Tapestry Here & Now Holburne Museum

Apologies for posting this so late – I think it ends today, but it was a fine mix of styles, a reminder there are still original things you can do with a few threads. I’m afraid I can’t read my scrawled notes for some of them. This seemed to be my favourite, a Japanese artist … Continue reading →

Shipley Art Gallery

This is a brilliant venue, all the more so as it is owned and run by Gateshead Council and is said to have the finest collection of ceramics outside London’s V&A. I visited it when it opened and for an hour I was the only visitor though the staff warned some children were coming later. … Continue reading →

Thatcher’s Art Foiled by a Dog

This is from the i paper a few weeks ago, and is  a fine lesson in how the best laid plans can fail: Previously unseen government documents show how the former Prime Minister pulled out all the stops in 1988 to persuade Swiss-based industrialist Baron Heini Thyssen-Bornemisza and his Spanish wife to bequeath their collection … Continue reading →

Beyond Tattoos

Here’s an article from the i back in February, an interview with tattoo artist Grace Neutral who is covered in tattoos, and has moved on to the next body alterations. There is a lot of interesting stuff here, but also much that I find worrying. For a start, tattoos are permanent. Yes, you can get them … Continue reading →

Last Chance to See – James Ensor at the Royal Academy

Not the most famous European artists, but I fell in love with his skeletons warming themselves by a fire a long time ago. Fantastically varied and always strange, even in his self portraits. Knowing he was inspired by his grandmother’s curiosity shop makes so much sense. When Einstein was leaving Europe he stopped off to … Continue reading →

A Difficult Local

This is one of the strangest buildings I’ve ever seen, and I thought it was a folly, though odd for it to be so central – between the train station and a big shopping centre in Trowbridge. Apparently it was built by a local man in protest against the council refusing him planning permission. The … Continue reading →

Christopher Clayton Hutton – The Inspiration for Bond’s Q

Hutton is one of the great unsung heroes who helped save lives of servicemen in world War II and  since. He was a pilot in WW1 so was well aware of the dangers of being shot down over enemy territory. He wrote a book called Per Ardua Libertas. Apparently his interest in escapology began when … Continue reading →

Death Metal Does Cage

It took me a long time to comprehend John Cage’s 4 minutes 33  Here’s a brilliant version of it by a death metal band. Love the hair flicking by the singer. Or non singer? http://www.openculture.com/2016/07/john-cages-silent-avant-garde-piece-433-gets-covered-by-a-death-metal-band.html

The Dwarves that were left out

This is from the i paper last week: Drawings sold at auction have shed new light on some of he forgotten characters from Walt Disney’s 1937 film Snow White and the Seven dwarfs. Although Doc, Grumpy, Dopey, Sleepy, Happy, Bashful and Sneezy all made it to eh final cut in the film version of the … Continue reading →

Funding Jan Svankmaer’s Last Film

Svankmaer has been called a genius by Terry Gillam, so that makes him rather special. His animation is like nobody else’s and this film will be based on a play by the Capek brothers, who are also extraordinary talents from the country that has thrown up more than its fair share of strangely talented artists. … Continue reading →