Frederick Engels was Karl Marx’s closest friend and collaborator. In the light of the ongoing ecological crisis and Covid-19 pandemic, Engels’ Dialectics of Nature takes on a new significance. So it is good that Kaan Kangal, currently a philosophy scholar at Nanjing University in China, has made a new study of Engels’ work. As Kangal […]
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Author: Corinna Lotz
How ecology and socialism co-evolved
John Bellamy Foster’s epic account explains how the the concept of a dialectics of nature was crucial in the development of ecological thought.
The Force dyad in St James
Exciting times. Dangerous times.
81-year jazz legend Joe McPhee talks to Corinna Lotz about how the pandemic has changed his life and his music
Aching
Artists in Quarantine No.7 Painting and drawing make Julie Held feel alive and with the world. An intensely social person, she belongs to several artists’ organisations including the London Group. So now she is aching.
A sense of liberation
Artists in Quarantine No.6 A second wave of infections, more quarantines, lockdowns, as the invisible virus searches for new hosts. Uncertainty about what the future has in store. When will we meet friends and family again? Sculptor and multi-media artist Caroline Pick’s recent evolution can be seen as a metaphor for this moment of […]
The chess piece logic of Cuckooland
Artists in Quarantine No.5 So much has changed that going out to see things and meet people, let alone see and touch real physical art works has the taste of forbidden fruit. No one of us has ever experienced what now appears as a dystopia come true. The possibility of re-infection is ever present, and […]
A sight for sore eyes
Oh no, not another Impressionism show! Gauguin again? Is this to pull in the punters with a bankable display of old favourites? Recycling the reliable? Well, actually no. The first major London show to open since the pandemic is not a spectacular blockbuster. Instead it’s an intimate and moving experience. Beautifully displayed in the Royal […]
The Covids are coming
Artists in Quarantine No.4 Invisible to the naked eye, the Covid-19 virus seems an impossible subject for an artist stimulated by the visual world around her/him. And yet for David Downes the ‘Covids’ became a source of inspiration.
Mind games under lockdown
Artists in Quarantine No. 3 “Far away from the merry-go-round of the market place, the only reasoning is to keep going on and stay safe” Since the March lockdown Peter Clossick’s life has been cloistered. He has not left his house, apart from a few car journeys for food “click and collects”, to protect not only […]
Virus – dimensions unknown
Artists in Quarantine No. 2 The Freud Museum was the perfect location. An artist who plumbs the depths of the human psyche and one of the most distinguished psychotherapists of our time were to have a public conversation. The theme? Oil paint on canvas as “a metaphor for the disintegration of personality and self”. Frances […]
A silver lining for a scary time
Artists under Quarantine: The first in a new series by Corinna Lotz When the coronavirus pandemic broke out, Michele del Campo felt he could not bear to carry on painting in the same way as before. The extremity of the moment drove him to reconsider. “The alarming situation of the pandemic and being forced into […]
The best of times and the worst of times
We are locked down, and yet the wealth of offerings via digital platforms has blossomed to extraordinary proportions. It’s truly an embarrassment of riches. Artists, performers, galleries, museums and television producers are making use of video-conferencing, pod casting and Instagram in ways that we could not have possibly imagined. This week, on the occasion of […]
Baroque: art in a turbulent time
King Charles II, his red cape borne aloft by cherubs, sits enthroned on a mound of prancing steeds, muscular servants, tritons and nymphs. So what is this crazy hodge-podge painted by the Neapolitan artist Antonio Verrio all about? Verrio’s Sea Triumph, a forerunner of Britannia Rules the Waves, depicts the King as a triumphant victor, […]
Labour should back case for democratic r...
By Corinna Lotz The blame game following Labour’s election defeat is destructive. Seeing Labour MPs using the mainstream media to make poisonous attacks on Corbyn is an ugly spectacle. Defeat was not about one or two people but about a long legacy of neglect and economic downturn. Nor was the outcome simply down to working […]
All is not what it seems: the mysteries ...
Deep in the Surrey countryside, the Watts’ Gallery is hosting an intriguing display of work by William Orpen. Orpen was one of the most successful First World War artists and society painters in early 20th century Britain and Ireland. He was celebrated for his record of World War I and thousands flocked to see his […]