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The Flying Dutchman at Opera Holland Park review: ambitious and intense
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Spectator
13 hours ago
- Spectator
I've had it with Anselm Kiefer
August is always a crap month for exhibitions in London. The collectors are elsewhere, the dealers are presumably hot on their heels, and the galleries are filled with makeweight group shows staged to hold the fort until the end of the holidays. This year, however, even events of that kind are thin on the ground: many establishments have simply shuttered for the month – and given the dire state of the art market, I'm inclined to wonder how many will reopen come September. Still, I caught the two Anselm Kiefer shows running concurrently. Kiefer famously scandalised West German society with a series of performances in which he had himself photographed giving the Nazi salute in front of various historically loaded monuments. That was in 1969, and he has since become immensely successful and progressively less interesting. I can't really write about the better exhibition at the Royal Academy, which pairs the German's work with that of his hero Van Gogh, as the curator is a friend. But in summary: you'll look at the Dutchman's paintings afresh, marvelling at the berserk virtuosity of the brushwork; you will also note how big Kiefer's canvases are. Over the road at White Cube, however…yikes. Produced on a gargantuan scale, his new paintings retread the old line about the weight of history (lead!) and are packed with withered pastoral imagery and performative Teutonic guilt. Besides this, there are plenty of foreboding inscriptions – some in German, some, alarmingly, in pseudo-Homeric Greek script. The Kiefer of 2025 has a very heavy-metal vibe to him: the doom-auguring sunflower paintings here would look great on the cover of a Metallica record. Festival accommodation prices banjaxed my ambitions to write about Mike Nelson's show in Edinburgh, so with less than 24 hours remaining to file this column, I took a train down to Kent to see the latest iteration of the Folkestone Triennial. I confess to a degree of hypocrisy here: 17 months ago, I wrote an article for this magazine complaining about the worldwide proliferation of the art biennale format. There were, I thundered, too many of them, and they should all be avoided for the sake of our collective sanity. Despite taking place every three years, rather than two, the Folkestone Triennial is just such an event. The difference is that it has a cheery individuality, a limited number of participating artists – there are just 18 showcased here – and clear goals, which it largely achieves. It's also a great town for an art trail, taking in Notting Hill-style stucco terraces, a nicely redeveloped commercial port, the continuation of the famous White Cliffs and a pretty clear view over to France. Speaking of which: in one of the Martello towers built to repel a Napoleonic invasion, Katie Paterson has created a mini-museum of hand-sculpted little relics created mostly from waste materials. There are Egyptian amulets based on artefacts in the British Museum, hewn from bits of clapped-out circuit boards; tiny talismans pieced together from space junk: that sort of thing. It's very good. Most of the exhibits are sculptural pieces commissioned for specific locations, and where possible, they will stay in situ: previous editions of the event have bequeathed the town works including a pair of picturesque little Richard Woods cottages in the harbour, and a lovely Ian Hamilton Finlay text piece on the lighthouse. There's nothing that great this time, but there are some entertaining contributions. Laure Prouvost, a French artist who, despite being off-the-scale kooky (and once telling me I looked 'like a toilet'), is sporadically brilliant, has a typically wonky avian sculpture perched on the harbour arm; at the station, J. Maizlish Mole has installed a tourist map that makes no distinction between contemporary Folkestone and the ruins that may or may not lie beneath it; and way up on the heights, Sara Trillo has scattered a boat-load of fake ruins across a patch of burgeoning vegetation. If they look a bit like ornaments sold at roadside garden centres, I sense that may well be the point. 'Above Front Tears, Oui Connect' by Laure Prouvost at the Folkestone Triennial. Image: Thierry Bal If you were to isolate an adjective to sum it up, the word might well be 'whacky' – did I mention that there's a children's playground designed by Monster Chetwynd? – but it screeches to a halt just short of twee. And even when it gets a bit morally instructional, as is the case with Dorothy Cross's sculptural meditation on the migrant crisis, the work is strong enough to bear the load. Look, it's not a seismic cultural happening, but it's almost certainly a better use of funds than building a mediocre contemporary art museum that nobody really likes. It's fun, it's thoughtful, and people seem to love it. It also leaves the town with a visible legacy of its presence. And that, I reckon, is a biennale model worth emulating.
