LONDON — As the centerpiece of this year’s Greenwich + Docklands International Festival (GDF) in London, artistic director Bradley Hemmings has created an outdoor theater production called “The Four Fridas,” inspired by the life and work of legendary Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.
Francesco Dama
Francesco Dama is a freelance art writer based in Rome, Italy.
He regularly writes for several print and online publications, and wastes most of his time on Instagram.
Posted inArt
Personal Takes on the Realities of Colonialism
LONDON — How do you tell a story that does not want to be told?
Posted inArt
US History, Queer Life, and Witchcraft: How AA Bronson, Somehow, Comes Together
LONDON — Hexenmeister, AA Bronson’s first solo show at Maureen Paley, calls to mind his recent House of Shame at the Gwangju Biennial, featuring Bronson’s particular combination of queer themes and shamanic practices.
Posted inArt
Queering the Tom of Finland Foundation
LONDON — When artist Patrick Staff visited for the Tom of Finland Foundation in Los Angeles for the first time, in the summer of 2012, he was expecting to find the usual, sober atmosphere of an archive.
Posted inArt
In London, Mounting 50 Shows in 50 Weeks (Again)
LONDON — In 2000 Mark Francis and Jay Jopling curated an experimental exhibition project with a simple formula: one exhibition per week for 50 weeks.
Posted inArt
Marlene Dumas Paints Ambiguity into a Black-and-White World
LONDON — Walking through The Image as Burden, Marlene Dumas’s retrospective at Tate Modern, is like venturing into a forest of images.
Posted inArt
The Art of Being Contemporary in Rome
ROME — The best way to get to Monitor gallery is to avoid the crowded road that runs by it and venture instead into the maze of alleyways of the city center. Passing by the myriad of columns, Renaissance plazas, and Baroque churches, you’ll arrive at the immaculate space with almost a sense of relief.
Posted inArt
The Fragments and Facsimiles of Nina Beier
LONDON — When you enter the first room of Nina Beier’s solo exhibition at David Roberts Art Foundation (DRAF), you encounter “Scheme” (2014), an enigmatic stack of green crates with vegetables scattered on the floor.
Posted inArt
Mixing Classical and Gay Male Teen Desire
LONDON — In the Natural History, Pliny the Elder discusses the origins of sculpture by telling the story of Butades of Corinth, the first Greek modeler of clay.
Posted inArt
Beyond the Igloo: Mario Merz in London
LONDON — Among the few Italian contemporary art movements that made a mark on the international scene in 20th century, Arte Povera is probably the most interesting.
Posted inArt
The Man Who Feted the YBAs Before Their Fame
LONDON — Genius, unskilled manager, talented art dealer, troublemaker: the figure of Joshua Compston is one of inconsistencies and contradictions, even 18 years after his death.
Posted inArt
The Durable Modernism of Bridget Riley
LONDON — Riley’s paintings establish a sort of bridge between old inquiries and more recent art: no matter how many years have passed since the inception of Modernism, she seems to suggest its bases are still the fundament of artistic endeavor, and always will be.