Arts news

• A printmaker’s paean to moths – in pictures

  29-05-2021 18:00
  
  British printmaker Sarah Gillespie was drawn to moths because they’re “overlooked and underloved”. Then she found out they’re in catastrophic decline: 50-60 species have become extinct in the past 80 years. So Gillespie has created a series of mezzotints, on show now at Castle Howard in Yorkshire, to highlight their existential plight. “We have done enormous damage to those we share the Earth with. The work of the artist is to pay attention – to refuse not to
  
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• Ai Weiwei on colonialism and statues, Churchill, China and Covid

  29-05-2021 17:03
  
  As his controversial Gilded Cage installation goes on display at Blenheim Palace, the artist and human rights campaigner reflects on the ‘complicated world’From this week a seven-metre-high installation entitled Gilded Cage, by the exiled Chinese artist and human rights campaigner Ai Weiwei, will be on display at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. The piece, originally constructed for Central Park in New York in 2017, was made as a reflection on the worldwide refugee crisis. Ai Weiwei,
  
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• Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser review – a stupendous wonderland

  29-05-2021 16:00
  
  V&A, London
  From VR croquet to the real Alice papped in Hollywood, the rabbit hole is just the start of this thrilling immersive exploration of Lewis Carroll’s enduring masterpieceWhite rabbits skitter here and there, disappearing abruptly through holes in the wainscot. Tiny theatres open out of outsize Victorian doors. Cunning checkerboard floors lead your mind and feet astray, while giant playing cards hurtle up the walls like flames up a chimney. And the Cheshire Cat’s fabled
  
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• Non-fungible tokens aren’t a harmless digital fad – they’re a disaster for our planet | Adam Greenfield

  29-05-2021 12:00
  
  Artists are harnessing NFTs to sell their work but ignoring the vast amount of fossil fuels needed to power themIf you happen to count yourself among those appalled by the seemingly unstoppable rise of NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, over the past few months, you might be forgiven a little schadenfreude at the recent news that a dispute has broken out over the ownership of Mars House, a digital file that sold in March for $512,000 (£360,000).Let’s be clear what’s been purchased h
  
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• Rhodes statue should be turned to face wall, says Antony Gormley

  29-05-2021 11:45
  
  Sculptor suggests solution to row over keeping statue of colonialist in place at Oriel College, OxfordThe statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College, Oxford, should be turned to face the wall in shame, the sculptor Antony Gormley has proposed.Gormley’s suggestion, made in an interview with the Financial Times, would be an innovative solution to a years-long battle over whether the 19th-century colonialist and white supremacist should remain in pride of place at the university. Related: More t
  
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• Oxford Rhodes statue should be turned to face wall, says Antony Gormley

  29-05-2021 11:45
  
  Sculptor suggests solution to row over keeping statue of colonialist in place at Oriel CollegeThe statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College, Oxford, should be turned to face the wall in shame, the sculptor Antony Gormley has proposed.Gormley’s suggestion, made in an interview with the Financial Times, would be an innovative solution to a years-long battle over whether the 19th-century colonialist and white supremacist should remain in pride of place at the university. Related: More than just
  
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• UK places export ban on ‘stunning’ £17m Italian bronze roundel

  29-05-2021 11:29
  
  Culture department hopes temporary stay will allow Renaissance piece to find a domestic buyerThe UK has placed a temporary export ban on a late 15th-century bronze roundel made in the Lombardy city of Mantua and valued at £17m.The Renaissance roundel, which depicts Venus, the Roman goddess of love, surrounded by her lover Mars, husband Vulcan and son Cupid, is at risk of being sold overseas unless a UK buyer can be found. Related: Plunder of Pompeii: how art police turned tide on tomb raid
  
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• Gearing Up For Summer Reading

  29-05-2021 00:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  You ready for 75 nonfiction books in 90 days? (Oddly, LitHub also has recommendations for a mere 38 fiction works in the summer, but hey, perhaps fiction is slower than nonfiction for some people?) On your marks, as Memorial Day approaches. Get set! Hit up your local indie bookshop … and … GO. – LitHub
  
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