Visual Art

In a set of essays entitled "Doubles" author, critic, curator, and traveller, Marina Vaizey explores pairings of artists drawn from the canonical cycle of Western art. She considers themes of engagement such as the portrait or figure, treated as stories of wider implication for society, that draw on the artist’s perception of the seen, combined with personal visions of dreams and imagination.

This audiobook is a review of David Hocking's Drawing from Life exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London. It explores early self-portraits from the 1950s and portraits of friends and associates, including Celia Birtwell, Gregory Evans, and Maurice Payne.

A review of the retrospective exhibition of sculptor Sir Antony Gormley OBE held at the Royal Academy London. Encounters varied works from studies and notebooks to gigantic installations.

A review of Nam June Paik at Tate Modern, explores the exhibition room by room. "When asked about his practice Paik replied "I am aware of Zen, but I am an artist: I react to Zen in the same way I react to the music of Johan Sebastian Bach."

Frieze Masters, London, October 6, 2019. Into the broad arena of the covered awnings of this enormous tented gathering of leading art dealers and the first gallery space is Aquavella, with a variety of exhibits; and come face-to-face with an absolutely spiteful acid green and fluorescent pink abstract by Keith Haring (1958-1990). It’s on canvas dated 1982 and signed lower left. The green is painted in a random ventilated grid over the hyper-intense pink with a bold line of a green stripe on the top edge of the work, which is encased in a glass vitrine.

Review of the exhibition of visionary artist William Blake at Tate Britain, September 2019: The exhibition is arranged in eight rooms of the downstairs gallery spaces of Tate Britain, low-lit, maroon-painted walls, a very comprehensive collection of a highly original and complex visionary creator.

Seven days in Funchal on the Island of Madeira. Journal notes of the settings, locations, and personal stories in diary entries.

A collection of reviews made from January to June 2019 of exhibitions in museums and galleries in London and Oxford. The volume proceeds from Small Histories, published in 1996 then updated in 2011. Contents include: Mantegna/Bellini at the National Gallery, John Ruskin at Temple Place, Elizabethan Miniatures at the National Portrait Gallery, Pierre Bonnard at Tate Modern, Mary Quant at the V&A, Jeff Koons at the Ashmolean Oxford, and Anish Kapoor at the Lisson Gallery London.

The 251st Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy London in a review recorded at the press view on 3rd June 2019. The Summer Exhibition is most popular event in the nation’s cultural calendar, and commercially the most successful. It allows works in all media, print/photography/painting/sculpture/architectural models - with rooms arranged by different Royal Academicians, some of whom, like Barbara Rae’s Arctic room, set a theme to their hang.

Viewing the exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum Oxford by American Artist Jeff Koons (born 1955). Considers sculptures such as Silvered Ballerinas, a Magenta Balloon Venus, and GPS System. Also the artist's re-constitution of classic works by Titiam, Rubens, and Gericault with the inclusion of a blue glass sphere.

A review of the Mary Quant exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum London. The audiobook looks at the beginnings of the designer's practice, launched with the Kings Road boutique Bazaar in the 1950s; progressing to Quant's mini skirts and trouser suits in the 1960s, and development of a cosmetic range in the 1970s. Includes quotations from associates and biographical data.

A recorded visit to van Gogh and Britain considers the work of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) placed in the context of British art and literature of the 19th century and his effect on succeeding generations of artists.

A viewing room by room of Bill Viola/Michelangelo at the Royal Academy of Arts on Monday March 4, 2019. Encounter the video works by Bill Viola on the theme of life, death, and rebirth and the drawings by Michelangelo from the 1530s to 1560s on religious and spiritual themes.

A recorded visit to Elizabethan Treasures during the press view at the National Portrait Gallery London. Inspect miniature portraits by Nicholas Hilliard and Isaac Oliver of Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Frake, Henry Wriothesley and others, and the celebrated icon of Queen Elizabeth I.

A commentary on the Pierre Bonnard exhibition recorded at the press view on Monday January 21, 2018. Views figure studies and landscapes made between 1900 and 1940 and responds to the conception of the compositions with their radiant color fields.

Painter Claudia Carr describes her surreal landscapes, composed from reflections of found objects that suggest imaginative scenarios of play and dreams.

An interview with the author J. P. Donleavy, recorded in 1989 on the occasion of his exhibition at Anna-Mei Chadwick Gallery, Chelsea. He describes his formative experience of Dublin, with exhibitions there in 1948, '50, and '51, the catalogue manifestos, for these were his first published writings, leading to work on his first renowned novel, The Ginger Man.

An interview recorded with the leading ceramic designer and studio potter Janice Tchalenko explores her development, from training with Mick Casson at Harrow Schoolo of Art to growing her own practice, leading to a major commission of supply to the Next retail chain. Tchalenko describes her appointment to renew China's ceramic industry and her activity as the chief designer of the Dartington pottery.

Scottish painter June Redfern interviewed by Livvy Anson for CV Journal in March 1990. The artist discusses her methods and approach, with sources of inspiration for her work.

Anyone who Googles the phrase curatorial theory will immediately come upon quite a long list of suggested websites. Sometimes it is a little difficult to be sure if the texts offered are intended to be taken entirely seriously. However, if I hack my way through the dense thickets of language, I find myself in agreement with what they seem to be trying to say, which is that curating an exhibition - or for that matter, a website - is not an end in itself.