Kerry James Marshall: The Histories is a retrospective exhibition currently on at the Royal Academy in London. The show is large, not only in the number of works on display but also in scale. Marshall‘s paintings reference the size of works he saw when visiting museums as a child. His ambition was to be up […]
Exhibitions
Cosmos, Memory, Scale: Karl Singaporewala at SOAS Gallery. Post 2 of 2.
This solo show at SOAS focuses on Singaporewala‘s explorations of the religion he was brought up in, Zoroastrianism. In this post I look at his interpretation of the Ses, kept by the household for prayer and protection. It consists of four items on a tray: the soparo (sugar container representing the alegorical Mount Hara), pigani […]
Cosmos, Memory, Scale: Karl Singaporewala at SOAS Gallery. Post 1 of 2.
This solo show at SOAS explores the religion Singaporewala was brought up in, Zoroastrianism. I will concentrate in this post on 3 pieces I found quite profound as well as enchanting: Thoughts, Words and Deeds. A core tenet of Zoroastrianism is Humata, Hukhta, Huvarshta: “Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds”. Those who have watched the […]
Dirty Looks at the Barbican Gallery. Post 2 of 2.
This show, Dirty Looks: Desire & Decay in Fashion, currently on at The Barbican, covers many aspects of contemporary fashion’s fascination with desire and dirt, historically known as la nostalgie de la boue. The dresses above were buried with iron filings, letting chemical reactions do their work, before being exhumed and are from the early […]
Dirty Looks at the Barbican Gallery. Post 1 of 2.
This show, Dirty Looks: Desire & Decay in Fashion, currently on at The Barbican, covers many aspects of contemporary fashion’s fascination with dirt and desire, historically known as la nostalgie de la boue. Life time and the body itself all conspire against the perfection that fashion can aspire to. Solitude Studios bury fabric into peat […]
Encounters: Giacometti and Mona Hatoum. Barbican
This exhibition is the second in a series of three, where contemporary artists engage with the work of Alberto Giacometti. Titled Encounters, they are at the Barbican’s new gallery on level 2. I wrote about the first one in an earlier post which featured Huma Bhabha. This time it is the turn of British-Palestinian artist […]