ALEX HALL is disgusted by the misuse of ‘emotional narratives’ to justify uninformed geo-political prejudice
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Rebel seeking a cause
CHRISTINE LINDEY sees a retrospective of Eileen Agar's work which reflects her lifelong quest for a non-conformist art
NOTABLE: (Left) Alice with Lewis Carroll, 1961 and (right) Eileen Agar, 1927
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
Eileen Agar: Angel of Anarchy
Whitechapel Gallery, London
“LIFE’S meaning is lost without the spirit of play. In play, the mind is prepared to accept the unimagined and incredible, to enter a world where different laws apply, to be free, unfettered and divine.”
That was what Eileen Agar (1899-1991) believed and this fierce desire for freedom motivated her art. Her last wish was “to die in a sparkling moment.” A handsome woman, with a sense of entitlement, she succeeded in “sparkling” socially but unfortunately much of her work lacks the very sense of lightness and amusement which she rated so highly.
Born in Buenos Aires in 1899 to a Scottish industrialist and an American heiress to a biscuit manufacturer, Agar led a privileged life. After attending English boarding schools, she was “finished” in France before studying at London’s prestigious Slade School of Art.
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