Artists

Wednesday

Bevis Hillier

Fiery genius

In July 1967, a young artist named John Nankivell, living in Wantage, plucked up the courage to knock on John Betjeman’s front door, in the same town, to show the poet (whom he had never met) some of his architectural drawings. In July 1967, a young artist named John Nankivell, living in Wantage, plucked up the courage to knock on John Betjeman’s front door, in the same town, to show the poet (whom he had never met) some of his architectural drawings. Betjeman was impressed by the work. Though the buildings were depicted with careful detail, there was something about the perspective — a hardly perceptible distortion — that saved

Wednesday

Jonathan Keates

Not so serene

Is there anything original left to say about Venice? Probably not, but that doesn’t stop the books from coming, tied in, as they mostly now are, with a television series. Is there anything original left to say about Venice? Probably not, but that doesn’t stop the books from coming, tied in, as they mostly now are, with a television series. In this context I dream of programme-makers courageous enough to eschew tacky carnival masks or mood-shots of gondola beaks reflected in muddy ripples, with Vivaldi mandolins wittering cosily over the soundtrack, but it aint gonna happen, alas. How about the areas of La Bella Dominante most visitors are too rushed

Thursday

Alex Massie

Ukraine’s Got Talent

Perhaps you’ve already seen Kseniya Simonova’s performance on Ukraine’s Got Talent. But if you haven’t, watch how she recounts the horrors of Ukraine’s experiences during the Second World War. With sand. It’s one of the most remarkable, moving, beautiful pieces I’ve seen in ages. Since the video has already been seen 900,000 times  I suppose she counts as a “Youtube sensation” but that term seems absurd and cheap when applied to this sort of thing. So too does any comparison with our own Susan Boyle. Take eight minutes from your day and watch this. You won’t regret it. The final words mean, I gather, something like “You are always with

Friday

Alex Massie

Damien Hirst & Art for Toddlers

There’s an “Artist Rooms” exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art that features some of Damien Hirst’s work. Cue much excitement. Especially from his target audience: two year olds. Specifically, my niece: My companion Florence (aged two and a half), was really into it all. She is famous for her total disregard for art galleries, so is perhaps fitting that she admire Hirst. And she did, having sprinted (literally) past all the fabulous Auerbach, Kokoshka and Soutine paintings upstairs she stopped and stared at Dots and Pickles. She was fascinated by the sheep but her fascination incurred the wrath of eager guards who scolded her for touching the

Wednesday

Martin Bright

Can the Artists Transform Our High Streets?

It can’t have escaped people’s notice that shops in our high streets are being boarded up at quite an alarming rate. I’ve noticed it in central London, but also in north Wales last week and in Sussex and Surrey this week. Lewes was looking particularly down-at-heel as I passed through: like it was bracing itself for something even more awful. I felt mixed emotions at the Guardian’s piece on the re-use of shops by artists. For all sorts of reasons, I am cheered by the fact that creative people are thinking their way out of the recession. But at the same time this really does confirm just how bad things have become.