The Easel

30th June 2026

Adored Image

Marina Warner | London Review of Books | 9th June 2026

A profile of the British artist Celia Paul. Much of Paul’s art portrays her mother and sisters in intense, focused images that offer little other than the subject. They seem to reflect Paul’s disciplined personality and ascetic work habits. Indeed, are they portraits or rather a kind of self-portraiture –the “depth and mystery” she finds in her subjects becoming a form of self-exploration? Paul’s most recent work has a lighter mood, indicating “she holds to the value of what she chose and the way she has continued to live”.

MC Escher, the wizard of weirdness who inspired Pink Floyd — and me

Waldemar Januszczak | Waldemar.tv | 25th June 2026

How do we classify Escher’s work? He started out with architectural and townscape drawings until, in 1936, he visited the Alhambra. That changed everything, starting a life-long interest in tessellated patterns and visual parados. Despite his popularity the fine art world remained indifferent, seeing his work as more mathematical than lyrical. Maybe so, but he had his own way of seeing – “Escher didn’t just think outside the envelope, he could not accept the existence of envelopes”.

23rd June 2026

Anish Kapoor disorientates, delights and disturbs at the Hayward Gallery

Hannah Silver | Wallpaper | 16th June 2026

Kapoor likes his art big – think Chicago’s highly reflective “Bean” sculpture – and his new London show follows suit. One installation appears alarmingly like guts and there’s a monumental, “mysterious” upside-down mountain. Some objects are coated with non-reflective black that creates “a space full of what doesn’t exist”. This is vintage Kapoor, messing around with our perceptions. Says he, “Apollinaire’s notion was to take the viewers to the edge and push them over – and that remains fundamental.”

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