To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
Latest editorial
Apprentice
by Frankie Quinn
If you can see past the relentless commodification you will be rewarded by enormously powerful work, suggests JENNY MITCHELL
CHRIS SEARLE revels in the one-off collaboration between an American polymath and a British Muslim, and detects the presence of their revolutionary forebear
GORDON PARSONS revels in an ebullient production of Shakespeare’s magical comedy
BRENT CUTLER welcomes a thoughtful analysis of the Erdogan regime, viewed through the evolving history of a neighbourhood in Istanbul
GORDON PARSONS regrets the price, but is dazzled by an outstandingly ambitious study of the way art restoration in particular, and culture in general was weaponised by the Nazis
I stood and watched him hit the nail
Each strike precise as a marksman’s shot,
He’d take my hand, his rough leathery skin
Guide my trembling fingers.
He’d drum, drum, drum along a stud wall,
Hearing changing note he’d nod
I’d drive the nail home.
I’d smile, he’d say:
Carry on now.
I’d never master that sound.
He was like a harpist tuning fine strings,
His ear caught every note
While I stood driving nails in air.
These days, his thumb nails blackened,
His fingers tremble holding a delft cup.
Frankie Quinn is a former political prisoner who served 14 years in the H Blocks and other prisons. He now runs an ex-prisoners’ centre in Dungannon Co Tyrone. Apprentice is taken from his collection Open Gates (Colmcille Press, 2021).
Similar stories
ALAN MORRISON recommends a consummate, heart-warming collection about a working-class upbringing in the industrial north-east
by Christopher Norris
As part of the 2025 London Jazz Festival Rich Mix offered intriguing sessions titled 'Persian Jazz,' CHRIS SEARLE was there
GEORGE FOGARTY is captivated by a brilliant one-man show depicting life in HMP Strangeways