tech
January 16, 2026
Dark depths with Emin, a homoerotic saint and punchy political posters
Tracey gathers the melancholy giants, a lost London is remembered and collages celebrate Scots strugglers – all in your weekly dispatch
TL;DR
- Tracey Emin curates an exhibition on despair and melancholy at Carl Freedman Gallery, featuring Goya, Munch, and Bourgeois.
- Ming Wong's exhibition at the National Gallery responds to homoerotic paintings of Saint Sebastian.
- Fitzrovia Chapel hosts 'Souvenir,' an exhibition curated by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, paying homage to late 1970s/early 1980s London.
- Exhibitions at St John’s College, Oxford, and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery explore narrative in art and community-made posters, respectively.
- Research on Paulus Potter's painting 'The Bull' indicates the artist altered the bull's testicles to conform to 17th-century sensibilities.
- Notable facts learned include Ian McKellen lip-syncing to LS Lowry tapes, Tehching Hsieh's performance art, David Bowie's visit to a psychiatric clinic, Joseph Beuys' bathtub symbolism, potential influences on Piet Mondrian, Sean Scully's artistic fuel, Trump's impact on museums, and Martin Roemers' photo series 'Homo Mobilis'.
- Pietro da Cortona's 'Saint Cecilia' is highlighted as a Baroque masterpiece, portraying a female figure as an icon of chastity and patron saint of music, potentially used by the church to involve and control women.
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