

Geoff Harris | Amateur Photographer | 27th October 2023

Despite widespread acclaim, some think Moriyama is still underappreciated outside Japan. Perhaps that is because his images are unpretentious – grainy, black and white, disregarding technical perfection. What distinguishes him is his introspective style. “He is not really looking at the city per se, but at his inner territory – the streets of his mind.” Moriyama’s images record moments when “what’s in front of him somehow chimes with his emotions and memories.”

Earthly Delights by Jonathan Jones: Review

Ed Voves | Art Eyewitness | 31st October 2023

Jonathan Jones, art critic for the Guardian, regularly appears in The Easel due to his clear, informed criticism. His new book on the Renaissance is thus worth noting. Shibboleths get challenged. Is van Eyck’s famous Arnolfini Portrait a wedding scene, as often assumed, or a rite of a religious sect? Did da Vinci insert his personal homoerotic tastes into The Last Supper? This “superb, thoughtful” book reminds us that one needs to keep an open mind.

Max Beckmann’s Singular Path

Thomas Micchelli | Hyperallergic | 19th October 2023

When WW1 arrived, Beckmann was nearly 30 and facing a creative crisis. Convulsing world events made his “proto-modernist” portraits and landscapes look trivial. His art shifted to focus on social observation. Appalled by Weimar Republic decadence and Italian fascism, he somehow retained an affection for his fellow humans. His realist art in the post-war decade showcased the “private splendours and public horrors” of the unfolding 20th century.

Southern photography at Atlanta’s High Museum

Sammy Dalati | The Magazine Antiques | 9th October 2023

It must take quite a lot of local pride – or optimism – to schedule a photography show about one’s region. The US South is complex – and has many acclaimed photographers – so a “comprehensive” survey of its photography has a lot to cover. Myths abound and not just those peddled by politicians making for, says one critic, “a great mix of documentary and artistry.” And the truth about the South – well, its complicated.

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