The Easel

18th June 2024

Goya gave Frankenstein’s monster his Hollywood face. Now this museum shows the artist’s larger power

Christopher Knight | LA Times | 10th June 2024

Goya was the real deal. A key artist to the Spanish royal court, he painted the elite culture of Bourbon Spain. Notwithstanding this lofty position, his imagination stayed rooted in the culture of the common folk from whence he came. In four major series of prints he “took the gloves off” and expressed what he really felt about Spain’s aristocracy. It is from these works that comes the adage that still resonates today – “The sleep of reason brings forth monsters.”

Advertising as Art: How Literary Magazines Pioneered a New Kind of Graphic Design

Allison Rudnick | Literary Hub | 3rd April 2024

In 1890 the typical poster was crammed with text, often promoting a circus or a theatre production. Then came literary posters. Minimalist in design, they eliminated text in favour of visuals that instantly created an impression. And, they targeted a specific audience, often the independent-minded “new woman”. Although lasting only a decade they brought about a radical change in visual culture, “an advertisement that looked and functioned like a work of art, an image … in which commercialism and culture coalesce”.

11th June 2024

Mickalene Thomas is “All About Love” in her new retrospective

Jordan Riefe | Art and Object | 7th June 2024

Kehinde Wiley is renowned for his portraits of black male subjects in classical poses. Thomas, a contemporary art “luminary”, is doing likewise with black female subjects. Her paintings and collages show female subjects in provocative poses, surrounded by bold prints. Sometimes rhinestones are embedded in these pictures to emphasise their “libidinous content”. Says Thomas, “By portraying real women with their own unique history … I’m [diversifying] the representations of black women in art”.

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