PAUL DONOVAN applauds an intriguing multi-layered depiction, dominated by a stunning impersonation of Marilyn herself
THE golden age of Japanese woodblock printing in the 18th and 19th centuries saw the spread of a highly populist art form, described as Ukiyo-e, “pictures of the floating world.”
Its meaning captures the fleeting, ephemeral pleasures of life — mostly for Japanese men — the theatre, beautiful women, courtesans, folklore stories and the beauty of animals, flowers and plants.
Produced in books, scrolls or as loose sheets, woodblock prints were made and circulated widely throughout Japanese society from the early 1600s right through until the mid-20th century, with some artists still operating with new styles and methods today.
JOE GILL marvels at the history of a highly complex nomadic and hunter/gatherer society without a hierarchical class system
Before Greek myths reached the multiplex, they were weapons of political satire. CALLUM SMITH explores the evidence
BENJAMIN POTHIER suggests that Palaeolithic cave paintings in Spain point to the ceremonial use of hallucinogenic flora
SIMON PARSONS applauds an artist who rescues and rehumanises stories of women, the victims of violence, from a feminist perspective



