ALICE NEEL

WHAT?  Alice Neel: Hot off the Griddle 

WHERE?  Barbican Art Gallery, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS

WHEN?  Now until 21st May 

WHY GO?  To applaud an icon.  Who, other than the irreverent New York artist Alice Neel would have the courage to paint herself naked, warts and all, at the ripe age of 80?  This uncompromising figurative artist has never shied away from controversy as this stunning tribute to her work unveils.

It represents a life well spent with all its ups and downs, both professional and domestic.  And there were plenty of ‘downs’.  Neel had a nervous breakdown after the death of her baby daughter, spending long periods in psychiatric hospitals and in 1934 suffered the blow of having 60 of her paintings slashed by a jealous lover.  

Yet still, through adversity she painted; family, friends, lovers and anyone else who took her fancy, from nightclub singers to taxi drivers. 

Her random choices are haphazardly grouped portraying a disjointed quality that is as realistic as it gets.  Neel has become a cult figure since her death in 1984 (at the age of 84) and it’s easy to see why. Her extraordinary life shaped her extraordinary paintings.

IN THE KNOW  Check the Barbican programme for screenings and events inspired by the life of Alice Neel, including a comprehensive introduction to the artist by writer Hettie Judah, who analyses her work in context to momentous world events like the Civil Rights movement of the Sixties.