Rakewell

When politicians paint over their mistakes

Iain Duncan Smith once said that oil painting was like politics – because you could easily paint over your mistakes. Rakewell picks out a few politicians who have done just that

22 Mar 2016

The Rake’s progress: last week in gossip

Why has Arsène Wenger slipped in to artspeak? Plus a dog that can paint and more yet more art pouting from Kanye West

20 Mar 2016

The pop art that should never have reached the recording studio

From Joseph Beuys to Dinos Chapman, the artists who have turned to music but should never have hit the studio

18 Mar 2016

UNESCO gears up for a pizza party

The Neapolitan dough boys have applied for protected status for pizza through UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage scheme

17 Mar 2016
I hate Frieze. It’s a tent. In a park. That sells art. Not a cultural phenomenon

The Rake’s progress: last week in gossip

The Steve Lazarides effect, at home with Elton John and his collection, and the Museum of Broken Relationships heads to LA

13 Mar 2016

When restoration goes wrong. Very wrong.

The only near comparable disaster that sprung to mind was Saddam Hussein’s reconstruction of Babylon

11 Mar 2016

Creative Scotland’s journey to the undertaker

Introducing Rakewell, Apollo’s wandering eye on the art world. Look out for regular posts taking a rakish perspective on art…

10 Mar 2016

Sir Anish Kapoor toys with the dark arts

Introducing Rakewell, Apollo’s wandering eye on the art world. Look out for regular posts taking a rakish perspective on art…

7 Mar 2016
Thomas Heatherwick himself turned up wearing a jacket embroidered with leaves and foliage

The Rake’s progress: last week in gossip

Introducing Rakewell, Apollo’s wandering eye on the art world. Look out for regular posts taking a rakish perspective on art…

6 Mar 2016

Do we need a museum dedicated to the Olsen twins? Er, no.

A Kickstarter campaign to launch an Olsen twins museum has Rakewell reaching for his absinthe bottle

4 Mar 2016
It makes perfect sense for Iggy Pop to be the subject of a life class...his body has witnessed much and should be documented

A lust for life drawing (or, Iggy Pop takes his clothes off, again)

Iggy Pop has been getting his kit off (again), in the name of art

2 Mar 2016
I just think Lucian Freud makes everyone look like they're made of cheese

The Rake’s progress: last week in gossip

Zaha Hadid’s favourite rapper, art in space, and why Prince Philip doesn’t rate Lucian Freud

1 Mar 2016

A contested cockerel and other controversies

Rakewell reflects on how the public has started taking restitution into its own hands

26 Feb 2016

The Met’s new logo and a truly pretentious party

The Met’s rebranding exercise has not gone well, Kanye West needs $1 billion, and London’s art world has been partying in the name of pretentiousness

21 Feb 2016

A history of Kanye Western art

Kanye West thinks he’s Picasso or Michelangelo – but Rakewell is not so sure

17 Feb 2016

The museum of Cornish pasties and a peek inside Vincent’s bedroom

The Cornish pasty museum and now booking: Van Gogh’s bedroom on Airbnb

14 Feb 2016

The YBA demolition jobs causing a sensation near you

Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst are building and burrowing in London – but at what cost, asks Rakewell

9 Feb 2016

The Rake’s progress: last week in gossip

Not-so-radical street art and the Cerne Abbas giant censored at the Palace of Westminster

7 Feb 2016
Rakewell

Arks and car parks at the Creation Museum

Spare a thought for the poor souls at the Creation Museum, says Rakewell, whose ambitions are being held up by red tape

5 Feb 2016
Rakewell

Situation terminal: can an artist improve Manchester Airport?

Rakewell ponders why an airport would install an artist in residence

3 Feb 2016
Rakewell

The Rake’s Progress: The Week in Gossip

The return of the fig leaf, Thomas Heatherwick’s selective statistics, and a museum director in the postroom

29 Jan 2016
Rakewell

Italy tucks away its assets to avoid Iranian blushes

Italian PM Matteo Renzi likes to boast about his country’s cultural heritage – until the Iranian president visits, that is…

27 Jan 2016
Rakewell

The Rake’s Progress: Last Week in Gossip

Harry Styles turns to painting, the new British Museum director’s penchant for Prince, and why Arts Council initiatives sound like second-rate action films

25 Jan 2016
Rakewell

The curious incident of the dog on Gormley’s coastline

British sculptor Antony Gormley has a furry new fan

22 Jan 2016