Chloë Ashby
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Chloë Ashby
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‘Complex. Unsettling. Creepy.’ Jarvis Cocker, Colm Toíbín and more on the disturbing genius of Artangel
28 June 2023
The Guardian
‘Complex. Unsettling. Creepy.’ Jarvis Cocker, Colm Toíbín and more on the disturbing genius of Artangel

Nothing is too ambitious or outlandish for Artangel, the organisation that has spent 30 years bringing unpredictable art to unexpected locations in the UK and beyond.

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Chris Ofili’s Seven Deadly Sins
13 June 2023
frieze
Chris Ofili’s Seven Deadly Sins

As with all things Ofili, this shimmering Eden is as mystifying as it is hypnotic.

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Eruptions, explosions and a sexually explicit hoover: V&A Photography Centre review
22 May 2023
The Guardian
Eruptions, explosions and a sexually explicit hoover: V&A Photography Centre review

There’s a lot – a lot of images and a lot of labels – but take your time and you’ll be duly rewarded.

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Should we judge a work by the character of its creator?
20 May 2023
The Spectator
Should we judge a work by the character of its creator?

‘Most of my heroes are monsters, unfortunately,’ Joni Mitchell once said, ‘and they are men.’ The singer-songwriter was able to detach the maker from the made. Should we do the same? Is it ethical? Moral? Even possible?

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How a ‘Succession’ Actress’s Daughters Joined the Family Business
21 April 2023
T Magazine
How a ‘Succession’ Actress’s Daughters Joined the Family Business

In the first film Mouna and Lina Soualem made with their mother, Hiam Abbass, personal attachments went out the window: “There’s no time for that.”

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A Lifelong Writing Mentorship That Started With a Story
21 April 2023
T Magazine
A Lifelong Writing Mentorship That Started With a Story

Jeanette Winterson got a police escort so she could make it to Eleanor Shearer’s birth. What’s followed has been years of advice about building a creative life.

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The Rossettis review — copper-coloured hair and fifty shades of beige
5 April 2023
The Times
The Rossettis review — copper-coloured hair and fifty shades of beige

First impressions are everything, and the opening room of The Rossettis doesn’t exactly wow.

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Hilma af Klint — the artist who painted the future
5 April 2023
The Times
Hilma af Klint — the artist who painted the future

It’s a cold and dark winter’s day in Stockholm, but within the Moderna Museet it appears as though someone has added a filter that’s warm and bright.

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Crazy cat ladies: An absorbing reflection on motherhood and almost-motherhood
30 March 2023
TLS
Crazy cat ladies: An absorbing reflection on motherhood and almost-motherhood

The crazy cat lady is a cautionary tale”, writes Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett in her absorbing, often amusing memoir.

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‘I’m staying at Larry Gagosian’s place’ – Stanley Whitney’s long journey from rat-infested New York
30 March 2023
The Guardian
‘I’m staying at Larry Gagosian’s place’ – Stanley Whitney’s long journey from rat-infested New York

I’m early, but the gallery receptionist tells me that Stanley will be right down. Right down from where, I wonder.

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Berthe Morisot: Shaping Impressionism review — a dazzlingly unique vision
27 March 2023
The Times
Berthe Morisot: Shaping Impressionism review — a dazzlingly unique vision

I’m not at all green fingered, but I could stare for hours at Berthe Morisot’s portrait of her sister Edma watering a shrub.

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After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art review — a starry showcase
23 March 2023
The Times
After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art review — a starry showcase

Did you know that Balzac liked to work in his dressing gown? I didn’t.

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Manet, Mandarins and Me
21 March 2023
The London Magazine
Manet, Mandarins and Me

My husband doesn’t enjoy peeling oranges. He doesn’t like the little white webs of pith or the way the juice trickles between his fingers and soaks and stains the skin.

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Misery for art’s sake: Life as a cog in Warhol’s Factory
15 March 2023
TLS
Misery for art’s sake: Life as a cog in Warhol’s Factory

A couple of dozen pages into Nicole Flattery’s poised debut novel, the protagonist, seventeen-year-old Mae, is riding the escalators in a department store.

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Lucie Rie review — we should all go potty for the queen of ceramics
3 March 2023
The Times
Lucie Rie review — we should all go potty for the queen of ceramics

Lucie Rie’s ceramic buttons belong in a sweet shop.

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Move over Sgt Pepper: the making of a new, all-female collage
2 March 2023
The Times
Move over Sgt Pepper: the making of a new, all-female collage

A woman’s work is never done, but come June it will be publicly celebrated.

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Mike Nelson: Extinction Beckons review — art as apocalyptic wasteland
21 February 2023
The Times
Mike Nelson: Extinction Beckons review — art as apocalyptic wasteland

It’s not often an exhibition makes me feel uneasy, but a press officer from the Hayward Gallery has just appeared and I’ve jumped out of my skin.

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‘It’s like going from a storm into a sunny room’: Idris Khan and Annie Morris on art and marriage
19 February 2023
The Independent
‘It’s like going from a storm into a sunny room’: Idris Khan and Annie Morris on art and marriage

An artist should avoid falling in love with another artist – at least according to Marina Abramović, who in the 1970s gave us her great manifesto for life and art.

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Alice Neel: Hot Off the Griddle review — life unvarnished
15 February 2023
The Times
Alice Neel: Hot Off the Griddle review — life unvarnished

It’s remarkable, the amount of feeling Alice Neel can generate with a few knuckles.

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Sarah Lucas: ‘I’m 60. Life isn’t over’
11 February 2023
The Times
Sarah Lucas: ‘I’m 60. Life isn’t over’

“They don’t let you smoke here, which is annoying,” Sarah Lucas not quite whispers. Still, as she shrugs on her coat, a bulky thing that swallows her whole, she slips her hands into her pockets and pulls out a tin of tobacco.

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