Review of Alex Bunn, Folk Form Taxa, at The Aubin Gallery, London

Review by Elisa Caldarola Folk Form Taxa, Alex Bunn’s new show, opened last week at The Aubin Gallery in Shoreditch, London. Ten large light box…

Q&A with Last Year’s Winner for Fiction in the Aesthetica Creative Works Competition

As you know, The Aesthetica Creative Works Competition is now open for Entries, and it’s the only UK competition to support both creative writing and…

The Games of Nonchalance

Theatre production companies take on the role of game designers as a growing immersion in multimedia alters expectations of entertainment.

Wesley Stace

In conversation with Wesley Stace.

A Gothic Novel with a Twist

In Your Presence is Required at Suvanto Maile Chapman presents an unnerving treatise on the effects of age on the body and isolation on the mind.

Silence

Wagner’s second novel to be translated into English is Silence: a genuinely gripping crime thriller with a psychological twist.

Death of an Unsigned Band

Death of an Unsigned Band is the new novel from Tim Thornton, offering a fly-on-the-wall insight into the trials and tribulations that face an unsigned band.

Super Sad True Love Story

Super Sad True Love Story is full of brilliantly inventive language and Shteyngart’s trademark humour, which belies a poignant message for society.

Martin Creed: Works

In an intimate introduction, Creed lets the readers know his insecurities: “I don’t think I want to make a book of my work. I am scared to look at what I have done.”

Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg

The Beat writers and artists defined a post-War era that was rife with youth rebellion, Cold War politics and the disillusion of the American Dream.

Shilpa Gupta

Having exhibited in the Serpentine Gallery’s Indian Highway, Shilpa Gupta has drawn interest from both public institutions and collectors alike.

High Frequency Bandwidth (HFB)

HFB is comprised of Dr. Alex Paterson of British electronic group, the Orb, and Dom Beken, who has worked with the likes of David Bowie and Placebo.

School of Seven Bells

School of Seven Bells’ follow up to debut album Alpinisms is a electro-pop gem of digitised beats and dream-like qualities.

Grasscut

Multi-layered, engaging, robotic-electro combined with rustic rhythms and wired visions are just a handful of adjectives to describe Grasscut’s debut.

Ólöf Arnalds

Ólöf Ar­nalds has a mesmer­ising voice. In her new album, this is given the perfect showcase with accompaniment consisting of harps, strings, and acoustic guitars.

Micah P Hinson

Cinematic in its grandeur, the album expertly arcs from prologue to epilogue through 12 songs, sweeping from a modest instrumental beginning to climax.

The Hundred In the Hands

Paying homage to early hip hop, disco, ska and dub, post-punk and girl pop from the 1960s through the 1980s, this album is a rich mix, choreographed to perfection.

Born Ruffians

You already know Born Ruffians. The track Hummingbird from their previous album, Red, Yellow and Blue (2008) is instantly recognisable.

Close Out The Summer

August and September are when more intimate festival experiences come out to play. Here’s what it takes to put them together – and why they’re worth going to.

Nigel Prince

Nigel Prince has been curator of Ikon in Birmingham since 2004, responsible for many exhibitions including Carmen Herrera, Ryan Gander and Martin Boyce.

The New Frontier of Cinema & Digital Culture

The digital landscape has altered how and when we experience cinema. In 2010 the Abandon Normal Devices Festival opened to explore these junctures in more detail.

Undertow

Undertow is Javier Fuentes-León’s first feature film. Having won the World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival 2010, it opened in the UK in August 2010.

Stylised Realism & Coaxing Emotion

Finding beauty in the ordinary, Jannica Honey exposes images that rest somewhere between art and fashion.

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer

Internationally renowned artist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, premiered Recorders at Manchester Art Gallery in 2010.

Stuart Brisley

Performance art is complex, and requires audiences to experience works in new ways. One of the early pioneers, Stuart Brisley discusses his seminal pieces.

Sculpture’s Narrative Altered by Photography

A survey into the representation of sculpture and how photography has played a vital role in capturing the image.

