Nearly fall off my seat reading through the Guardian’s book review section: ‘…not a bad book…but it represents one more uninspiring addition to the current vogue for Archive Mania…reads like…research for a TV series…someone should take his research, tear it to pieces and stick it back together in an unexpected way…’ The closing paragraph of … Continued
Sitting outside the Djanogly Café in Tate Britain and I’m feeling a bit djanogly myself, waiting to meet up with my old friend Richard . Artist, curator and professional lecturer, he likes to think that he knows more about art than I like to think that I know about art – and, rather annoyingly, I … Continued
It’s time to take day trip outside of the capital. Well, one mustn’t be too London-centric. But where to go? New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Tierra del Fuego…not today. How about…Milton Keynes. Ok, I know it’s not everyone’s first choice but what’s the point of following the rest of the crowd? Sometimes one should … Continued
Tired of the tango and fed up with fandango, I decide to follow the steps of my style guru and sartorial cynosure Bryan Furry and Do the Strand. Well, metaphorically speaking…I don’t actually dance down the road but saunter along it to get to Somerset House and the Courtauld Gallery. This place not only has … Continued
If I was playing Trivial Pursuits or taking part in a pub quiz and there was a question about influential American designers of the 1960s and ‘70s then, with a bit of effort, I reckon I’d probably be able to dredge up the name Eames from somewhere down the back of my subconscious. As for … Continued
Up the grandiose stone steps, through the imposing sets of columns and under the architrave to get to the tiny Royal Academy Shop*, situated in the foyer of the Pace Gallery. Parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus – not precisely the right bit of Latin but it’s the best I can do, if you’ll pardon my … Continued
Had planned to go to the Frieze Art Fair today but, after dithering around for the past couple of weeks about whether it was really worth paying £50 to attend – and then deciding I might as well, when I finally got to website yesterday to book a ticket I discover it’s completely sold out! … Continued
Get a really enthusiastic email from Stefan saying how he’s just started reading my artworld memoir and thinks it’s terrific. Feel pleased, surprised and also a bit embarrassed as I can’t help remembering that years ago, when he asked me to write a review about his book on Performance Art, I bashed out a real … Continued
Go to the Delfina Foundation Gallery round the back of Victoria to see Then for Now, the fundraising exhibition of works donated by old alumni and curated by Sacha Craddock and Chantal Joffe. The exhibition is a bit of a mixed up mishmash and not really very coherent but, as the neat little catalogue explain, … Continued
I meet Gill at Tate Britain and take a look at the Frank Auerbach exhibition. The question arises as to whether Auerbach is now the greatest living British artist? Well, aside from the fact that he was born in Berlin*, at age 84 he’s probably the most eminent and respected, not least because his work … Continued