This week in the art world, a profound exploration of human emotion takes centre stage, alongside fascinating historical revelations and powerful community projects. Leading figures from Tracey Emin to Ming Wong present new work, while centuries-old paintings yield surprising secrets.
Thresholds of Darkness: Emin Curates Masters of Melancholy
Tracey Emin has turned curator for a significant new exhibition focusing on the themes of despair and melancholy. Titled 'Crossing into Darkness', the show opens this Sunday at the Carl Freedman Gallery in Margate. Emin brings together an impressive roster of visionary artists, including Francisco Goya, Edvard Munch, Louise Bourgeois, and Georg Baselitz. The exhibition promises to examine the powerful, often overwhelming, emotional states that act as thresholds in the human experience, offering a collective meditation on sorrow and its artistic expression.
National Spotlight: Homoerotic Saints and Lost Londons
Elsewhere, the National Gallery in London hosts a compelling residency response from artist Ming Wong. Until the 5th of April, Wong presents a work that engages directly with the gallery's historic homoerotic paintings of Saint Sebastian, re-examining the iconography of martyrdom and desire through a contemporary lens.
Meanwhile, a poignant homage to a vanished era of the capital is on view at the Fitzrovia Chapel. Curated by artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, 'Souvenir' gathers works by Michael Bracewell and Sal Pittman, among others, to evoke the lost London of the late 1970s and early 1980s. This atmospheric show runs until the 8th of February.
From Oxford Narratives to Edinburgh Solidarity
At St John’s College, Oxford, from the 20th of January to the 2nd of February, 'Story Painters, Picture Writers' delves into the enduring power of narrative. Artists including Julian Bell, Gala Hills, and Jane Griffiths explore the mysterious and fertile relationship between written words and visual images.
In a demonstration of art's community roots, 'Solidarity Wins' at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh showcases community-made posters, collages, and artworks. Celebrating the power of popular struggle in north Edinburgh, this vibrant exhibition continues until the 30th of April.
Revealing Restoration: The Bull's Altered Anatomy
In a striking piece of art historical detective work, new research has uncovered a deliberate modification in a 17th-century masterpiece. Paulus Potter's celebrated painting 'The Bull', a star attraction at the Mauritshuis in The Hague, was altered by the artist to conform to the sensibilities of his time.
Paintings conservator Abbie Vandivere revealed that Potter significantly reduced the size of the bull's testicles and adjusted the entire rear anatomy of the animal. "His balls were bigger and lower, his whole back end was shifted – but, indeed, the balls are the biggest change," Vandivere stated, highlighting how artistic ideals often overrode anatomical accuracy.
This Week's Art World Insights
The broader art landscape offered several intriguing lessons. It was revealed that Sir Ian McKellen will lip-sync to previously unheard audio tapes of L.S. Lowry, and that David Bowie visited a psychiatric clinic in 1994 to engage with outsider artists. Furthermore, the legacy of abstract painting was underscored by the influence of a cross-dressing lesbian artist in Cornwall on Piet Mondrian's success.
This week's Masterpiece of the Week spotlights 'Saint Cecilia' by Pietro da Cortona, a Baroque work held in the National Gallery. The painting exemplifies the period's focus on female religious figures, portraying Cecilia as a harmonious icon of chastity and music. While contemporary Artemisia Gentileschi depicted women as powerful avengers, Cortona's saint serves as a model of virtuous obedience, reflecting the complex ways the church sought to involve and control female devotion through art.