Review: Nothing is Forever – South London Gallery

Review by Elisa Caldarola Nothing is Forever celebrates the renewal of South London Gallery, based in a late 19th century building in Southwark. It is…

THE OPEN PRIZE for Video Painting 2010

Opening tomorrow at Nichols & Clarke (Blossom Street, London, E1 6PL) the Open Gallery presents the Open Prize for Video Painting. At Aesthetica, we are…

The City & the Arts Festival – IF: Milton Keynes International Festival is on now

The inaugural IF: Milton Keynes International Festival opened last Thursday with great success. The festival is a new initiative to promote Milton Keynes as a…

Review: Wolfgang Tillmans at the Serpentine Gallery

Review by Elisa Caldarola Until 19 September the Serpentine Gallery will be showing a large collection of photographs by Wolfgang Tillmans. With some pictures dating…

Gary Hume’s ‘Bird in a Fish Tank’ opens in Berlin

Gary Hume (b.1962)is back this summer in Berlin. It’s been 15 years since his last solo show in the city, so there’s a lot of…

Review of Ernesto Neto, The Edges of The World, Hayward Gallery – Southbank Centre, London

Review by Elisa Caldarola Festival Brazil is a big event running throughout the summer at the Southbank Centre in London. Brazilian artist, Ernesto Neto is…

Review of Howard Hodgkin, Time and Place, Modern Art Oxford

Review by Elisa Caldarola This summer, Modern Art Oxford hosts Time and Place, Howard Hodgkin’s newest exhibition, curated by Director Michael Stanley. It presents twenty-five…

Puffin by Design

Phil Baines Allen Lane (Penguin) Puffin by Design is an exciting and colourful book, which celebrates the 70th anniversary of Puffin publications. Using the slogan…

Review Cornelia Parker, John Cage and Cage Mix at BALTIC

I was one of the many who wondered if BALTIC could top their breathtaking spring exhibition by Jenny Holzer, and with Cornelia Parker’s Doubtful Sound…

FASHION IS ART: MAISON MARTIN MARGIELA ‘20’ THE EXHIBITION

Who says that art and fashion don’t mix? For me, I see a clear connection between the two worlds. Although, the politics and protocol of…

Everyday People: Spencer Tunick’s latest offering at The Lowry

Salford and Manchester are certainly not the warmest of places to get naked, something that is made abundantly clear in the video work of Spencer…

Altered Images to open at Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin

Accessible, interactive and inclusive in ethos, Altered Images aims to stimulate engagement with the visual arts for the general public and particularly for people with…

Review of "Whose Map is it?" now on at Iniva in London

Whose Map is it? is the latest show to open at Iniva. Kicking off with a symposium on 2 June with delegates from around the…

Arthouse French film, Father of My Children, out on DVD later this month

Father of My Children (Le Pere De Mes Enfants), written and directed by Mia Hanson-Love, communicates an outstanding portrayal of family drama based on the…

Review: Hermann Obrist at the Henry Moore Institute

Last week a comprehensive exhibition on Hermann Obrist (1862 – 1927) opened at the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds. Hermann Obrist: Art Nouveau Sculptor is the…

New Symphony: A New Exhibition of Four Leading Sculptors

New Symphony, an exhibition of new works by four leading sculptors opened last week at the Simon Oldfield Gallery in Covent Garden. Artists Tim Ellis…

Q&A with Felix Vogel Curator of the 4th Bucharest Biennale

After a half hour discussion with Felix Vogel, curator of the 4th Bucharest Biennale Handlung: On Producing Possibilities, I quickly forget how old he is…

Born Ruffians

A rather energetic follow-up to Red, Yellow & Blue, Toronto’s Born Ruffians are even more on the pulse with this time.

Martha Tilston

Tilston is a master of evocative lyrics; a particular favourite on Lucy & the Wolves is the beautiful Lucy of the album’s title.

Allo Darlin’

Upbeat and sunny, Allo Darlin’s eponymous debut is warm and fuzzy. It’s happy music reminiscent to The Go-Betweens’ “striped sunlight sound”.

Lives

The new record from Alabama-born Dan Sartain encompasses vintage rock ’n roll and blues within his Southern tendencies.

Jane Weaver

Jane Weaver’s 5th LP is the first to be released on her own label, Bird Records, and is a more fully-realised concept album than her previous offerings.

UNKLE

Released on their own label, this is UNKLE’s fourth full-length album. It is a fantastic collection of joyful soundscapes, electronica, live drums, strings and percussion from The Heritage Orchestra.

Frightened Rabbit

Scotland and Indie rock bands go hand-in-hand. Hailing from this breeding-ground of talent is Frightened Rabbit.