The Chinese language only introduced a feminine pronoun in the 1920s. Now, it might adopt a gender-inclusive one, suggests JANET DAVEY
Latest editorial
Here comes the Sun King
JAN WOOLF revels in a painter of the poetic, whose freshness emulates that of the very young
ALEX HALL is intrigued by a detailed history of Gaza that demonstrates its historic resilience and changing economy
RON JACOBS welcomes the long overdue translation of an epic work that chronicles resistance to fascism during WWII
MAYER WAKEFIELD is chilled by the co-dependency of two lost souls as portrayed by German communist playwright Franz Xaver Kroetz
The Star's critics BRETT GREGORY, JOHN GREEN, MICHAEL BONCZA and ANGUS REID review The Stimming Pool, Misericordia, La Cocina, Irena’s Vow, and The End
CHRIS MOSS welcomes a radical history that brings marginalised stories and overlooked people and agencies to the centre
ANDREW HEDGECOCK relishes visual storytelling with no respect for genres, movements or styles
Ken Kiff – A Hundred Suns
Three Highgate, London
WALK up the hill from Archway Tube, north London — or down from Highgate — and find the gallery Three Highgate, and the current incredible show of the late British painter Ken Kiff (1935-2001).
Born in Dagenham, east London, Kiff later studied at Hornsey School of Art, just a mile down the road. He was always his own man — linking the inner world with the outer. Don’t all artists do that? Not like this. Note “the” and not “his,” as there is something universal about his work. His “constellation of mental activity” speaks to all.
More from this author
While the group known as the Colourists certainly reinvigorated Scottish painting, a new show is a welcome chance to reassess them, writes ANGUS REID
ANGUS REID recommends an exquisite drama about the disturbing impact of the one child policy in contemporary China
The phrase “cruel to be kind” comes from Hamlet, but Shakespeare’s Prince didn’t go in for kidnap, explosive punches, and cigarette deprivation. Tam is different.
ANGUS REID deconstructs a popular contemporary novel aimed at a ‘queer’ young adult readership
Similar stories
The playwright and artist reflects on the ways in which reviewing can nourish the creative act
PAUL MACGEE highlights a new series of books that brings together a treasure trove of writings by a Jewish Marxist art historian who offers readers a refreshingly grounded theory of art
JAN WOOLF marvels at the dream-like forms of little-known English surrealist Henry Orlik, whose work reaches back to the traumas of war and migration
SIMON DUFF walks us through a fascinating display that is bold, optimistic and spiritual