Madonna: Like an Icon – at 60
The music industry has never been kind to the older woman, says Lucy O’Brien. Female artists are expected to disappear gracefully, but Madonna, as ever, continues to buck trends.
Books, films, exhibitions
Books to read: There Are No Grown-Ups
I finally got round to reading Pamela Druckerman’s latest book There Are No Grown-Ups, on holiday. Well, on the return journey – a delayed flight helped.
Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up at the V&A
‘Everybody thinks they know Frida, but actually they don’t know her at all,’ Claire Wilcox senior curator at the V&A has said. My Frida knowledge is hazy, I’m not going t...
Azzedine Alaia exhibition at the Design Museum
Having been a Lycra-and-leather-clad fashion student in the 1980s, I’ve always had a fondness for Azzedine Alaia’s work. Oh those joyful black and white images of supermodels wearin...
Love this: Adrian Piper Berlin Dancing video
This video of Adrian Piper dancing in Alexanderplatz is just glorious. The 69-year-old artist and philosopher with a PhD from Harvard was born in New York and now lives in Berlin.
The psychology behind our fashion choices: five minutes with Professor Carolyn Mair
‘This is a good time to be an older woman or a woman of colour – I really like that things are finally changing, we are seeing more diversity in the media and I’d like to think it’s becaus...
Rachel Howard: the artist you need to know about
Why have I never heard of Rachel Howard? Is what I thought earlier this year when a gorgeous painting caught my eye as I walked past Blain Southern’s London gallery.
Something to look forward to: Laura Linney on stage in My Name is Lucy Barton
Our Christmas gift to each other was a smart TV – we’ve joined the 21st century, people. Many an evening is spent scrolling through Netflix on the settee – and we do actually watch s...
Films to see in January 2018
This is the best time of year for cinema-goers. The run-up to awards season is the point to catch all the main contenders.
Rachel Whiteread: at the Tate and on TV
Rachel Whiteread was the first woman to win the Turner Prize, in 1993. The artist’s life-size cast of the inside of derelict a house in London’s East End was demolished soon after.
The Grace Jones documentary
I’ve always admired Grace Jones. The strong image, the theatricality, the iconic Nightclubbing album that I still love to play.
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
Someone asked at the New York launch party what I’m currently reading. I’ve just started Jennifer Egan’s Manhattan Beach and I’m looking forward to putting my fee...
