Arts news

Jeffrey Steele obituary

15-07-2021 17:37

Op art pioneer of the 1960s who maintained a sense of order and rationalism in his subsequent workA strict adherence to formalism and geometric abstraction led Jeffrey Steele, who has died aged 89, to pioneer op art. In the artist’s most famous works, through carefully planned, tightly controlled patterning, a sense of optical movement occurs on the canvas. His 1965 painting, Baroque Experiment: Fred Maddox, made for the exhibition The Responsive Eye at the Museum of Modern Art, New York,

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‘He punched you in the stomach with horror’: the genius of Christian Boltanski

15-07-2021 17:08

The great French conceptual artist, who has died at 76, was the conscience of contemporary art. His monuments to atrocities were huge and all-encompassing, awakening us to the suffering of othersChristian Boltanski first grabbed my attention in 1995, while I was watching a US news show. Among the murders and mayhem was a story about an artist putting thousands of items of lost property on display in New York’s Grand Central station. It was news because it was weird – the use of every

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Exhibition reveals how Shakespeare’s Hal has excused royal heirs for centuries

15-07-2021 08:01

New show uncovers a long tradition for princes of Wales to excuse their own behaviour by comparing it to Prince Hal’sFrom Frederick in the early 18th century to Charles in our own, a series of princes of Wales have associated themselves with Shakespeare’s Prince Hal as a way to excuse youthful excesses and promise strong future leadership, according to a new exhibition exploring the relationship between Shakespeare’s works and the royal family.Prince Hal is the boon companion o

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Pure gold: Gladys fan art draws inspiration from a premier with star power| Fiona Katauskas

15-07-2021 06:42

Admirers’ many and varied portraits get Gladys Berejiklian down to a fine art. Here are 10 of my favesThere are few among us who can claim to be mononymous – instantly recognisable by only one name. That honour is reserved for the likes of Beyoncé, Kylie, Prince, Oprah, Rhianna and, of course, our very own Gladys.While the others in that list may have earned their mononymity through sheer star power, Gladys owes hers to the Australian tradition of refusing to bother to learn a

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