Uneasy Transitions — “…I can say confidently that art has achieved everything possible in the imitation of nature and has progressed so far that it has more reason to fear slipping back than to expect ever to make further advances” — Vasari The term ‘Renaissance’ as a historical time stamp is vague, but…

White is Right — I know a lot of people who like art but are intimidated by spaces like the National Gallery. There is a lot of pressure when you walk into a place as grandiose as the National, and you suddenly feel unequipped to perform in the ‘correct’ way. How are you supposed…

Reflections on Society — I’m not in the Gallery this week. I’m on a beach on the south coast of Lanzarote, watching how light and water twirl and tumble in unison. Ripples of moving shadows oscillate as light peppers the outer crest of waves; there is a constant flurry of movement and activity. Hold…

2 of Rome’z Most Wanted — At what point does influence end and plagiarism begin? Artist’s must ask themselves this question all the time. How can any idea be purely original when everything we perceive, feel, and judge has some basis in the cultural environment that surrounds us; when our artistic choices are unconsciously informed by…

Who shot ya? — At the peak of summer in 1987, Robert Cambridge finally made up his mind. Drunk, depressed and alone, he traipsed aimlessly from tube to gallery, to gallery, until one evening he found himself in room 7 of the National. It is one of the darkest, smallest rooms here, and when…

Telling the truth in oil — “The Italians, having before their eyes the treasures of ancient statuary, were able to acquire the purity and correctness of the drawing quickly. They have learned to give their figures this suppleness and elegance of pose, and to clothe them with artistically arranged draperies. The Germans, on the contrary, had…

Shovel Girl…is an artist? — Trying to come up with a water-tight definition for what Art is is damn-near impossible in the 21st century. Being ill this past week, I’ve been transferring my garbled thoughts on to Google, as you do, and stumbled into a world of literature and philosophy that questions the essence of…

“The Sun is God”, J. M. W. Turner What’s (art) beef? The story of Western Art starting in Florence is a story of liberation, both of the artist and of their work. For the artist, liberation has meant that the rigid tastes, prejudices and control of the consumer have lessened, while art has…