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
When the Tide Turns
by Amanda Huggins
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
Helen, astride her skewbald pony,
smut-faced, riding bare-back,
collecting sea coal in threadbare sacks
while her brothers watch from the herring shed,
eyes narrowed against outsiders
as they wait for the turn of the tide
forty years ago.
The Raven brothers with a broken barrow,
tow-haired angels with hands soot-black,
stalking Joe’s wagon through the town,
collecting scattered nuggets and snips of slack,
not daring to head back home
without enough for the stove.
Paddy French when the mine closed down,
Pete when the Canny Lass was scrapped,
believing — for a while — in promised jobs,
shirt cuffs concealing their tattooed past.
But all eyes have narrowed against the future
now that the tide has turned.
Similar stories
ALAN MORRISON recommends a consummate, heart-warming collection about a working-class upbringing in the industrial north-east
ANDY CROFT welcomes the publication of an anthology of recent poems published by the Morning Star, and hopes it becomes an annual event
by Christopher Norris
by Widad Nabi