The Star's critics ANDY HEDGECOCK, MARTIN HALL, MICHAL BONCZA, ANGUS REID reviews Holy Cow, One to One: John and Yoko, King of Kings, Panda Bear in Africa
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Flowers that will not fade
This lavish book transcends the botanical by discussing the flowers’ social, historical and symbolic significance, writes CHRISTINE LINDEY
(L to R) Albrecht Durer, Tuft of Cowslips or Primula (1526); Anonymous, gold ornaments, c2300–2100 BC; Mary Cassat, Lilacs in a Window of 1880-83 and (bottom middle) Pierre-Joseph Redoute, Amaryllis josephina from Les Liliacees, 1802–16
PATRICK JONES recommends a vital anthology from Afghan and Iranian poets where the political and personal fuse into witness-bearing and manifesto-making
WILL STONE is impressed by Hania Rani who is already making a name for herself in the male-dominated world of modern classical music
MIK SABIERS enjoys the theatrical feminist six piece who have a lot of fun that the audience feeds off as the set rolls on
New releases from Ibex Band, Lucy Dacus, and Various Artists
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by characters so un-nuanced as to be unreal, a stereotypical plot and a conceptual vampire
WILL STONE appreciates an artist who can swerve from industrial noise to clubby trance pop without missing a step
Flower: Exploring the World in Bloom,
by Anna Pavord,
Phaidon Press
£39.95
AT 350 pages this large format book offers beautiful, full-page illustrations of a vast variety of flowers accompanied by useful information about each one.
A stimulating introduction discusses their social, historical and symbolic significance.
Unlike most botanical books it also functions as an art book with illustrations which range far and wide across time, cultures and types of objects. A gilded Sevres porcelain plate destined for the 19th-century courts of Europe is ornately hand painted with a central bouquet of flowers surrounded by butterflies, bows and scrolls.
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