The Easel

4th July 2023

Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm review – Macca’s remarkable snaps capture the buzz of Beatlemania

Mark Hudson | The Independent | 27th June 2023

Catnip for baby boomers, perhaps an eye roll for others. It’s a given that nothing new can possibly be said about the Beatles, but this show of McCartney’s photography hangs its hat elsewhere. It offers, says the curator, intimate, off-guard moments of someone looking out from “the eye of a [cultural] storm”. Further, even now, it is “hard to find a more unifying embodiment of British identity”. Images are here.

27th June 2023

Banksy’s art is political drivel for the smug, right-thinking classes

Francesca Peacock | The Telegraph | 16th June 2023

How should you review a Banksy exhibition? Many critics, seemingly aware of his huge popularity, offer noncommittal, anodyne commentary – for example, here. The above writer shows no such restraint. Emerging from Britain’s 1990’s rave scene, Banksy was, from the start, “glib”. Although his reputation has grown, his work has not become any more interesting. “None of his works are, in any meaningful way, original … this is a publicity stunt, with little substance underneath”.

Shapeshifting show finds optimism in bleakness

Florence Hallett | iNews | 26th June 2023

One critic deftly characterizes Weems as imagining “the kitchen table as a place of political upheaval”. Kitchen tables are relevant because a photo series shot around such tables first made her name. She has since proved to have “chameleon” qualities, working in film, dance and installation. While her early interest was expressing the black female experience, she says she now has a broader focus – “the dismantling of power.” An interview with Weems is here.

The new National Portrait Gallery review – ‘It’s the same old cocktail party’

Jonathan Jones | The Guardian | 21st June 2023

London’s National Portrait Gallery has re-opened after a long renovation. Yes, the money has been well spent, and yes, the re-hang is more inclusive. But should a portrait gallery be showing exemplary lives or exemplary art? One critic says, coyly, that the balance is “judicious”. Others disagree. “It’s still the same shoddy chaos. You can argue that representation is more important than artistic quality – but that leaves the NPG [as] a collection of notable faces with no regard for artistic depth.”

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