JJ Charlesworth

writing on art, culture, politics

censorship

  • Fear of statues

    Fear of statues

    My comment on statue-smashing, from Eric Gill to William Colston, for ArtReview Amid the furious arguments that now surround whether statues should be toppled, destroyed, removed to a museum, ‘interpreted’ or just left where they are, the truth that most statues, most of the time, go unnoticed, is rarely acknowledged. Every day, thousands of Londoners…

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  • Philip Guston’s KKK Paintings Must Be Shown – But Not as Pawns in the Culture Wars

    The backlash over the postponement of the touring exhibition Philip Guston Now is the latest, starkest example of how museums are becoming little more than sites of social and political contestation. The show’s first incarnation, at London’s Tate Modern, had been due to open early next year. Now the show, rethought, reimagined and redone is…

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