Hikikomori artists – how Japan’s extreme recluses find creativity and self-discovery in isolation
The Japanese word “hikikomori” translates to “pulling inwards”. The term was coined in 1998 by Japanese psychiatrist Professor Tamaki Saito to describe a burgeoning social phenomenon among young people who, feeling the extreme pressures to succeed in their school, work…
Is marriage modern? Anna Kate Blair’s novel poses the question, but doesn’t answer it
Is marriage modern? This is the circuitous premise of Australian writer Anna Kate Blair’s debut novel, The Modern, set in contemporary New York and centred on the life, half-loves and near-loves of Sophia, an Australian research fellow at MoMA (the…
Three arguments why Just Stop Oil was right to target Van Gogh’s Sunflowers
Waves of controversy were sparked recently when the Just Stop Oil activists threw tomato soup over Van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London. Although the painting was behind glass so not damaged, politicians were quick to condemn their…
Yevonde: Life and Colour exhibition reopens the National Portrait Gallery in style
A long-overdue exhibition of the work of photographer Yevonde Middleton (1893-1975) has opened at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG), London. Yevonde: Life and Colour is the first major exhibition since the gallery reopened its doors, following a three-year refurbishment. Throughout…
‘No woman could paint’: The Story of Art Without Men corrects nearly 600 years of male-focused art criticism
Have you heard of Surrealist photographer Lee Miller? Or the highly political Dada photo-montagist Hannah Höch? 19th-century sculptor Edmonia Lewis achieved fame and recognition in her lifetime, as did 20th-century sculptor Barbara Hepworth, but none of these women artists have…
Belize shows how local engagement is key in repatriating cultural artifacts from abroad
The Smithsonian Museum of African Art recently announced its intent to repatriate Benin Bronzes to Nigeria. Similar news stories of returning “stolen” or “removed” items of historical and cultural value are becoming more common. Read more: Benin bronzes: What is…
Van Gogh Museum at 50: how galleries are challenging the ‘tortured genius’ narrative
At the time that Vincent van Gogh was creating his acclaimed work, The Starry Night, he was hospitalised at Saint-Paul de Mausole asylum. He painted the vivid night sky from his room without the bars of his window, editing out…
Siri Hustvedt in conversation with Julienne van Loon
I first discovered Siri Hustvedt through her best known novel, What I Loved (2003), which caught my attention through Janet Burroway’s review in the New York Times: “that rare thing: a page turner at full intellectual stretch”. Narrated via Leo,…
#GallerySoWhite: a digital exhibition exposing racism in contemporary art spaces
Art institutions are facing a reckoning over colonial histories and racist legacies. Though the issues aren’t new, calls to unpack the British art museum and heritage sector’s ties to colonialism have increased significantly over the past decade. As a result,…
Jamie Reid: the defiant punk art of the man behind the Sex Pistols’ iconic imagery
The death of graphic designer and activist Jamie Reid earlier this month was a huge loss for both the design community and the political left. Right until his death, Reid made incendiary works that incessantly attacked the political status quo….
