The blockbuster exhibition at Tate Modern made me wonder — Last week I went to see the Cezanne exhibition at Tate Modern, along with half of London it seemed. Paul Cezanne (1839–1906) was an important artist in the development of modern art, and his work straddled the French impressionist and post-impressionist movements. If you’re not familiar with Cezanne’s art, a…

Call me a Luddite, but not on your nelly. — If you’ve been following the hype about the developments in artificial intelligence (AI) image-generation over the past few months, you might be wondering whether it’s the end of the road for artists. That’s the question many journalists have been posing. If this issue hasn’t been on your radar, here’s a…

Back in early October an anonymous Iranian artist poured red dye into the fountains in Fatemi Square in Tehran to make the pool of water look like blood. Before the authorities had a chance to drain it away images of the red fountains were quickly shared on social media. It…

Making things visible, the 3.5% rule, and the role of artists in communicating with people — The UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15), a once in a decade event, took place in Montreal last month where governments from around the world convened to agree on a new set of goals for the preservation of biodiversity over the next ten years. The ultimate goal was to agree a plan…

And what to do with unsold art — Last week the issue of the validity and form of civic art was once again in the news, but not for the familiar reasons we’ve heard a lot about in recent years over the commemoration of questionable historical figures. The British artist Rachel Whiteread called for the end of the…

How the pioneering 19th century photographer Julia Margaret Cameron battled gender discrimination — How quick men were to assert their superiority over the ‘gentler’ sex in the 19th century. In photography, just as in other areas of art, there were many attempts to sideline and dismiss women’s talents. It’s easy to throw around words like ‘original’ and ‘pioneering’ when it comes to art…

Polka dots, big brands and old age — Yayoi Kusama is one of the most popular contemporary artists of our time. If you’re familiar with her work, you’ll probably know her mirror room installations in which little coloured lights flash as you walk through the space. Or her polka dot paintings. Or her dancing pumpkins. Or maybe her…

Thoughts on racial bias and the role of artists in communicating uncomfortable truths — I realise that mention of Harry and Meghan might make many of you roll your eyes. But stick with me, I’ll get to the art. By now the details of what has emerged from the recent Netflix documentary, Prince Harry’s TV interview and his autobiography are well known to anyone…

This is my last post for 2022, and I want to spend a few moments just basking in the sunshine of what I’ve achieved this year. …