Michael Armitage: Paradise Edict ★★★★ Royal Academy of Arts | Until September 19, 2021


Michael Armitage's new exhibition at the Royal Academy, Paradise Edict, may not be an obvious crowd pleaser but it is fascinating to see him paint strikingly insightful images, taking us into the world of his native Kenya and its people. Suffused as they are with references to the classical masters such as Titian we can also see the influences of Gauguin and Goya that infuse his works. Delving far beyond the widely held image of Kenya as a tourist paradise of animals and spectacular scenery, we glimpse politics, culture and history too. This is especially noticeable in the arresting "The Paradise Edict" where animals prowl around amongst the soldiers and terrorists, while the painting "Antigone" references the tragic but defiant woman of Greek tragedy. Painting as he does onto Lubugo bark cloth, Armitage is able to give his paintings a unique texture. Although he uses a broad colour palette there is an overall preponderance of browns and umbers providing a slightly melancholic feel to the works; that is not to say that his works are without hope. These recent paintings seem to be much less purely figurative than many of his earlier works and demonstrate the development of the artist. Armitage also generously gives over a gallery to other East African artists displaying an extremely broad range of artistic styles, many of which have influenced him. This isn't the easiest of shows but it certainly packs a punch and is an enormous contrast to the Hockney show in the main galleries.

Reviewed by D.S.J.
Image: Michael Armitage, The Paradise Edict, 2019. Oil on Lubugo bark cloth, 220 x 420 cm. The Joyner/Giuffrida Collection © Michael Armitage. Photo: © White Cube (Theo Christelis).

Rated: ★★★★

When, Where, Getting there:
  • Until September 19, 2021
  • Tue to Sun: 10 am - 6 pm (last admission 5:30 pm)
  • Royal Academy of Arts, The Jillian and Arthur M. Sackler Wing of Galleries
  • Nearest tube: Green Park
  • https://www.royalacademy.org.uk

Most Popular

St. Martin in-the-fields: Lunchtime Concerts ★★★★ FREE

Image
Maybe the best musical value in London. The lunchtime concerts at St. Martin's are always a wonderful way to escape the hustle and bustle that is London and the sensory overload that is Trafalgar Square. This is a beautiful setting with great acoustics, and a church pew hard enough to make sure you don't nod off. Reviewed by J.C.  Our score:    ☆☆☆☆  WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE: Mon & Fri: 1 pm - 1:45 pm ( occasionally Tues & Thurs)  St. Martin in-the-fields, Trafalgar Square Nearest tube: Charing Cross https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/whats-on
Full Details »

Hedda ★★★★ Orange Tree Theatre | Oct 18 - Nov 22, 2025

Image
In her adaptation of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler , Tanika Gupta largely follows the original narrative while introducing a new element: Hedda is portrayed as an Anglo-Indian film star who must conceal her origins due to pervasive racism in society and the movie industry. This reimagined aspect draws on the career of Merle Oberon, a film icon of the late 1930s and early 1940s who was only later revealed to be of mixed-race parentage. To succeed in Hollywood, Oberon claimed to be from Tasmania and often asserted Armenian heritage. In Gupta's version, Hedda remains Ibsen's bored, desperate woman who capriciously inflicts pain on those around her, but her motivations are expanded. She struggles not only with the constraints imposed on women by society, but also with the prejudice of a world that would never accept a mixed-race film star. The play is filled with the characters' casual racist remarks and an unmistakable colonial condescension, creating an atmosphere that illuminates...
Full Details »

Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) ★★★★★ Criterion Theatre | Apr 4 - Aug 31, 2024

Image
She's a rather cynical, world weary New Yorker. He's a naïve, overly enthusiastic Brit. They are brought together by his father's wedding to her sister, and they have nothing in common except the capacity for some extremely amusing barbs and banter. We all know how this is going to end, but the fun is in the emotional journey and its satisfyingly comfortable conclusion. Not surprisingly, it turns out that his relentless optimism and her wary skepticism both mask disappointments and losses which they will come to terms with as they carry their shared burden across the Big Apple and come to know each other. This is a delightful two-hander that is intended as a romcom for millennials, but like all representatives of the genre it ultimately depends on the chemistry of its principals. Both Sam Tutty as Dougal and Dujonna Gift as Robin bring their A-game to these performances. They are immediately likeable, and we are instantly rooting for them. Tutty exudes a puppy-like charm an...
Full Details »

Fuseli and the Modern Woman: Fashion, Fantasy, Fetishism ★★★★ The Courtauld | Oct 14, 2022 - Jan 8, 2023

Image
For being intriguing and provocative, Henry Fuseli's life rivals his work. Born in 1741, he was raised to be a protestant clergyman, but he upset his parents' expectations to become an artist. Later as a pillar of the British artistic establishment, he had another side to his character that would have shocked many of his contemporaries. This delightful exhibition that offers a tantalising insight into both the man and his work is divided into three sections: The Medusa of the Hearth, The Other Side of Venus and Dangerous Liaisons. The groupings reveal Fuseli's preoccupation with the female form, his obsession with curious hairstyles and his erotic idiosyncrasies. While these drawings and watercolours may be somewhat transgressive in their subject matter, what is undeniable is the extraordinary quality of Fuseli's draughtsmanship. The stunningly executed pieces demonstrate the self-taught artist's extraordinary skills in all their subtlety and variety. The exhibition...
Full Details »

