‘The Best Way to Forget, Until You Find Something You Want to Remember’
16 Monday Sep 2019
Posted in Art and Photography, Jeanne Eagels
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'The Best Way to Forget Until You Find Something You Want to Remember', Amy Winehouse, Bette Davis, Christine Keeler, Cob Gallery, If You Don't Want My Peaches (You Better Stop Shaking the Tree), Jean Harlow, Jeanne Eagels, Kim Novak, Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, Nina Mae Fowler, Rita Hayworth, The Letter
Nina Mae Fowler is a British artist who trained at the University of Brighton, and lives in Norfolk. Her latest solo exhibition, If You Don’t Want My Peaches (You’d Better Stop Shaking the Tree), on display at London’s Cob Gallery until September 28, borrows its title from an Irving Berlin song, and draws heavily on the iconography of Hollywood’s golden age. I was delighted to find Jeanne Eagels among the subjects, as she is often neglected. This portrait shows Jeanne in her penultimate movie (and only surviving talkie), The Letter (1929.) Continue reading
Brighton Shows Love (and Pride) for Marilyn
06 Tuesday Aug 2019
Posted in Art and Photography, Brighton, Marilyn Monroe, Politics
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Brighton, Brighton Pride, broken//hartist, Graffiti, LGBTQ+, Marilyn Monroe, Public Art, Richard Avedon, Sad Marilyn, Street Art, The Postman
Brighton Pride is the biggest event of its kind in the UK, and one of the most popular worldwide. This weekend, a rainbow ribbon of graffiti streamed across my hometown – including this mural at the old Methodist Church on 88 London Road. Created by The Postman and broken//hartist, after Richard Avedon’s 1957 photograph, widely known as ‘Sad Marilyn‘ – all the more touching as this Pride weekend coincided with the 57th anniversary of Marilyn’s passing, and she will always be loved by our LGBTQ+ community.
Some Kind Of Mirror: Creating Marilyn Monroe
04 Sunday Aug 2019
Posted in Books, Film, Marilyn Monroe, Non-Fiction
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All About Eve, Amanda Konkle, Audrey Hepburn, Billy Wilder, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Bus Stop, Clash By Night, Don't Bother To Knock, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, George Axelrod, How to Marry a Millionaire, Jack Cole, Jayne Mansfield, Kim Stanley, Let's Make Love, Love Happy, Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, Method Acting, Monkey Business, Niagara, O. Henry's Full House, Some Kind of Mirror: Creating Marilyn Monroe, Some Like It Hot, The Asphalt Jungle, The Misfits, The Prince And The Showgirl, The Seven Year Itch, We're Not Married
In 1954, Marilyn Monroe was rehearsing ‘Do It Again’ as part of her show for U.S. troops in Korea, when the officer in charge of her tour deemed the Gershwin standard “too suggestive,” and insisted she change the title to ‘Kiss Me Again.’ “People had a habit of looking at me as if I were some kind of mirror instead of as a person,” she remarked in her memoir, My Story. “They didn’t see me, they saw their own lewd thoughts.” Her comment inspired the title (and epigraph) for a new book, Some Kind of Mirror: Creating Marilyn Monroe by Amanda Konkle, assistant professor of literature and film studies at Georgia Southern University. Continue reading
Read All About ‘Dear Christine’ in ART NORTH
18 Tuesday Jun 2019
Posted in Art and Photography, Profumo Affair, Wicked Baby
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1960s, Amadeo Modigliani, Art North, Charlotte Rampling, Christine Keeler, Dear Christine, Denning Report, Fionn Wilson, Flamingo Club, Ian McKay, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Julie Burchill, Julie Christie, Newcastle, Profumo Affair, Sexual Revolution, Stephen Ward, Swinging London, The Boy Looked At Christine, Vane Gallery, Wicked Baby, William Hogarth
‘Christine Reads the Denning Report’ by Fionn Wilson (2017)
Dear Christine: A Tribute to Christine Keeler, on display at Newcastle’s Vane Gallery until June 29 (and then touring), is featured on the ART NORTH website today, with an article by Julie Burchill (as quoted below) and ‘The Boy Looked At Christine,’ a review by Ian McKay. So if you’re in Newcastle this month, don’t miss this stunning (and free) exhibit – and you can check out the associated events here. Continue reading
‘Madame X’ is a Birthday Girl
14 Friday Jun 2019
Posted in Books, Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, Music, Updates
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In my 35+ years of fandom, this is the first time a Madonna album has dropped on my birthday – and it’s a masterpiece! As well as the delectable Madame X, I also got a copy of Marilyn Monroe In Spain, a wonderful book by the artist, author and museum owner, Frederic Cabanas … “Saludos a todos mis amigos!”
