To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
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Windows open into the Caribbean-British soul
JENNY MITCHELL urges everyone who can to visit an exhibition that tells the complex story of the interplay and interdependence between the Caribbean diaspora and Britain over the last 70 years
(L to R) Tam Joseph, The Spirit of the Carnival 1982; Paul Dash Self-portrait 1979
[Tate Britain]
If you can see past the relentless commodification you will be rewarded by enormously powerful work, suggests JENNY MITCHELL
CHRIS SEARLE revels in the one-off collaboration between an American polymath and a British Muslim, and detects the presence of their revolutionary forebear
GORDON PARSONS revels in an ebullient production of Shakespeare’s magical comedy
BRENT CUTLER welcomes a thoughtful analysis of the Erdogan regime, viewed through the evolving history of a neighbourhood in Istanbul
GORDON PARSONS regrets the price, but is dazzled by an outstandingly ambitious study of the way art restoration in particular, and culture in general was weaponised by the Nazis
Life Between Islands
Caribbean-British Art 1950s – Now
Tate Britain
I HAVE to start this review of a fantastic exhibition by acknowledging I write as a poet and not an art expert.
Having said that, I was filled with admiration for the curators who have managed to assemble an impressive body of work, ranging from sculptures to paintings, installations to photographs. These all help to tell the complex story of the interplay and interdependence that has been created between the Caribbean diaspora and Britain over the last 70 years.
If I have one complaint it’s that there is so much amazing work it’s impossible to take it all in during one visit. Not a bad criticism to make.
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