For an artist whose career is based on confronting the spaces we either ignore or deliberately avoid, the now-demolished BBC office that reputedly inspired Room 101 in George Orwell’s 1984 is perfect subject-matter.
installations
Arp, The poetry of Forms is a major retrospective of an artist whose work seeks to captures abstract thought. This exhibition is contrasted by Tracey Emin’s My bed and her selection of Turner sea-scapes, that deal with a more visceral response to life.
From stylised art nouveau temptresses to giant Tintin cartoons, Brussels has an established tradition of putting art on the outside of its buildings as well as inside. The capital’s newest gallery in a former brewery in Molenbeek – the neighbourhood notorious as a breeding ground of the Paris and Brussels terror attacks – captures that spirit.
Now fully restored, with its chequered Flemish floors, semi-circular gallery and portico inspired by a Roman triumphal arch, the Rubenshuis, Ruben’s home in Antwerp, is one of the most popular attractions in a vibrant city, just under an hour’s train journey from Brussels.
When approached for an idea for an exhibition at Turner Contemporary, guest curator, Brian Dillon, editor of the arts magazine Cabinet, hit upon the concept of ‘curiosity’.
A temporary installation in Bloomsbury Square is a powerful reminder of the work of exiled Russian poets in the last century
By Michael Bartholomew-Biggs • installations, poetry, politics, year 2017 • Tags: installations, Michael Bartholomew-Biggs, poetry, politics