Art at the DMZ. ‘A Collective Prayer’
I’m participating in an exhibition in the Odusan Unification Observatory. Every time I drive to my studio, I pass this building, which is perched on the top of a hill overlooking the DMZ, with a clear view of North Korea across the Han Estuary. But I’ve never bothered to drive up there, so when I was invited to participate in the exhibition the ‘73 Project: A Collective Prayer, Divided Time, Connected Future, which was to be held there, I decided to visit.
RIP. David Hockney!
In my new book, ‘La Belle France. British Artists Abroad, from Walter Sickert to David Hockney’, there is a Chapter on Hockney’s love of France.
Below is a link to the Yale University Press’ blog, which has published a version of the chapter. Enjoy!
JUST PUBLISHED! ‘La Belle France. British Artists Abroad from Walter Sickert to David Hockney.’
My new book has just been published by Yale University Press. It’s called La Belle France. British Artists Abroad, from Walter Sickert to David Hockney. Hatchard’s bookshops in London have made it their Non-Fiction Book-of-the-Month for June.
Hope Springs Eternal
In this new post I continue thinking about hope, the subject of a book I’m working on for Thames & Hudson. I consider the special relationship between art and hope.
ENEMIES OF HOPE
I mentioned in my previous post (‘Hope in a Cold Climate’,January 3rd) that I’m working on a book about art and hope. In the previous post I looked on the bright side. In this one, I focus on the many ways in which things are not looking so good as far as being hopeful goes.
HOPE IN A COLD CLIMATE
I’m currently working on a book for Thames & Hudson called How Art Can Give You Hope. It’s picture-led and intended for a wide readership. More on this project later, but now, as we begin 2026, I want to share some thoughts on hope, focusing on some positive - hopeful - signs.
‘Ancient Apocalypse’ Now.
Some thoughts on watching the Netflix docuseries ‘Ancient Apocalypse’, including a somewhat controversial reference to North Korea.
‘Continual Departures’
A photo of the first rose to bloom in my DMZ garden, and some thoughts it’s provoked about our mania for images.
‘Flood the Zone with Shit and Howling’. Lessons from North Korea
Sometimes, I’m grateful to North Korea for helping me to see more clearly what’s happening in the world more generally. In this case, their ‘noise-bombing’ and balloon sending has helped me understand President Trump.
Martial Law in South Korea (Cancelled)!
It’s Christmas Day. A lovely white Christmas, here in South Korea. For one reason or another, I haven’t written any blog entries since the summer. But today, I feel compelled to comment on the recent drama here in the Republic of Korea. I refer to President Yoon Suk-yeol’s martial law declaration on 3rd December, which turned out to be the shortest period of martial law in history, as it was cancelled the next day.
Kim Guiline. Introduction to a Dansaekhwa Artist
I recently wrote the catalogue essay for the current solo exhibition of the Korean Dansaekhwa artist Kim Guiline at Hyundai Gallery in Seoul (until July 14). This is a version of part of the essay, in which I introduce Kim’s highly distinctive painting style..
Roses, 2024!
As a rose lover and the author of a cultural history of the rose, I can’t pass through the months of May and June without doing a post about roses and sharing with you some photographs of rose blossoms…..And some poetry by John Keats.
Sowing Rice
The rice is being sown in the fields around us. Some thoughts on the rice field as metaphor in relaation to Korean art.
Blue jeans are still subversive (if you live in North Korea)!
More zany news from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: Blue jeans are still subversive! Recent evidence of this is the censoring of a British television series about gardening that’s been pirated by the North Koreans to show on state television.
‘Modern British’
in today’s post, I write about my exhibition of paintings at Art First in London, which ends on 28th March.
Is Kim Jong Un Preparing for War?
I borrow today’s post title from a scary recent article (January 11th) by North Korea experts Robert L. Carlin and Siegfried S. Hecker on the respected website 38 North. In the first paragraph the authors write:: ‘The situation on the Korean Peninsula is more dangerous than it has been at any time since early June 1950. That may sound overly dramatic, but we believe that, like his grandfather in 1950, Kim Jong Un has made a strategic decision to go to war. We do not know when or how Kim plans to pull the trigger, but the danger is already far beyond the routine warnings in Washington, Seoul and Tokyo about Pyongyang’s “provocations.” In other words, we do not see the war preparation themes in North Korean media appearing since the beginning of last year as typical bluster from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.’
A Sacred Tree at the DMZ
There are very few ancient trees in South Korea. But some venerable old trees do still survive in places, mostly by chance, and one of them grows very near where we live. It’s a six-hundred-year-old Zelkova that stands on a small hillock beside the village of Majeong-ri, not far from Imjingak and the DMZ.
2024 and Hope
The mass media always seems to welcome the new year by striving to cheer us up with reasons to be hopeful. But they’ve been working harder than usual this year! In today’s post I list 15 dimensions of history and experience that, for better or worse, will bring people hope in 2024.
The end of the year (or one of them)
Some thoughts on the end of the (or a) year in South Korea, and the bizarre calendar adopted by my neighbors north of the DMZ.