Soledad 2: Twin Peaks, Joe D’Amato and More
13 Thursday Jun 2019
Posted in Film, Magazines, Television, Updates, Writing
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1989, Colette, David Lynch, Emily Jane Bryant, Heather Drain, Jeremy Richey, Joe D'Amato, John David Levy, Johnny Handsome, Les Bohem, Like A Prayer, Madonna, Marcelline Block, Michael A. Gonzales, Mickey Rourke, Peggy Lipton, Poetry, Robert Monell, Rory DeMaio, Soledad, Twin Peaks
The Italian actress Cinzia Monreale lies in her coffin on the cover of SOLEDAD Arts Journal‘s second volume, available now on Amazon for just $6 in the US, or £4.73 in the UK. It’s a still from Buio Omega (Beyond the Darkness), a 1979 horror flick, accompanied by a splendidly bizarre quote: “Darkness is not dark … time is not time … boys become dogs … girls become frogs …” Continue reading
‘Dear Christine’ Opens in Newcastle
04 Tuesday Jun 2019
Posted in Art and Photography, Magazines, Profumo Affair, Wicked Baby
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Cathy Lomax, Christine Keeler, Claudia Clare, Dear Christine, Helen Billinghurst, International Times, Jan Woolf, Mike Kelly, Morning Star, Newcastle, Profumo Affair, Sadie Hennessy, The Journal, Vane Gallery, Women of Tyneside
Dear Christine: A Tribute to Christine Keeler has opened at the Vane Gallery in Newcastle, with free admission until June 29. During this first stop in a 3-city tour (more details here), there will also be a series of lectures and workshops by artists featured in the show. These events are also free, but it’s advisable to pre-book at info@vane.org.uk or 0191 261 8281. Continue reading
‘Dear Christine’ Draws Back the Curtains
24 Friday May 2019
Posted in Art and Photography, Books, Profumo Affair, Updates, Wicked Baby, Writing
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Caroline Coon, Cathy Lomax, Christine Keeler, Claudia Clare, Dear Christine, Fionn Wilson, Helen Billinghurst, Newcastle, Sadie Hennessy, Tara Hanks, Vane Gallery
Dear Christine: A Tribute to Christine Keeler, a new exhibition curated by Fionn Wilson, will open at the Vane Gallery in Newcastle on June 1st (open from 12-5 pm on Wednesdays to Saturdays.) During its four week-stay, there will also be a series of lectures and workshops hosted by artists Caroline Coon, Claudia Clare, Sadie Hennessy, Helen Billinghurst and Cathy Lomax. Whether you see Christine Keeler as a Sixties icon or political figure, the women behind Dear Christine are, at long last, bringing her humanity into public view. Continue reading
Sunshine Blondes: Marilyn and Doris Day
14 Tuesday May 2019
Posted in Film, Marilyn Monroe
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Clark Gable, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Howard Keel, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe, Move Over Darling, Pillow Talk, Rock Hudson, Something's Got To Give, That Touch Of Mink, The Graduate, The Prince And The Showgirl, Thelma Ritter
“You take the grey skies out of my way
You make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day…”
– Wham!, ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ (1984) Continue reading
Marilyn’s Monsters
30 Tuesday Apr 2019
Posted in Art and Photography, Books, Fiction, Film, Marilyn Monroe
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Betty Boop, Bus Stop, Comic Book, Fairy Tale, Fantasy, Gothic Horror, Graphic Novel, Humanoids, Life Drawn, Love Happy, Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn's Monsters, Sugar Kane, The Seven Year Itch, Tommy Redolfi
Marilyn Monroe has long been an inspiration to artists and writers. Among the many books devoted to her life and image are a number of comics and graphic novels. Kathryn Hyatt’s Marilyn: The Story of a Woman (1996) and Dana Gachman’s recent contribution to the Tribute series both opt for fairly conventional, if sympathetic narratives. It is from outside the USA that more imaginative retellings have emerged, such as Sergio Toppi’s 16-page comic, plus two full-length books: Jean-Francois Charles’ Shooting Star (2006) and Jose Correa’s Dreams of a Butterfly (2012.)
Tommy Redolfi’s Holy Wood was first published in France in 2016, and is now available in English as Marilyn’s Monsters, published by Life Drawn, a literary imprint from comic book publisher Humanoids. The French-born Redolfi now lives in Los Angeles, and has made several films as well as other graphic novels, including a 2007 tome about one of Marilyn’s idols, Mae West. Marilyn’s Monsters comes with an endorsement from cult filmmaker David Cronenberg: “A brilliant, hallucinatory meditation on the phenomenon of Marilyn Monroe. It will alter your understanding of both Hollywood and Marilyn.” Continue reading
