Portraying a Nation: Germany 1919-1933 – Tate Liverpool Exhibition Review

The August Sander/Otto Dix exhibition at Tate Liverpool is one of the most satisfying exhibitions I’ve seen for a long time. The title is entirely appropriate... Read More...

Live Music Review: The Nooran Sisters at City Halls, Glasgow

The Nooran Sisters are probably not a huge name in the UK outside the Asian community, but they are exceptionally talented and passionate singers of the Shamchu... Read More...

Ed Ruscha at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art Review

“I travel a lot, but I don’t come away with new inspiration” – Ed Ruscha That quote from Ed Ruscha doesn’t really reflect an attitude of disillusionment, or ... Read More...

Book Review: Killing for Company by Brian Masters

Brian Masters’ attempt to analyse the crimes and character of Dennis Nilsen is, ultimately, well-intentioned and impossible. He flashes back from Nilsen’s arres... Read More...

True to Life: British Realist Painting in the 1920s and 1930s at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art Review

Realism in the 20s and 30s has always seemed to be a rather ideologically and politically loaded style. Aesthetically there’s still a slight odour of fascism ab... Read More...

The Lure Review

The Lure, a documentary directed by Tomas Leach, follows six people through New Mexico in search of a treasure chest containing $3m, buried by elderly art deale... Read More...

The Invention of Realism: Beyond Caravaggio at the National Gallery of Scotland

The title of this exhibition – if you’re inclined to be pedantic – could be questioned. The word beyond could imply development; but the exhibition revolves mor... Read More...

El Ten Eleven – Unusable Love EP Review

El Ten Eleven is an LA based duo (Kristian Dunn on bass and guitar, Tim Fogarty on drums) in existence since 2005: the Unusable Love EP, with Emile Mosseri of T... Read More...

Point Blank, The Summer of Love, and The Code

"The guilty are punished, the virtuous rewarded, the authority of church and state is legitimate, and the bonds of matrimony are sacred." (Professor Thomas M... Read More...

Film Noir: Back in Black

As an indicator of what a film is likely to be, the tag film noir isn’t very helpful. What does it mean? 40s and 50s noir was characterised visually by moody bl... Read More...