Red Balloons and Barbarism If you have never been to Algeria and can’t afford the airfare, then drop in at the Théâtre Aire Falguière, where you will be whisked off to the North African nation and treated to a rich … Read More
The Artist as Enigma “Le Vaticinateur” (1915). © ADAGP, Paris 2009 What could be more recognizable than a Giorgio de Chirico painting? A large stretch of empty space; lonely, featureless human figures or a statue; an architectural element here and … Read More
Reflections on Rip-offs Lotte with a spicy pear chutney. I have just been exercised by a grimly entertaining piece in the London Daily Telegraph about the food at Disneyland Resort Paris. The writer had no high expectations of the food … Read More
Irreality Show “Statue” from the “Deluge” series (2007). © David LaChapelle What happens when Jeff Koons meets Andy Warhol meets Pierre et Gilles? You get David LaChapelle. Call him camp, kitsch and commercial all you like, but his giant photographic … Read More
Outcast in Austria Florian Carove plays the Iraqi immigrant Sad. Photo: © Michal Batory At a time when the issue of illegal immigrants is at the top of the political agenda, Saleté, a theatrical adaptation of the novel Dreck by … Read More
Safe Bet During my first year at college in London – the place that William Cobbett called “The Great Wen” (a boil, not an apple) – I dated the daughter of a rather forbidding Scottish customs and excise officer. On … Read More
I knew I was in for something different when I picked up the flyer for this production from a café table. It was shouting out for a review – something to do with the parental warning (not recommended for children … Read More
Busy, Busy, Busy The rack of lamb was succulent and perfectly cooked. Things got off to a slightly difficult start at Le Cigale Récamier, when the meeter-and-greeter (!) bluntly told me that I was an hour late for my reservation … Read More
What Is Art? Nineteenth-century sugar silos from Southern Kerala, India. Photo: Georges Meguerditchian, Centre Pompidou After a recent visit to the Barnes Foundation and the nearby home of a private collector just outside Philadelphia, both of which demonstrated just how … Read More
Better than Happy Pills Down-to-earth food in a warm, friendly venue. If you have euros in your pocket that haven’t been exchanged from another currency (i.e., the dollar or sterling), the best place to be right now for eating is … Read More
