Art
Against the new witch-hunt in the arts
Art, if it means anything, must be more than propaganda
The sacredness of sounds
A fascinating new book explores the transcendent qualities of sound
There is nothing good about graffiti
We should have no tolerance for people who make our public spaces uglier
The artist, naked and alone
I wrote a novel to expose the shallowness of the gallery system, but my biggest target was myself
What have galleries got against British art?
Our curators are embarrassed by our own cultural treasures
After the carnival
This year’s edition of Liverpool Biennial marks the end of contemporary art’s authority over contemporary life
In defence of the unjustly neglected
It can be a mistake to think that our cultural margins have been defined by merit
The transformation nobody wanted
The artistic should not be sidelined in favour of the commercial
Why banks collect art
What started as one banker’s obsession is now an €850 million asset — and a powerful branding tool
Why can nobody paint the Royals?
Looking at this weak likeness on Tatler’s glossy cover, Britain will draw a blank
Most Read
Tame Impala fails to impress
unconquered by a
taste of Crusader food
Gary Stevenson is wrong about wealth taxes
The popular economist is irritating, but more importantly he is mistaken
What is wrong now was wrong before
Julia Gillard should not pretend that the “unintended consequences” of the gender debate were unknowable
Why they hated Ann Widdecombe
Fair-minded people could agree or disagree with her opinions. Left-wing bigots hated her for not abandoning them
Ethnic minorities are abandoning Labour
It is not just Muslim voters who have been abandoning the Labour Party
Can Russell T Davies write “terfs”?
In Tip Toe, Russell T Davies is more nuanced than one might expect — much to the dismay of gender ideologues
A below-par Riley is still better than most
The Palm House by
Gwendoline Riley; My Death by Lisa
Tuttle; Still Talking by Lore Segal
Labour’s toxic medicine
The more they treat the symptoms of decline, the worse things get
What if the AI bubble bursts?
Arguing that an AI bubble is a good thing reeks of techno-optimist complacency
No, rent controls don’t work
Stop toying with failed ideas and build some damn houses
Bring back literary vendettas
Grub Street thrived when
there was an “establishment”,
movements and feuds
Exactly my bag
Travel they say, broadens the mind. It can also empty the pockets
Zurbarán on Freud’s couch
An acclaimed new exhibition is full of overwrought symbolism and compositional failures
Migrant hotels are not the real problem
The real problem with illegal immigration is at the border
On Britain as a capitalist command economy
It is neither neoliberal nor socialist but a secret third thing
Dignified design for the people
A book that asks all the right questions but hasn’t thought through all the answers