The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

Menu

Navigation

I don’t know much about art, but I know (25 of) what I like

by 29 Comments

At risk of adding excess to the weight of ’25’ posts, I thought I’d offer the chance for a bit of pure visual culture – your favourite 25 pieces of art – may be famous, may be unknown – but they move you and stir something in you when you see them.

Take whatever medium you like, (I’ve gone – loosely -for classics, landscapes, figures, abstract, sculpture).

I’ve stuck to one piece per artist (otherwise I would have taken 25 Cezannes), but don’t feel restricted yourself.

This is slightly trickier than music, film or television (or games or books – gap in the market, there), as you have to upload and label 25 images – which may seem like too much work. But who knows?

View post on imgur.com

Good doc on 70s Throbbing Gristle

by 12 Comments

This fair took me back to the messy side of the 1970s (at least that which I saw around me, given i was at school for all but a year of it). The number of greatcoat gurus and confused art ponces trying to get their brains back in to their heads after a little too much acid was remarkable, and this is very much how I have seen Genesis P Orridge, the other members of the Throbbing Gristle collective being a little saner but no less weird. Abba, they weren’t. But strangely enough, TG rather defined how things would go in other ways. Maybe that’s the Chris and Cosey element.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0012950/other-like-me-the-oral-history-of-coum-transmissions-and-throbbing-gristle

Album Covers – What the hell were they thinking?

by 67 Comments

OK, there are lots of album covers that are crap for various reasons: lazy, stock photos; awkward-looking “family album” photos of the artiste in question; scruffy scrawled “minimalist” typography… all the usual reasons. But what about those covers which are just so spectacularly inappropriate that your dropped jaw can only articulate the words “what … the … hell … were they thinking?”

I was prompted to write this post by my recent rediscovery of the back-catalogue of the wonderful and not-long-departed Chick Corea. And … this! Smurfs? What the…? (etc.)

So – any more favourite (if that’s the right word) examples of this sub-sub-category?

View post on imgur.com

sex – the times they are a changin’?

by 16 Comments

I wonder if the shift away from “edgy” violence in the arts and media will be paralleled by a similar shift from ‘edgy’ sex in the arts and media; it must be 40 years since Mapplethorpe argued you could skewer art pretensions by making it pornographic (see his biography). Then there was the Cosey Fan Tutti/ GPO exhibition at the ?ICA which also sought to deconstruct/ challenge/ [enter your post-modern buzz-word here] sex and pornography. Fashionistas eventually got it, Jeff Koons, his missus, all those photo essays of the fetish and s&m world, Madonna’s “Sex” book (oh those amusing transgressions she played with), Terry Richardson, porn as a norm, and the hiding in plain sight of sexual predators (I see Max Clifford and Weinstein as reflecting similar phenomena). I’m all for sex, and all for it being represented in an honest manner to accommodate a wide variety of orientations and preferences. Can this be done in a better way than currently? Discuss.

Alan Aldridge RIP

by 4 Comments

The great 60/70s clear-out continues…another good man gone, although nothing in the papers yet. I heard from a friend of a friend and his Wiki has been updated. I had some dealings with him in the 70s – fine fellow. His amazing Penguin covers, the Beatles stuff, the Sunday Times, there was a time when his crazed visions were everywhere. He also – and not many people know this – discovered the great Robert Rankin, which is how I got to know him.

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g401/mikethep/Alan_Aldridge_1971_zpsfufbmf2o.jpg

Art rock – fill out your university entry form here please

by 50 Comments

There’s origin myths about doing deals with the devil at midnight down at the crossroads. There’s being a hobo. Then there’s Art schools. From the fifties to today a staple in the origin myths of a certain type of band. We went to art school, we met at art school. Our whole band’s kind of an art project really. The guitarist paints our record sleeves. I base my lyrics on Rimbaud. It’s a Brechtian thing. We use the Burroughs cut-up technique to write our choruses.

Art rockers, art school rockers, here’s to artifice and wearing your reading list on your sleeve. None I think have captured this approach better than Wire – my ultimate art school band. Your entries please in the ultimate art school roll call. The more pretentious the better!

Bloody awful illustrations of musicians.

by 195 Comments

Bought this yesterday. Great lineup, but f*** me, the artist who did the painting needs having a word with, particularly for his portrayal of poor Emmylou, who looks most unwell.

Any more terrible ones out there? Doesn’t have to be on an album cover.

http://i1350.photobucket.com/albums/p773/minibreakfast/7_zpscfyarbqr.jpg

Brand New Squeeze(er)

by 71 Comments

I’m absolutely delighted to be able to share with you the newest addition to our household. No, not another cat, but this utterly beautiful work of art created by the Afterword’s own Pencilsqueezer, called “Out of the blue, and into the hot”. It was commissioned in memory of Mr Breakfast’s late mum, who among other things was a big fan of jazz and swing music. Her name was Iris, and as you can see, the colours of this flower have been incorporated. Of all the instruments Peter could have chosen, it gladdens my heart that he went for the trumpet, reflecting my fondness for the twin trumpets of Tijuana. I dare say this was no coincidence 🙂

My photo of course doesn’t do it justice, so I’ll post P’s own image in the comments so that you can get a closer look. Of course in real life it’s even more amazing. If you’re in the market for a gorgeous piece of art for your wall, whether for a special occasion or simply because you want to treat yourself, do get in touch with Peter. This is his AW handle, click away! @pencilsqueezer

Thank you Peter, from » Continue Reading.

New art work from Mr. Pencilsqueezer

by 17 Comments

I was lucky enough to receive my second painting from @pencilsqueezer. Here it is: ‘Coral Wreath’ .

More here:

http://pencilsqueezerartwork.weebly.com/

Thought the beautiful colours might brighten this grey and rainy day. I’d really recommend a commission if you can afford it; they look wonderful reproduced on screen but it’s even better when you see them on canvas.

Thanks, Peter.

View post on imgur.com

Art For Arts Sake

by 40 Comments

Bargepole asks a simple yet complicated question – what is your favourite piece of art, be it painting, sculpture, whatever – illustrations welcome.

The world needs Christian Grey

by 8 Comments

todayoutof10 on Fifty Shades – Christian Grey is ready for us. But are we ready for him…?

As I booked my ticket to see Fifty Shades of Grey, I was very much looking forward to my date with Christian Grey. I had been left disappointed by our first encounter and was eager to find out if our second meeting would be an improvement. I had reason to believe this would be the case.

I was late to the Fifty Shades party, having bought the book and its two sequels long enough after they had become a sensation to expect a cracker of a read. Finding the idea interesting, I was eager to immerse myself in a story that I expected to be emotionally charged, erotic and pretty gripping. In my head, I was already conjuring the developing relationship between the troubled man and the sexually naive young woman and looked forward to how it would play out in word form. Unfortunately, the books disappointed. So much so, that I gave up part way through the second novel. For me, a good book will put flesh on the bones of the characters I am imagining, helping me develop the story » Continue Reading.