Ultramarine is a pigment that for hundreds of years had a very special status among artists’ materials. Traditionally ground from the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli, it can produce the most intense, deep, cool shades of blue. It also has a particular translucency that gives paintings a brilliance that no other pigment can provide, and, crucially, it is a stable, which means that it does not deteriorate or fade easily. This exotic pigment has been used by European artists since the thirteenth century and for a long time was the most extensive and desirable blue. Read more >
Berlin, home of UPON PAPER, is no small place. For those prepared to criss-cross the sprawling city and visit each of its distinct and separate districts, they will find a quota of exhibitions that is hard to beat. As the saying goes – for the best information, ask a local – and so UPON PAPER’S Moritz Schreiber selects his home town top ten on show this December.
Yue Minjun’s first big solo show in Europe at Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris, is for all intents a Western debut, but goes far beyond an introduction to this accomplished Chinese artist. Instead, running for four months through fall 2012 to spring 2013, the show is a major retrospective. For the first time his main works are shown in one place, so the visual force – the evolution of his work since the 1990s, and the differentiated aesthetics – are presented in one single time and place. Read More—
As we snake along California’s infamous Pacific Coast Highway toward Los Angeles, the moon glints off the oscillating ocean, distant high-rises pockmarked with lights reveal the ever-working pulse of industry, a flock of pelicans traces the horizon in fluid flight, our car hugs… Read More—
Every two years since 2000, a small and sleepy English seaside town is vivified — hosting an art festival unlike any you may visit. Without the swarming and frenetic rubbernecking that turn such festivals in carnivals, Whitstable —celebrated locally for its oysters— has… More—
From 1971–1973, filmmaker Jack Hazan gained intimate access to David Hockney and his circle of friends and lovers to create A Bigger Splash. It was a critical time in Hockney’s life. A long-term relationship with fellow painter Peter Schlesinger had recently dissolved and during this acutely emotional period he was under pressure to work faster and create new work. Rather than filming a pure documentary, Hazan crafted a mesmerising film, using a More—
