I’m baaaackkk! Oh my goodness, it’s been so long. I have absolutely no excuse. So I’ll just shut up and get on with it.
It’s a New Year, I’m pulling on my running gear, drinking kale smoothies and looking forward to a year full of fabulous art, films and books (can we agree not to talk about the whole ‘hell in a handbasket’ state of the world, please?).
But first, let’s briefly look back at 2018.
FILMS
My favourite films of 2018 were, in no particular order, as follows. If you follow me on Instagram (@kathmellor) and check out my hashtag #kathsfridayfilms, you can read a bit more about why I loved them. I promise I’ll do better at reviews on this site in 2019.
Roma
A Star is Born
The Square
Faces Places
Cold War
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Lady Bird
A Quiet Place
Widows
The Shape of Water
with honourable mentions for Coco, which made me sob on a long-haul flight, much to the consternation of the elderly gentleman next to me, and Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! which would be my guilty pleasure of the year if I believed in the concept of guilty pleasures.
ART
Neither of my two favourite exhibitions in 2019 were in the UK (sorry). First was a Gerhard Richter retrospective at QAGMA in Brisbane, which knocked me sideways and exceeded even my sky-high expectations. He is one of very few artists whose work genuinely moves me and I was a little overwhelmed by the whole thing. The second was the Bruegel: Once in a Lifetime show at the Kuntschistorisches Museum in Vienna, which was just perfection. Three-quarters of all his existing work in one place, accompanied by absolutely fascinating insights into his materials, background and technique. A couple of hours of heaven for an art history geek like me.
In London, I really enjoyed seeing more of Njideka Akunyili Crosby’s work - on the Southbank, at Frieze and at the National Portrait Gallery. Her densely referenced and beautiful images fill me with joy. Elmgreen & Dragset at the Whitechapel was fun, as was Shape Shifters at the Hayward. The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition was more interesting than usual, probably because of Grayson Perry’s non-conventional curation. Tomma Abts’s beautiful jewel-like paintings at the Serpentine also cheered me, but my absolutely top pick in London for the year was The Clock by Christian Marclay at Tate Modern. It’s still on show as I write. GO AND SEE IT.
BOOKS
I got out of the habit of reading so much last year, which I plan to make up for in 2019, but my highlights were Educated by Tara Westover, which is just a barnstorming fire of a memoir which I will never forget, and Normal People by Sally Rooney which lives up to all the hype and manages to do that impossible thing of creating REAL people on the page.
TV
If you didn’t enjoy The Good Place, Succession and Killing Eve then I don’t know what to tell you.