How Yorkshire influenced the sculptures of Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore
When Barbara Hepworth died in 1975, fellow sculptor Henry Moore wrote an obituary in The Sunday Times with the headline, The Shaping of a Sculptor. Not only did it prominently feature their shared birthplace of Yorkshire, but the paper’s clever…
Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe portraits expose the darker side of the 60s
“If you remember the ‘60s, you weren’t really there”. This famous quip says much about our rose-tinted nostalgia for the decade. The fun-loving hedonism of Woodstock and Beatlemania may be etched into cultural memory, but Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe portraits…
the good and the bad of pop-up attractions
This autumn, visitors to Weston-super-Mare on the west coast of England will be confronted by the strangest of sights, a repurposed oil rig and temporary art installation and high-rise garden dubbed the “See Monster”. Located in a shallow pool at…
Polar bears have captivated artists’ imaginations for centuries, but what they’ve symbolized has changed over time
Polar bears have long held visual artists in their thrall. Over time, the mythologies around these extraordinary animals have evolved – and so have the ways artists have depicted them in their work. Reflecting a deeply respectful even symbiotic relationship…
Manipulating light can induce psychedelic experiences – and scientists aren’t quite sure why
For millennia, people have used mind-altering techniques to achieve different states of consciousness, envision spiritual figures, connect with nature, or simply for the fun of it. Psychedelic substances, in particular, have a long and controversial history. But for just as…
Give this AI a few words of description and it produces a stunning image – but is it art?
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but thanks to an artificial intelligence program called DALL-E 2, you can have a professional-looking image with far fewer. DALL-E 2 is a new neural network algorithm that creates a picture from…
Ukraine’s cultural heritage faces destruction as Russian bombing continues
Ukraine is a country with a vast cultural heritage. It is dotted with sites of profound historic, artistic and archaeological importance – from Unesco world heritage monuments such as the Cathedral of St Sophia in Kyiv to exquisite examples of…
As spiritualism’s popularity grows, photographer Shannon Taggart takes viewers inside the world of séances, mediums and orbs
The word séance conjures images of darkened rooms, entranced mediums, strange occurrences and spirit voices. For many contemporary audiences, these visions might seem like something out of the past, or perhaps a movie, rather than a living belief system. For…
How women put hair to the fore in fight for equal rights
Cutting your hair or letting it grow, dyeing it or showing off they grey, sporting a mane or covering it. These are everyday acts with which millions of women claim their identities, try to fit in, fight for their rights…
Kenya’s Samburu warriors still practise a rock art tradition that tells their stories
The Samburu people in northern Kenya’s Marsabit county are pastoralists. They migrate from place to place in search of pasture and water for their cattle, goats, sheep and camels. As part of their lifestyle, Samburu boys go through an initiation…
