Speed of Life

"R.B. Kitaj was one of the pre-eminent figure painters working in post-war London. Despite the acclaim he achieved in his lifetime, since his death in 2007 he has not been widely exhibited in London and many areas of art historical research into his work await exploration. His paintings and drawings, especially those made in his Los Angeles period between 1997 and 2007, warrant more detailed appraisal than they have yet received. Outstanding research topics reach far beyond a consideration of his source materials and include his ambiguous interposition between modernity and post-modernity, his self-conscious use of eclectic styles as a vehicle for meaning, and the varied networks he connected with, from the swinging London of his friends David Hockney and Mick Jagger to the Beat scene of California. In short, Kitaj and his work are long overdue for reconsideration. In collaboration with Piano Nobile, the Courtauld Research Forum will contribute to that process of reconsideration. ...

From the BBC - "4-part BBC documentary series in which art historian James Fox explores how the power of images has transformed the modern world. James starts at the beginning of the 20th century, when an explosion of scientific and technological advances created radical new ways of looking at the world. From the impact of aerial photography on modern art to our ability to peer inside the body and freeze time itself, the first episode is a dizzying journey of visual invention, which makes fascinating connections between the work of artists, film-makers, photographers and scientists. Revealing Salvador Dali’s debt to Einstein, the groundbreaking trickery of Buster Keaton and shockingly modern fakery of WWI photos, James Fox offers an endlessly surprising, eye-opening look at the beginnings of our image-saturated age."

  PRIDE (Last of Us) 30"x22" pastel, color pencil, ink, and wash on paper 2025 by Gregg Chadwick My multi-media drawing on paper "PRIDE (Last of Us)" was inspired by a poignant scene in the HBO Max series which is based on the storytelling in the video game "Last of Us". In my artwork queer lovers Dina and Ellie ride on horseback through dystopian Seattle's Capitol Hill. In this perhaps eerily prescient future, PRIDE celebrations have ceased and anti - LGBTQIA bigotry is present. As they ride, Dina and Ellie notice the PRIDE flags, but don’t know their meaning. "What's up with all the rainbows?” Dina asks. “I dunno. Maybe they were all optimists,” Ellie responds. But, we the audience know what the PRIDE symbols mean and the loss is heartbreaking. As we near the end of June 2025 - the world is in a particular tough place. My artwork is a visual meditation to remind us all that "Love is Love!"

From the National Gallery in London: "Parmigianino is one of the most inventive and influential artists of the Italian Renaissance. His huge altarpiece, originally intended for a burial chapel in San Salvatore in Lauro in Rome, has had a particularly precarious life - or so the art historian Giorgio Vasari tells us. Hear from Project Curator Maria Alambritis the story of how both Parmigianino and his painting survived the Sack of Rome, one of the most destructive events of the 16th century." 🎨 Find out more about the painting, 'The Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Jerome' https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/pa... 🖌️ Find out more about Parmigianino https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/ar... #NationalGallery #ArtHistory #Parmigianino

Exploring the Garden of Earthly Delights will introduce the practice of drawing and painting in Santa Monica’s hidden green spaces. Soon to be a Great Park, the asphalt and concrete of the Santa Monica Airport will in the not-too-distant future give way to green fields, flowers, and foliage. Even now, magical places exist at the airport where nature expresses itself alongside hangars and workspaces.   During the workshop, we will venture into the garden area behind the City of Santa Monica Airport Arts Center Studios and engage with the natural forms that fill the space. In this urban oasis of lush green foliage and blooming flowers, workshop participants can draw or paint living botanicals on the spot, or draw or paint portraits of two costumed models. We will step out of our homes and workspaces, and bathed in Southern California light, will be inspired by the works of Hieronymus Bosch, Frida Kahlo, and John Singer Sargent.   We will respond to this intimate garden by making...