Visual Art
‘Intimate and eye-opening’: Bruegel to Rubens at the Ashmolean- Review
"It was a pleasure to return to Oxford during the vacation to visit the Ashmolean’s new exhibition, which showcases some of the best drawings of the great Flemish artists of the 16th and 17th centuries."
A Press Morning at Yoko Ono’s ‘MUSIC OF THE MIND’ Exhibition
"The gallery space itself did not provide an atmosphere of silence, but rather upon observation, isolated moments of contemplation and quietness were evident amongst the bustling scene in the room."
Nuclear Bombs and Feminism: Monica Sjöö’s Exhibition at Modern Art Oxford
"Based on the Modern Art Oxford posters, Monica Sjöö’s activism appeared to be a driving force for social change."
Crafting Kingship: Hellenistic Royal Portraiture
"A standardised visual vocabulary of royal ideology represented by statues and coinage"
Portrait Spotlight: Sir Claus Adolf Moser (1984-5)
"Moser, like all other newly appointed Wardens, had full choice and control of patronage over his college portrait"
Political cartoons must now be held to a new standard in the age of Trump
Viveka Herzum challenges the role political cartoons play in our current climate
Basquiat brought to life at the Barbican
Excessive detail hinders an energetic and ground-breaking Basquiat exhibition, writes Eleanor Birdsall-Smith
Opera: Passion, power and politics
The new exhibition at the V&A entertains yet bemuses Julia Alsop
The queen of artistic appropriation is crowned at the Tate Modern
Nicola Dwornik reviews a long overdue exhibition of Fahrelnissa Zeid's life and work
My naked truth
Jess Brown contemplates the merits and shortcomings of life drawing
Grayson Perry’s Polymorphous Popularity
Georgiana Wilson explores Grayson Perry's image, identity, and popularity after seeing his latest exhibition
Coming full circle: The importance of Queer British Art for young people
Billie Esplen considers the relevance of Tate Britain's Queer Britain exhibition
The Russian Revolution was a kind of orgy
Altair Brandon-Salmon is thrilled by the British Library's exhibition marking the centenary of the Russian Revolution
The Death and Rebirth of MS Paint
Chloe Dootson-Graube investigates the artistic importance of Microsoft Paint
Layers of history in the bright colours of Porto
Ellie Duncan is enchanted by the 'azulejos' of Portugal
At the Royal Academy: Matisse in the Studio
Altair Brandon-Salmon explores the Royal Academy's latest exhibition, Matisse in the Studio
At the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
Altair Brandon-Salmon ponders the significance of the Royal Academy's annual Summer Exhibition
Hokusai: Beyond The Great Wave – a man possessed by the Japanese landscape
Becky Cook is awestruck by Hokusai’s ‘The Great Wave’ but says the artist fails to discover anything beyond the masterpiece at the British Museum’s current exhibition
Communication and confrontation in Brooklyn’s art community
Avery Curran discusses curating Text/ure, Trump, and artistic cataclysm in the US
There’s an argument, and it’s a convincing one, that all art is political and, in the interim period between the election and the inauguration it felt truer than ever. There was an atmosphere of displacement and shifting ground. Between daily revelations about suspicious calls to Russia and plans to defund sanctuary cities (of which New York is one), no one seemed to know where they stood.