05 Thursday Mar 2020
Posted in Art and Photography, Profumo Affair
≈ Comments Off on ‘Dear Christine’ Symposium Rescheduled
The Dear Christine symposium has been rescheduled for Saturday, March 28, at Deptford Town Hall, London from 12-6 pm – more details here. (Shown above is ‘Casting the First Stone’ by Marguerite Horner, oil on linen, 2017.)
UPDATE: Due to ongoing concerns about Coronavirus, this symposium has been postponed until further notice.
18 Tuesday Feb 2020
Posted in Art and Photography, Profumo Affair
≈ Comments Off on Goodbye (For Now) to ‘Dear Christine’
Due to unforeseen circumstances, I regret to tell you that ARTHOUSE1 is currently closed and the Dear Christine exhibition – plus a symposium scheduled for this Saturday – has been postponed until further notice. My sincere regards go out to everyone affected, and I hope to write more about this wonderful show in the near future. I currently have several related articles in the pipeline – including a review of the recent BBC documentary about the Profumo Affair, which I hope to post here later this week. (The above photo shows a print from a series by Lewis Morley, 1963, on loan from Camilla Shivarg; commissioned embroidery by Fine Cell Work, ‘Christine in Gold’; and ‘Portrait of a Lady’ by Sarah Shaw. And in the photo below is Fionn Wilson’s ‘Christine Mesmerises’, opposite the iconic Morley print.)
11 Tuesday Feb 2020
Posted in Art and Photography, Profumo Affair
≈ Comments Off on ‘Dear Christine’ Symposium in London
Tags
Amanda Coe, Arthouse1, Carol Dyhouse, Caroline Coon, Cathy Lomax, Christine Keeler, Dear Christine, Profumo Affair
Dear Christine: A Tribute to Christine Keeler, on display until February 29 at London’s ARTHOUSE1 (open from 3-7 pm on Thursdays to Sundays) is accompanied by a symposium featuring artists and commentators including historian Carol Dyhouse and Amanda Coe, writer/producer of The Trial of Christine Keeler, on Saturday, February 22. Admission is free but reserved to 40 places so book now via Eventbrite. (The painting shown above is ‘God Save Christine’ by Sal Jones.)
UPDATE: Due to unforeseen circumstances, this event has now been cancelled – more info here.
09 Sunday Feb 2020
Posted in Art and Photography, Interviews, Profumo Affair
≈ Comments Off on Reframing the Keeler Affair
My interview with Fionn Wilson – artist and curator of Dear Christine: A Tribute to Christine Keeler, an exhibition featuring works by twenty women artists now on display at London’s Arthouse1 until February 29th – is published today on the excellent Culture Matters website. (The painting shown above, by Fionn herself, is Christine and the Poisoned Apple – conjuring both the biblical Eve, and Snow White.)
UPDATE: Due to unforeseen circumstances, this exhibition is postponed until further notice – more info here. (18/02/2020)
03 Monday Feb 2020
Posted in Art and Photography, Magazines, Profumo Affair, Television
≈ Comments Off on ‘Dear Christine’ Steps Out in London
Tags
Arthouse1, Bermondsey, Christine Keeler, Dear Christine, Fionn Wilson, Her Edit, Julie Burchill, Keeler Profumo Ward and Me, London, Profumo Affair, Seymour Platt, The Trial Of Christine Keeler
Dear Christine: A Tribute to Christine Keeler has just begun the final leg of its tour at Arthouse1 in Bermondsey, London. The opening night was attended by, among others, Christine’s son Seymour Platt, and her close friend, Desmond Banks; Geoffrey Robertson QC; and the writer Julie Burchill. (You can view Julie and Seymour’s speeches here.)
UPDATE: Due to unforeseen circumstances, this exhibition has been postponed until further notice – more info here. (18/02/2020)
15 Friday Nov 2019
Posted in Art and Photography, Books, Film, Marilyn Monroe
≈ Comments Off on Marilyn: A Life in Biographics
“When we can recognise an actor by a set of icons, we can also recognise how completely that actor and their work have entered our culture and our consciousness.” A snapper board, a ukulele, and a birthday cake; the imprint of red lipstick, a bottle of Chanel No. 5, and a white halter dress blowing in the wind above a subway grate. These are all visual signifiers of the ultimate Hollywood bombshell, Marilyn Monroe. Continue reading
15 Tuesday Oct 2019
Posted in Art and Photography, Poetry, Profumo Affair
≈ Comments Off on Swansea Celebrates ‘Dear Christine’ in Art and Poetry
Tags
Caroline Coon, Christine Keeler, Dear Christine, Elysium Gallery, Pauline Boty, Poetry, Profumo Affair, Swansea, Wales
Dear Christine: A Tribute to Christine Keeler continues its run at the Elysium Gallery in Swansea with an evening of poetry this Saturday, as curator Fionn Wilson told Wales Art Review recently. An artist panel discussion will follow on October 26, and the exhibition will be on show until November 9. (If you can’t make it, Dear Christine will move to London next February.) Continue reading
07 Monday Oct 2019
Posted in Art and Photography, Profumo Affair
≈ Comments Off on ‘Dear Christine’ Opens in Swansea
Dear Christine: A Tribute to Christine Keeler is now on display at Elysium Gallery in Swansea, open from Tuesdays to Sundays at 12pm until November 9, with a series of associated events. (Shown above is ‘Welcome to the Sixties’ by Cathy Lomax.) Continue reading
16 Monday Sep 2019
Posted in Art and Photography, Jeanne Eagels
≈ Comments Off on ‘The Best Way to Forget, Until You Find Something You Want to Remember’
Tags
'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
06 Tuesday Aug 2019
Posted in Art and Photography, Brighton, Marilyn Monroe, Politics
≈ Comments Off on Brighton Shows Love (and Pride) for Marilyn
Tags
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.
