Arts

Between February and June 1999, famed art forger John Myatt was in jail. He was there for what Scotland Yard described as “the biggest art fraud of the 20th century.” Myatt’s fakes of famous paintings by masters like Van Gogh and Matisse had sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds at auction, fooling the seasoned experts at both Sotheby’s and Christie’s. When he was discovered to be a forger, the police pulled no punches, raiding his house and putting him...

Brush up on your horse impression kids; Joan of Arc has come to town. Oh Joany Joan Joan. Joany McJoaningtons. I've been trying to work out how to review this show for almost a week, although I admittedly took four days off over Easter to stare into space, take a long hard look at my life, and subsequently binge-listen to Serial (I know, very 2014). Very unprofessional delay. Won't happen again. I try to write reviews that are informative, hopefully...

Watch stunning sand sculptures on show at the Weston-Super-Mare Sand Sculpture Festival, where artists from all over the world come to create themed sculptures, with this year being "Topsy-Turvy". The art on show is fantastic and it is hard to imagine how they are made, using only sand. So what exactly does Topsy Turvy entail? Upside down, back to front, the wrong way around and inside out! A crazy world of the distorted and the extraordinary. See the world through...

British photographer Daniel Freeman is set to host an exclusive American themed installation in Chiswick restaurant Outsider Tart this summer. The show, called American Nightscapes: a Small Town Portrait in Photography & Food, is Freeman's first solo show in the UK and will precede plans to stage an exhibition of his work in the USA and a second roadtrip to Navigate Trump’s America. Freeman made the ultimate road trip across America to follow in the footsteps of photographers such as Stephen Shore, William Eggleston...

Everybody had a dream. When we were kids, we all had dreams of doing something with our lives. I wanted to be a pilot; others wanted to be doctors, actors or lawyers. Some achieve their dreams. Many don't. And some people get to come home, flop on the sofa after a hard day’s work, and when their partner asks, "What did you do today baby?" they get to reply, "I finally finished knitting that damned penis, honey." The above -...

Old Spitalfields Market is set to host a one day art extravaganza on Friday 12th May in aid of Hearts in Harmony, a charity raising money to help fight heart disease through art and music events. Art Beats will see live art being produced by up to 50 talented artists, all competing for the ‘Art Beats Award’, with an expected footfall of 50,000 to 60,000 people. Artists will showcase their work to be entered, for passers-by to watch and admire. Live music will...

Hands up if you've ever felt sad? Or fat? Yeah, I thought so. Oh Le Gateau Chocolat, we meet at last. Back in the annals of time when I used to work in PR, I was on the press team for a little show called Blanc de Blanc by Strut and Fret - the same Strut and Fret who worked with Le Gateau Chocolat at the Sydney Opera House - and I've been waiting to see him since then. It...

Never have I laughed more than when reading a website of mis-translations with my brother as a teenager. Highlights included such classics as: “Tiny grass is dreaming”, “Itty Bitty Baby" and the undeniable champion, “The Loin King” (Hakuna My-groina). The well of hilarious translation errors may be well tapped on reddit, but the comedy gold has yet to be successfully mined by the theatre industry. Until now. Maybe because producing such a show would be an absolute minefield. Even the...

As UK theatres fret over how to respond to the increasing national and global crises that are hitting or emerging from our shores in wave after wave of tsunami like proportions: Brexit, Syria, the refugee crisis, Russia, Crimea, Ukraine, Belarus, the Greek meltdown, Egypt, Spain, the Occupy movement, Trump, Brexit, Brexit again, back to Trump etc, the Young Vic, in partnership with Totally Theatre Productions, have come up with an unusual way of trying to make sense of it all...