David McAllister

Lots of debate recently on the state of Scottish cultural life - with plenty of omissions. For me it all comes back to the bigger (older) challenge of accommodating an avant-garde in a small country. Some provocative lessons from IHF here:
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/art/...

Ithell Colquhoun’s flight from modernity The artist, currently the subject of a major Tate retrospective, found inspiration among the wells and waystones of Cornwall

My latest for @prospectmagazine.co.uk, on the Tate's survey of Ithell Colquhoun, one of this year's highlights on the exhibition calendar:

“I have an enormous amount of respect for this building.” Annabelle Selldorf on her National Gallery redesign The architect’s changes to the gallery’s Sainsbury Wing have provoked controversy. We speak to her as the new wing opens

For the latest @prospectmagazine.co.uk, I spoke to Annabelle Selldorf on her (not entirely uncontentious) redesign of the National Gallery's postmodern classic, the Sainsbury Wing:

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/7010...

Really enjoyed doing this piece for the Royal Academy of Art’s magazine, where I interned back in 2019. The RA’s exhibition of Brazilian modernism – which has just one week left – is well worth your time!

Hockney is very formally inventive – from painting to photomontage to iPad drawings, etc. He also essentially founded, with Paolozzi before him, the British iteration of Pop Art. The criticism of Vettriano is overblown, but his scope was definitely much narrower and derivative of Hopper et al.

Jack Vettriano’s art was bad, but that’s a good thing Art critics loved to hate the late Scottish artist. But in their haste to pan him, they avoided some of the thornier questions his work presents

My latest for @prospectmagazine.co.uk – on assessing Jack Vettriano's legacy as perhaps one of the best bad artists there ever was:

Into the ether The "Electric Dreams" exhibition at the Tate illuminates our changing relationship with the virtual world

"Soon enough, the shroud will cover everything; there will be no divide to mediate between the virtual and real worlds. The technology people use will be indistinguishable from the people who use it".

A thought-provoking read from @davidmcallister.bsky.social

Into the ether The "Electric Dreams" exhibition at the Tate illuminates our changing relationship with the virtual world

My latest for the @newhumanist.bsky.social – inside this (extremely worth seeing) show of early digital art at the Tate!

Ai Weiwei versus AI There is much humanity on display in the Chinese artist’s latest exhibition—of a sort that artificial intelligence could never match, he tells us

For the latest issue of @prospectmagazine.co.uk I spoke to Ai Weiwei about what he's doing with 30 tonnes of buttons, the importance of privacy for art-making and why he thinks artificial intelligence will never supplant human creativity

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/6912...

Victor Hugo’s love affair with a maid? It makes a great story Célina, Catherine Axelrad’s newly translated novel, traces one girl’s dalliances with the great French poet in beautiful style

Going in strong with my first ever starred book review here

www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-t...

These artists didn’t just paint the East End. They changed it Pictures of a fading London

Super excited to contribute to @londonermag.bsky.social – and to shed light on the London of this extremely underrated group of 20th-century artists !

www.the-londoner.co.uk/these-artist...

What even is English painting, anyway? The artist Dexter Dalwood set out to find an answer—but, in the end, produced something much more personal than it is national

What is English painting? The artist Dexter Dalwood set out to find an answer—but, in the end, produced something much more personal than it is national, writes @davidmcallister.bsky.social.
www.prospectmagazine...

Pubic flair We joined the White Pube at their namesake gallery, the White Cube, to take in a Tracey Emin exhibition. They weren’t impressed with it; we were by th...

Managed to keep myself to just one pubic-related pun for this feature on the inimitable duo the White Pube in my latest for @prospectmagazine.bsky.social

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/6835...

Van Gogh’s constant search for God The National Gallery’s new exhibition doesn’t reveal the artist in a new light—but that, in a way, is the point

Stop what you're doing right now because this is extremely important: I, too, have written about Van Gogh

www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/art/...

Hi everyone, I am now on Bluesky Social