Mr Jones ★★★★ Finborough Theatre | Oct 28 - Nov 22, 2025

Image
On 21 October 1966, the small Welsh village of Aberfan became the site of a heartbreaking disaster that captured the world’s attention. When 150,000 tonnes of mining waste cascaded down a hillside, engulfing the local school and killing 144 people, including 116 children, the world mourned the senseless loss. The sheer scale of such horrors can make them seem almost abstract, and their incomprehensible nature often leaves us numbed. In this powerful two-hander, playwright Liam Holmes brings the Aberfan tragedy vividly to life by focusing on one young couple caught in its shadow. Stephen Jones is a carefree teenager whose ambitions reach no further than becoming the village rugby star and courting his childhood sweetheart, Angharad. Content with his simple dreams, he believes himself to be winning at the game of life. Holmes, as Stephen, and Mabli Gwynne, as Angharad, both deliver deeply moving performances. Their innocent affection and flirtatious banter feel as authentic as their late...
Full Details »

Crocodile Fever ★★★★★ Arcola Theatre | Oct 17 - 22 Nov, 2025

Image
In this gruesome absurdist comedy, two very different sisters confront both the memories and the reality of an oppressive father. Playwright Meghan Tyler has crafted a darkly humorous work that shocks and amuses in equal measure. Just when you think you have seen everything, she takes the absurdity to yet another level. As in many contemporary Irish plays, this domestic conflict serves as an allegory for the island’s political divisions. Here, however, the message is presented as a wonderfully goofy and gory feast. Fianna, the free-spirited sister, rebels openly against their tyrannical parent (read as Britain). She has even served time in prison and is now linked to the IRA. Allanah, by contrast, obeys and conforms, embodying repression and religiosity as she caters to the demands of her vicious, bedridden father. At first, the sisters seem entirely opposed, but gradually they recognise their shared oppression and unite in an attempt to murder their father. That plan, however, proves ...
Full Details »

The Maids ★★★ Donmar Warehouse | Oct 13 - Nov 29, 2025

Image
Playwright and novelist Jean Genet was the quintessential outsider in post-war France. A criminal and a homosexual, he nonetheless attracted the admiration of luminaries such as Jean Cocteau and Jean-Paul Sartre. His daring literary experiments and provocative imagery in works like Our Lady of the Flowers fascinated both writers, while the layered symbolism of his plays, particularly The Maids , invites multiple interpretations. In this drama, the servants Claire (Lydia Wilson) and Solange (Phia Sabin) engage in ritualistic power games as they assume the identity of their mistress (Yerin Ha) in scenes that can be read on political, religious, existential, or erotic levels. In Kip Williams’ current staging of Genet’s best-known work, the director seems to adopt a role toward the play similar to that of the maids towards their employer, both reverent and mocking. The production moves between homage and parody, overflowing with theatrical excess. An initial curtain separating audience an...
Full Details »

Wright of Derby: From the Shadows ★★★★★ The National Gallery | Nov 7, 2025 - May 10, 2026

Image
This exhibition is the first comprehensive showcase devoted to Joseph Wright’s celebrated candlelit works, featuring pieces from 1765 to 1773. Wright of Derby emerges as a master of contrast, using the interplay of shadow and illumination to craft scenes that are both dramatic and thought-provoking. Evoking the intensity of earlier masters such as Caravaggio and drawing on the tradition of tenebrism, Wright’s manipulation of light and shadow imbues each scene with tension and theatricality. Figures gather around an array of objects, from classical sculptures and scientific tools to animal specimens and anatomical curiosities. Through these attentive observers, Wright examines the act of seeing itself, inviting viewers to reflect on curiosity, morality, and human perception. Beyond his technical brilliance in rendering light, he uses nocturnal settings to probe deeper, darker themes, including mortality, melancholy, and the sublime. His work resonates with an underlying sense of questio...
Full Details »

The Line of Beauty ★★★★ Almeida Theatre | Oct 21 - Nov 29, 2025

Image
Like Lambert Strether from The Ambassadors and Charles Ryder from Brideshead Revisited before him, Nick Guest also wanders into an upper class world of amoral complexity which both bewilders and challenges him. In Jack Holden's dramatic adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst's novel, The Line of Beauty , the focus is on the enduring British obsession with class, intertwined with a historical examination of the evolution of gay rights during the AIDS pandemic. The relationship of aesthetic absolutism to ethical relativism, with the pursuit of the line of beauty leading to an obsession with a line of cocaine, is referenced, but it remains largely under explored. This is unfortunate since it is that theme which is perhaps the most subtly and interestingly developed in Hollinghurst's novel. Nevertheless the production is a powerful family drama which carries the audience along as Nick deals with being an openly gay man in Thatcher's Britain and being caught between two echelons ...
Full Details »

The Assembled Parties ★★★ Hampstead Theatre | Oct 17 - Nov 22, 2025

Image
Richard Greenberg’s The Assembled Parties contrasts an American Jewish family’s celebration of Christmas in 1980 with that of 2000. Over those twenty years, both the family and the American political landscape change significantly. Although there may be a connection between these two developments, it is only faintly suggested. Indeed, it is difficult to determine the play’s central theme or even its main storyline. In the first act, several subplots are introduced, but in the second only one reaches a partial resolution, and it feels more like an anecdote than a complete narrative. Perhaps the real focus lies in the contrasting ways of engaging with the world embodied by Julie, the hostess of the unusual Jewish Christmas gathering, and her sister-in-law Faye. Julie, though insightful, remains relentlessly optimistic despite the family’s underlying tensions. She maintains a cheerful façade, adhering to social expectations while ignoring unpleasant truths. In contrast, Faye’s sharp and ...
Full Details »

The City Life Magazine | Reviews & Ratings