The Easel

18th May 2021

David Hammons ‘ghost pier’ draws lines to Village’s waterfront past

Lincoln Anderson | The Village Sun | 14th May 2021

Public art sometimes disappoints but New York now has a piece that is being feted. Pier 52, once a derelict structure on the Greenwich Village shoreline, was both a noted gay haunt and subject to large “cutouts” in its walls by the artist Gordon Matta-Clark. The pier is long gone but an outline in steel now stands on he site as a tribute to this rich social history and to Matta-Clark. Says one critic, approvingly, “its empty of everything but history, light and air”.

The Making of Rodin review – not a radical, just a plain old genius

Jonathon Jones | The Guardian | 11th May 2021

A case of trying too hard? After umpteen Rodin shows, London’s Tate is showing a large array of Rodin’s preparatory plaster casts. Its unclear that they show something new. Repeated use of particular casts was nothing more than standard procedure for the day. Further, Rodin’s mix-and-match method has none of the spirit of today’s ready-mades. We are left with what’s already known – Rodin’s radical vision replaced stilted realism with the expressive modern body.

11th May 2021

Torlonia marbles: An archaeology of a 19th-century antiquities collection

Matthew Symonds | The Past | 23rd April 2021

Easily the best recent piece about this “greatest private collection of ancient Roman antiquity”. The Torlonia marbles tell such human stories. Sculpture collections were initially used to prove one’s Roman heritage. They then became a means of demonstrating wealth and erudition. Radical restorations were undertaken to show modern superiority over the ancients. Oh, and the sculptures …  “of such high aesthetic quality that the visual impression is almost overwhelming.”

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