Visual Arts

Visual Arts

"What do you think an artist is? He’s a political being, constantly alive to heartrending, fiery, or happy events, to which he responds in every way. No, painting is not done to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war, for attack and defense against the enemy."

Pablo Picasso

Standing Rock
Tuesday, 19 April 2022 15:17

Standing Rock

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in Visual Arts
The Native American reservation stands as a searing metaphor for the evils of colonialism and capitalism with its dreadful legacy of forced religious conversion, language loss, cultural and environmental degradation, rampant alcoholism and a host of other social ills. How is it that when we engineered the genocide of First…
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Guernica
Tuesday, 19 April 2022 10:00

Guernica

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in Visual Arts
On 26 April 1937, eighty-five years ago, the Basque town of Gernika was devastated by German Nazi bombers. This event gave impetus to Pablo Picasso's painting Guernica. The painting has become one of the most famous artistic anti-war statements of all time. Gernika, Leningrad, Hiroshima, My Lai - places that…
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Leonardo da Vinci
K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 13 April 2022 08:20

Leonardo da Vinci

in Visual Arts
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Leonardo da Vinci, the great Italian painter, engineer, inventor, and scientist was born 570 years ago, on 15 April 1452. He embodied in many ways the High Renaissance, one of the most progressive periods in history, of which Engels said, "it was the greatest progressive revolution that humanity has so…
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Robert Ballagh's 'The Thirtieth of January' and Bloody Sunday, 1972
K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 24 January 2022 11:02

Robert Ballagh's 'The Thirtieth of January' and Bloody Sunday, 1972

in Visual Arts
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Jenny Farrell gives the background to Robert Ballagh's new painting, marking the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday When Robert Ballagh, the outstanding contemporary Irish painter, found a growing need to mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, he felt more and more drawn to paintings that had impacted on him…
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Goya Picasso's Guernica
The revolutionary realism of Caravaggio
Tuesday, 14 September 2021 10:10

The revolutionary realism of Caravaggio

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in Visual Arts
Jenny Farrell discusses the work of Caravaggio, who revolutionised European art. Image above: Judith Beheading Holofernes Born 450 years ago, on 29 September 1571, Caravaggio lived and worked in Rome. The development of the new middle class of traders, merchants, artisans – the bourgeoisie – brought with it the dawn…
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Statues, Context and Historical Narrative: Statues Glorifying Colonialism are a Bad Idea!
Tuesday, 06 July 2021 14:17

Statues, Context and Historical Narrative: Statues Glorifying Colonialism are a Bad Idea!

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in Visual Arts
Stuart Cartland discusses the recent attacks on statues in Canada The toppling of the statues of British monarchs in Canada recently is a hugely symbolic moment of reflection on the legacy of British colonialism. It is also feeding a wider anti-woke backlash from the right. Following on from the toppling,…
Black Lives Matter First Nations people
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The Colescott Chronicles Part I: breaking free of the shackles of colour blindness and abstract art
Thursday, 17 June 2021 11:58

The Colescott Chronicles Part I: breaking free of the shackles of colour blindness and abstract art

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in Visual Arts
Dennis Broe presents the first of a two-part topical study of Robert Colescott, whose politically committed art tackled issues of unequal racial and gender representation, and the history of racial exploitation and domination in the U.S. One of the founding members of New Black Art just reaped the rewards of…
Black Lives Matter Museum of Narrative Art David Siqueiros diego rivera
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