Grayson Perry has always been one of my favorite artists. I’ve admired his work, from his pre-Turner Prize days and felt a kinship to his interesting attempts to take ugly subject matter (poverty, drug addiction) and turn it into intimate and beautiful decoration on his masterful ceramic pottery. Who Are You?, his recent exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, (as well as a 4-part series on Channel 4) was one of the highlights of my last visit to London. Playing to the Gallery is a […]
“Sorry. Accident. Couldn’t be helped.”
The book begins with a Prelude in Blue, which is absolutely beautifully written. Our story begins with the death of Victor van Gogh, which some of his friends see as a mystery to be solved. It is the beginning, but not always the focus. The mystery leads to others, and our main characters of baker/painter Lucien Lessard and his bon vivant/painter friend Henri Toulouse-Lautrec find themselves involved in a plot that has a much farther reach than they could have ever anticipated or imagined. As […]
Faces are scenes. People are films.
I like Patton Oswalt. I appreciate his appreciation of things. He is a nerd; he knows how to be a fan. His standup can be biting, but is not devoid of wonder, awe, of fully investing in something. He loves good standup, he loves funny people, he loves cinema. In Silver Silver Screen Fiend, Oswalt relives the mid-90s in a memoir that ties together his early creative career and his concurrent obsession with film. He divides segments of his early years as different Night Cafes, […]
I don’t get it.
Take one ex-famous painter, Lenny from Of Mice and Men, and Amy Dunne from Gone Girl. Shake well and see what happens. Apparently, Theft is what happens. Michael “Butcher” Boone has had a string of bad luck. He was once a celebrated artist – in Australia, anyway – but his star is on the wane. He had a messy divorce, lost custody of his young son, and was jailed after trying to steal back his paintings from his ex-wife. Now, thanks to one of his collectors, Butcher is […]
This Is A Man’s World
“No one rejoices more in revenge than women, wrote Juvenal. Women do most delight in revenge, wrote Sir Thomas Browne. Sweet is revenge, especially to women, wrote Lord Byron. And I say, I wonder why, boys. I wonder why.” I read What I Loved last year and absolutely loved it. I thought I had found a new girl-crush in Siri Hustvedt, who is clearly a super-smart lady. But what should I read next? Well, The Blazing World was longlisted for the Booker Prize, was mentioned on numerous “Best of 2014” lists, […]
A gorgeous series of novellas on the clash between old and new India
This collection of three novellas by, arguably, the greatest living Indian writer was a revelation for me. I have never read Desai’s works before and was blown away by the gorgeous tapestry of colors, smells, textures and sights she evoke with her writing. In this collection, she draws on the same themes of art and culture clash to draw out different but overlapping messages about change and stagnation, without necessarily championing one over the other. In the novella of the title, we are introduced […]