Steve_Bamlett_blog

My mother donned her glasses And read a poem in a singsong Way; that taught in school Off Boy’s Lane, Halifax, near the mill That worked out her bones. The voice she had now’s gone And its cracked resistance To the world, now shouts from Banners of the Right unfurled But they are wrong. Fear … More Reprise of a poem about my mum as a ‘mill-girl’ in a mill off Boys Lane in Halifax. I think but I am not sure, it’s the one in the photo.

‘…: He came each to avoid the eyes of everyone who wanted him … . The gossips said he refused to sleep with people because he had a small penis – the leprosy of homosexuals – but this explanation was mundane: He wanted to keep this life in the realm of the perfect, the ideal. … More ‘…: He came each night to avoid the eyes of everyone who wanted him … . The gossips said he refused to sleep with people because he had a small penis – the leprosy of homosexuals – …’ . Reflecting on art and penis size in ‘dick lit’ with a focus on Andrew Holleran’s (1979) ‘Dancer from The Dance’

‘But even when Housman was trying to be as disagreeable as possible, it’s difficult not to agree with some of his observations. … . …, if the wider tone of his oration was designed to get up the noses of those in his audience, it seems to have worked: either F.R. Leavis or I.A. Richards … More ‘ …, if the wider tone of [A.E. Housman’s] oration was designed to get up the noses of those in his audience, it seems to have worked …’ What our current Poet Laureate is and what he is not. Reflecting on Simon Armitage (2021) ‘A Vertical Art: Oxford Lectures’ London, Faber & Faber Ltd.

Blog Version: Draft text and final submission for assignment (200-400 words) for Assignment 1 for Futurelearn Course ‘What Is A Mind?: University of Cape Town’. For this assignment we are asking you to produce a short piece of writing (200-400 words) on how one might probe whether something has a mind or not. After you … More Blog Version: Draft text and final submission for assignment (200-400 words) for Assignment 1 for Futurelearn Course ‘What Is A Mind?: University of Cape Town’.

‘ … “She thinks she’s Isabel fucking Archer. But she doesn’t know what it’s like round here. …”’.[1]  ‘She joined me on the roof, standing right beside me, and we watched the work on the Krishna statue up ahead. … “Who’s Isabel Archer?” I said. Radhika crossed her arms loosely and exhaled, and I felt … More ‘ … “She thinks she’s Isabel fucking Archer”. How women ‘end up’ in male novels. A new masterpiece by Sunjeev Sahota (2021) ‘China Room’

‘… far from being spontaneous studies modelled from life, these bodies were made up from a limited number of pieces [translation of abattis, which is more strictly translated as giblets] put together in a diverse range of ways’.[1] We are so used to the lies that idealise the human body in art,  life and the … More ‘… far from being spontaneous studies modelled from life, these bodies were made up from a limited number of pieces put together in a diverse range of ways’. We are so used to the lies that idealise the human body in art, life and the links we make between art and life that we forget just why Rodin’s practice as a sculptor matters so much. On visiting the 2021 exhibition at the Tate Modern and reading the brilliant catalogue by Nabila Abdel Nabi, Chloé Ariot, & Achim Borchadt-Hume (editors) ‘The Making of Rodin: The EY Exhibition’.

‘… even Picasso couldn’t (sic.) escape from his Moorish Spanish makeup ie (sic.) you keep young by having young lovers. It probably works, though I prefer Oscar’s remark that those whom the Gods love grow young.”’.[1] Drawn into life from the dark in an exhibition of early Craxton and a new biography by Ian Collins ‘John … More ‘… even Picasso couldn’t (sic.) escape from his Moorish Spanish makeup ie (sic.) you keep young by having young lovers. It probably works, though I prefer Oscar’s remark that those whom the Gods love grow young.”’. Drawn into life from the dark in an exhibition of early Craxton and a new biography by Ian Collins ‘John Craxton: Art & Life’

Steve apologises (because he knows how smart Eleanor is and that she will notice) that he can’t even finish his couplets off in this poem but – she will forgive. All our love. Every bell will sing in its own tone Low songs of joy to Eleanor alone. Each tone in concert makes its own … More Our dear friend Eleanor is 21 on the 29th of May 2021. Geoff and Steve pay homage to that friend and look forward to seeing her with her Mum and Dad on her birthday night at the Mumbai Lounge in York.

A queer approach to sexual preference labelling in art-history I am rescuing these pieces from the Open University blog where they were written before they become obsolete there. This is not because of their quality which isn’t great. I a sense they are obsolete. However, I have just seen a wonderful exhibition on Craxton’s early … More An old blog recollected: A queer approach to sexual preference labelling in art-history

‘I have never understood why the word feminine is considered to be a compliment to one’s sex if one is a woman, but has a derogatory meaning when applied to anything else. …/ There is a whole range of formal perception belonging to feminine experience. So many ideas spring from an inside response to form; … More ‘I have never understood why the word feminine is considered to be a compliment to one’s sex if one is a woman, but has a derogatory meaning when applied to anything else’. Sex and the genderqueer in Barbara Hepworth. Reflecting on the current Hepworth retrospective at The Hepworth Museum Wakefield  and a new biography by the Museum’s curator: Eleanor Clayton ‘Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life’

‘I tend not to like conclusions, and have a sense that it is best if the end is left rather open. …/…/ I am not sure this is quite the book I set out to write’. (p. 15) The limits of knowledge and expression as exploted in Martin Kemp’s (2021) ‘Visions of Heaven: Dante and … More ‘I tend not to like conclusions, and have a sense that it is best if the end is left rather open. …/…/ I am not sure this is quite the book I set out to write’. The limits of knowledge and expression as exploted in Martin Kemp’s (2021) ‘Visions of Heaven: Dante and the Art Of Divine Light’

‘… the ambiguous sensate body emerges as the primary subject of painting, …. It is intimately connected to that of the beholder, conjoined with our own in a wave or circuit of sensual response’ .[1] An invitation to ‘enjoy immediate access to his fleshy body’:[2] in a bold take on Giorgione’s erotic figures and dislocated … More ‘… the ambiguous sensate body emerges as the primary subject of painting, …. It is intimately connected to that of the beholder, conjoined with our own in a wave or circuit of sensual response’. An invitation to ‘enjoy immediate access to his fleshy body’: in a bold take on Giorgione’s erotic figures and dislocated landscapes in Tom Nichol’s (2020) ‘Giorgione’s Ambiguity (Renaissance Lives series)’.