Art therapy is simply the use of art to improve mental health and well-being. A study showed that it offers several benefits for its participants. In a nutshell, it can...

Pierre Soulages, Lithographie n° 36, 1974

Black Acrylic Paint

Black paint gave me a hard time. I struggled to use it in a way that made sense. Found its lack of nuance disturbing. I am not referring to dark...

Giant Takes a Gander

Blending Art with Science

One aspect of modern education that I definitely dislike is the strict compartmentalisation of disciplines. A desire for the division of work for the sake of efficiency has created specialists...

Orientalism in Painting

In 19th-century art, one finds a set of paintings with extremely detailed depictions of the East—especially the Arab world and North Africa. These lands are presented as exotic, sensual and...

Over the past few years, Los Angeles-based painter and sculptor Cleon Peterson (born 1973) has emerged as a very recognisable figure in the visual arts scene, thanks to his repetitive—and...

On Monsters

I recently explored a very interesting book titled On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears (2009) by Stephen T. Asma, a professor of philosophy at Columbia College Chicago. A comprehensive piece...

American painter Amy Sherald (born 1973) has been a prominent name in the art world news recently—thanks especially to her portrait First Lady Michelle Obama (2018) that hangs in the...

The Story of Blue and White Pottery

I’m always fascinated by patterns that are able to stand the test of time and space, that are able to transcend geographic and cultural borders as eras and fashions come...

The Art and Science of Branding

What is a brand? In the simplest sense, the identity (verbal and visual presentation) of an individual or organisation that sets it apart from others. In this article, I try...

The word “Rococo” immediately conjures for me 18th-century France and highly ornate architecture. Gilded, flowery design. Cream walls, pastel blue ceilings, trompe-l’œil scenes. Elaborate costumes. Marie Antoinette and her cakes....

I have come across countless stories of very successful people—from actors to athletes—who’ve said they struggle with mental health issues. And I have wondered why it is so easy for...

Famous Examples of “Preliterate” Art

The word “prehistoric” is very popular but when it comes to art made before the advent of settled life and writing systems, I try not to use it. Many believe...

Using our Shadow Side as Fuel for Creativity

One of my favourite contemporary thinkers is the American author Robert Greene (born 1959)—who has produced the bestsellers The 48 Laws of Power (1998), The Art of Seduction (2001), The...

Albrecht Durer and selfies

Who are you, and what are you doing here? You, there in the mirror, there in the lens of your phone: What do you see? asks Lawrence Farago in the...

The Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii

Looking into ancient Greek and Roman visual art, I recently discovered a curious location that is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the comune of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region...

Eva Hesse, No Title 1963

In the early 1990’s, while working in a part time job with the installation team at the NGV, an artwork by Eva Hesse, No Title 1963, struck me as being...

Windows and Portals: Looking Beyond 2020

2020, as we all know, has been a particularly strange year for those associated with the arts. While some have struggled and withdrawn themselves, being unable to process the situation,...

A particular topic that has remained very clearly in my mind since my MA days is Aristotle’s Four Causes. Change, motion, contingency, the coming into being of phenomena (and the...