MAYER WAKEFIELD has reservations about the direction of a play centered on a DVLA re-training session for three British-Pakistani motorists
An artist of our time for our time
Neurodiverse painter THOMPSON HALL speaks to Michal Boncza about what inspires him, how he works and what his hopes for the future are
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New releases from Steve Knightley, Jupiter & Okwess, Jason Palmer, Lisa Knapp and Gerry Driver, Kin'Gongolo Kiniata, Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey, Dan Sealey, Simin Tande, PAZ
JOHN GREEN relishes photography that unfolds a longstanding and poetic relationship with Leeds
A uncomfortably misogynistic authorial voice that sometimes seems to lack insight troubles FIONA O’CONNOR
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a production that panders – if inadvertently – to Western prejudice against China
JOHN GREEN is fascinated by a history that excavates the enormous role played by agricultural workers in recent times
ALEX HALL recommends a book that places empirical evidence at the heart of understanding racism
THOMPSON HALL’S paintings are a head-turner, graphically succinct, of strong composition and illuminated by vivid colours. They are powerful, symbolic tableaux that shed light on issues of urgent concern including social change and marginalisation.
Reminiscent, in their intention, of Mayakovsky’s Rosta posters, or the interventionist spirit of Keith Haring’s it is the lucidity of their proto-political messaging that is so arresting and intriguing.
When asked where he draws his inspiration from, his is a matter of fact list: “Watching the news, reading newspapers, talking to people and find out what they are interested in
going to galleries and museums, learning about the history of people and places.”
Hall’s paintings resemble board games where segregation and exclusion surround centrally placed British institutions. Is he expressing a discontent experienced personally, among relatives, friends, etc?
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