ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
Alasdair Gray, writer and artist
SYMPHONIC Alasdair Gray’s ceiling at Oran Mor
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal
SIMON PARSONS applauds an imaginative and absorbing updating of Strindberg’s classic
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
MICK McSHANE rubs shoulders with Mod legend Steve Craddock and joins in with the joyous Glasgow choir
DENNIS BROE sifts out the ideological bias of the newest TV series offerings, and picks out what to see, and what to avoid
THE TERMS “polymath” and “visionary” may be overused but they’re entirely appropriate to Alasdair Gray, the novelist, playwright, poet, polemicist, painter, scholar and translator who has died aged 85.
Glasgow, Gray’s birthplace and home, hosts several of his public murals. The playful and beautiful celestial ceiling of the Oran Mor arts and theatre bar is a visual symphony in shades of blue, mixing symbols from astrology, mythology, science and natural history.
More from this author
ANDREW HEDGECOCK relishes visual storytelling with no respect for genres, movements or styles
ANDY HEDGECOCK relishes two exhibitions that blur the boundaries between art and community engagement
Two books and a film that examine cultural excavation and the impact of place on behaviour
ANDY HEDGECOCK invites readers to contribute short fiction to our arts pages, offers some guidance and picks a few favourites
