Six early-morning treats

I mean, it's 9:20, so not that early, but my weekend migraine has departed and it's Frieze week, I'm excited

I spoke with one of the curators at the Louvre last week — not something you do every day, really — about a brand new department slated to open in 2027. He, Maximilien Durand, made the point that a brand new department at the Louvre isn’t a daily occurrence either, and this one is going to be full of ancient holy beautiful things that he described to me as being unique because they were — and still are — seen to be actual presences. So that’s a thing to be writing up of a Monday morning. Yesterday I went to see Simnikiwe Buhlungu’s arresting show (she uses the puddle as a conceptual tool; I LOVE that) at the Chisenhale. I was with a friend, who’d explained to her kid that the reason she was going out was that, in these hard times, she needed to be colourful. Isn’t that a perfect way to put it?

Frank Auerbach, Albert Street II, 2010. Private collection. Photograph (in black and white): Dale Berning Sawa

In that spirit, here’s some more:

1. I’m so into Takenya K. Holness’s work — look at the light, the lush hues, the poise and the warmth in these photographs:

   takenyakholness

   

   A post shared by @takenyakholness

2. These swimmers, by Leonor Fini, Les Baigneuses (The Bathers), 1972 — which, if you’re a Londoner or an out-of-town Friezer, you can see at the Galerie Minsky

friezeofficial

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2. Ali Cakes’s cloud jelly (that’s a real edible right there):

   mr_alicakes

   

   A post shared by @mr_alicakes

   3. These beauties by Georgian conceptual artist Keti Kapanadze (also at Frieze at Gallery Artbeat):

   keti.kapa.nadze

   

   A post shared by @keti.kapa.nadze

4. Iranian-German-Armenian maverick Nairy Baghramian telling me good stories about Gustav Meztger and making work I want to live with.

5. Notre Dame has just got its bells back and they have names: Gabriel, Anne-Geneviève, Denis, Marcel, Etienne, Benoit-Joseph, Maurice and Jean-Marie are the eight that needed cleaning after the fire. There are more.

6. Frank Auerbach’s portraits of London (“this raw thing”) are at Offer Waterman & Francis Outred and what a show. (Re the above pic in black and white: when I interviewed Auerbach in 2023, he and his gallerist both explained how whenever he’s getting work ready for a show, he always has it photographed in black and white first — so he can check the graphic structure; that is what will determine, to his mind, whether it is acceptable or not. I loved that.)

   

   Albert Street II, 2010 (Private collection); Maples Demolition on Euston Rd, 1960 (Leeds Museums and Galleries); Mornington Crescent with the Statue of Sickert's Father-In-Law III, Summer Morning, 1966 (Private collection). All copyright Frank Auerbach; Photographs: Dale Berning Sawa

   7. Raphael Saadiq performing a totally epic version of The Answer at Maida Vale studios and Giles Peterson’s “Oof. Proper” at the end.

   Happy Monday my dears x