The Easel

24th September 2019

Mona Hatoum interview: ‘If everything is predictable, then it’s not interesting’

Ben Luke | Evening Standard | 5th September 2019

Hatoum was studying in London when stranded by war in her native Lebanon. Her work is not a literal replaying of her experience of displacement. Nonetheless, a theme that pervades many works is precariousness. “I’m really interested in modern ruins … even those structures that are supposed to be solid, to contain you, they can collapse.” Last week, Hatoum was announced as a Praemium Imperiale winner.

Sir Antony Gormley’s art explores an interior realm

J U-S | The Economist | 21st September 2019

Gormley’s trademark work is the expressionless metal body form. Often based on molds of his own body, these figures appear in all sorts of situations, most famously his Angel of the North atop a hill in northern England. One view of a large survey show is that it is “too unfocused, and ultimately too polite”. The more positive view is that Gormley’s work is a sustained exploration of the body as a place “of memory, emotion and imagination”.

17th September 2019

What the Rise of KAWS Says About the Art World’s Ailments

William Smith | Art in America | 3rd September 2019

KAWS, who makes cartoon-based figures, boasts auction room clout and museum shows. Perhaps he will lead street art to credibility, just as Warhol did with Pop. Fine with popular culture icons being used in art, the writer argues that KAWS isn’t “doing a very interesting job of it. KAWS purges the intelligence of popular culture … Unintimidating to viewers and flattering to institutions, [these works] embody art at its most docile”.

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