Oscars and museums collide: plus my first artist interview
newsletter 14: February 2020
hello again! to all my UK subscribers, i hope you're recovering from Storm Ciara. i expect not many museum visits were attempted in the apocalyptic conditions yesterday! thankfully, she will have moved on in time for some fab upcoming exhibitions, including the much-anticipated Steve McQueen show at Tate Modern which opens this week. and make sure you don't miss the wonderful art installation at Bush House in London: the Lost Girl. it tells the story of a dystopian future and is by the artist Kate McMillan. i speak to Kate in my interview below. as ever, please share this newsletter if you enjoy it. so let's get going!
catch up: news
a brand new British Museum exhibition will take the Sting out of Tantra misconceptions. The Telegraph
Billy Porter wore an interior of Kensington Palace on last night's Oscars red carpet. New York Times
GET THIS ON YOUR GRAM! a very insta-friendly rainbow artwork has opened in London. Creative Boom
a 50ft giant aluminium slinky has has been unveiled as Sir Antony Gormley's K-Pop installation in Brooklyn, New York. teen Vogue
the blood-stained shirt worn by King Charles I as he was executed will go on display this year. Tatler
Tate's Head of Coffee job advert caused a *ahem* stir. Mail Online
"Make America Righteous Again". US artist Jenny Holzer has created work to mark President Donald Trump's impeachment trial. Art Newspaper
excitement in the art market, as the world's richest man becomes an art collector. Bloomberg
the Louvre's blockbuster Leonardo exhibition is going 24hrs - and free! - for its final weekend. France24
A Rake's Progress - Sir John Soane's Museum most famous treasure - is returning to its original home for the first time in 200 years. Medium (i wrote this!)
Pâté for the Cat anyone? You're in luck. Tate Modern's restaurant is serving it during its Andy Warhol exhibition. Wallpaper*
Chakrasamvara,Eastern India, 1100s. © The Trustees of the British Museum. will appear in Tantra: enlightenment to revolution
weigh up: reviews
Picasso and Paper at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.
"That these marvellous scraps survive is no surprise. The whole of this immense exhibition – gallery after gallery, numbering around 300 drawings, and a luxurious quantity of paintings – is nothing less than an accumulation of sacred relics". The Observer
"It’s a whole load of Picassos. His ceaseless creativity, his commitment to drawing on absolutely everything is thrilling, and it’s perhaps fitting that the Royal Academy fails to contain his chaotic energy. Pencil in an entire afternoon." City A.M.
listen up: this week's interview
my interview series where i chat to culture vultures about their work and the world of museums IS BACK! and back with a bang as it's my very first artist! Kate McMillan's The Lost Girl is currently on show in Central London and is an immersive film-based installation about a dystopian future. Kate's artistic practice incorporates a range of media including sculpture, film, sound, installation, textiles and performance and her artworks act as haunting memory-triggers for histories and ideas that are over-looked.
tell us about your latest exhibition the Lost Girl
The work was developed out of a mini-crisis of making, to be honest. I felt incapable of justifying the making of more 'stuff' in the world, so I began collecting the debris from the English Channel and the Mediterranean. The final work is a film based installation which centres on the main character - she lives in a coastal cave, with only the detritus from a past civilization to make sense of her world.
what should visitors take away from it – is it hopeful of the future?
There are moments of beauty, and I hope this provides some hope that amongst all the gloom, it might just be creativity that elevates us up out of the mess we have made.
you published a report last year that highlighted that female artists are underrepresented in commercial galleries. What needs to be done to address this?
Climate change and inequality are outcomes of capitalism and we must understand the interconnectedness of these things. Commercial galleries are heavily reliant on the production of things, global economies and accelerated growth. Therefore, it is a complex question if the main goal is to make money. I favour a model that we see in the smaller galleries who are far more connected to local ecologies, supporting artists and the generation of ideas. Statistically, the more money a gallery makes, the more likely they are to represent fewer women. Therefore it is increasingly hard for galleries to exist unless they are succumbing to the status quo.
the report also said that female artists aren’t seen as good investments. for budding collectors, which artists should they look out for if they want to support female artists?
I think collectors should be looking at their own biases, rather than thinking about 'what to buy next'. They should also be thinking about how to support artists that doesn't include buying objects. Paying an artists studio rent for a year is a far better investment in our cultural sector
you’ve lived and exhibited in Australia. what museums and galleries there should people check out if they can?
Australia has the unique benefit of being a bit separate from the art market so artists can really focus on pushing the boundaries of their work. There are fifteen organisations across Australia which are part of the 'CAOA' network (Contemporary Art Organisations Australia) so this is a great place to start. They are always linked to emerging artists, first nation artists, as well as established and influential artists. As they are largely state and federally funded, they can really focus on the important conversations.
favourite exhibition you saw in the past year?
The Turner Prize restored my faith in art for a while there. Really powerful, socially engaged and intelligent work. The Lee Krasner show at Barbican was wonderful as was the Franz West show at Tate. I also really support the efforts of smaller galleries where I live in SE London and try and get to see every show at Castor Projects and Bosse & Baum - two great small commercial galleries.
the Lost Girl is at King's College London until 28 Feb 2020. admission free
still from Kate McMillan's the Lost Girl at King's College London
get up: what's new
here's what's new and upcoming that you should be making a beeline to:
Steve McQueen at Tate Modern - two decades of the Oscar-winner's artistic career in 14 works
Genders at Science Gallery, London - playful and personal perspectives on gender and its relationship with science
Art Deco by the Sea at the Sainsbury Centre, Norwich - a celebration of iconic seaside architecture
Neurons Simulated Intelligences at Centre Pompidou, Paris - AI and its relationship to neuroscience is under the microscope
Artists on the Move: Journeys and Drawings at the Getty Center, Los Angeles - Canaletto, Gauguin, Rubens, Van Gogh and more explore journeys through drawing
last up: and finally
taking a trip to the Rijksmuseum this year? good news: Eurostar has announced its long-awaited direct Amsterdam to London service. Independent
Somerset House will provide a little spot of Spain this summer as the Somerset House Terrace with San Miguel returns for the second year. See you there! 🍻
thanks for reading. it takes time to put this together, so if you enjoy what you see, please consider sharing it with at least one museum-loving friend so even more people can see it. and subscribe below. BIG THANKS