Scottish Sun
14-08-2025
- Scottish Sun
Topless Max Verstappen spotted with Mercedes F1 chief Toto Wolff on luxury yacht amid Red Bull uncertainty
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) MAX VERSTAPPEN has been spotted on Toto Wolff's luxury yacht this week. New images appear to show the four-time world champion chatting and laughing with the Mercedes boss off the coast of Sardinia. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Max Verstappen has a contract with Red Bull until 2028 Credit: Getty In the photos Verstappen is topless and wearing a white towel with stripes on and stood next to Wolff who is dressed head-to-toe in white. F1 is currently on its summer break, with the next race not until August 31 in Zandvoort. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has also been spending some time near the Mediterranean island, though has not been pictured with Verstappen or Wolff. Sardinia is a popular destination for F1 drivers and team principles, with Verstappen and Wolff both separately cruising off the coast there last month. Verstappen's private jet was tracked touching down on the Italian island in the wake of Christian Horner's Red Bull sackingo on July 9. Further tracking showed yachts owned by the four-time world champion and Wolff both off the coast of Sardinia before the Belgian Grand Prix. Ahead of the summer break Verstappen confirmed he would be staying put at Red Bull. The Dutchman had held talks with Mercedes over a potential move with Red Bull struggling again this season. BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK Merc boss Toto Wolff confirmed the talks at the Austrian Grand Prix in June. Verstappen, 27, finished fourth in the Belgian Grand Prix in July, meaning he could no longer trigger a release clause that relied on him being outside of the top three going into the summer break. Nico Rosberg in frosty exchange with Jos Verstappen over Christian Horner after Red Bull sacking Ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix, the Dutchman said: "It's quite interesting to follow all that and the amount of nice stories that came out of it. "But I've never really said anything about it because I was just focused on talking to the team about how we can improve our performance, future ideas for next year as well. "I think it's time to basically stop all the rumours. "For me, it's always been quite clear that I was staying anyway." He continued: "That was also the general feeling in the team anyway, because we were always in discussions about what we could do with the car. "I think when you're not interested in staying, then you also stop talking about these kinds of things. "And I never did."
Daily Mirror
14-08-2025
- Daily Mirror
Max Verstappen spotted on Mercedes F1 chief Toto Wolff's yacht after Red Bull decision
Images which circulated a few weeks ago suggesting Toto Wolff had visited Max Verstappen's private plane were fakes, but new shots of them on a yacht together are the real deal Max Verstappen was spotted paying a visit to Toto Wolff on the Mercedes chief's yacht this week. Both have spent time off the coast of Sardinia on holiday during the summer break in the Formula 1 season. It is not the first time that there have been suggestions that the two have met in secret while spending time away from the race track. It was only a few weeks ago that images circulated on social media supposedly showing Wolff stepping onto Verstappen's private plane, though it quickly became clear that those photos had been faked. However, new images have now emerged showing the two of them together on a luxury yacht. One of them shows Verstappen, topless and wearing a white towel with dark stripes on his lower half, stood next to Wolff dressed head-to-toe in white, in conversation and laughing. It is understood that these images are genuine and that Verstappen and Wolff have indeed met while holidaying together close to the Mediterranean island. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc has also been spending some time in the area, though has not been pictured with Verstappen or Wolff. The meeting of the two comes after months of speculation that Verstappen could quit his Red Bull team to join Wolff's Mercedes outfit. The Austrian is a known admirer of the Dutchman, having tried but failed to sign him as a promising teenager long before he went on to become a four-time F1 champion. Verstappen has a contract with Red Bull until 2028, though it is an open secret that his deal contains performance clauses which, if not met, would allow him to leave early. One such clause was active this year, but expired with the start of the break and was not triggered. Verstappen confirmed ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix earlier this month that he would stick with Red Bull for the 2026 season. But that only came after he had already amassed enough points to make it mathematically certain that he could not drop below third place in the championship before the summer break. It has been suggested that he would have needed to be fourth or lower in the standings for that clause to become active. Regardless, it is understood that the 27-year-old was not seriously considering leaving Red Bull this year, preferring to bide his time and wait to see what the balance of power on the grid looks like next year when new engine and aerodynamic design regulations come into force. In the meantime, though neither has a Mercedes contract for 2026 yet, the team is expected to retain its current line-up consisting of team leader George Russell and rookie starlet Kimi Antonelli. But it will be interesting to see what length of contract is agreed with both of them, given both are pushing for long-term extensions but Mercedes want to keep their options open in case Verstappen does become available next year. The Dutchman had made it clear he does not plan to stay in F1 for as long as many others before him have, and will want to spent as much times as possible in the quickest car he can find. He has managed to win two Grands Prix this year despite Red Bull's drop in competitiveness, but could have his head turned if they fall out of contention for victories altogether next year.
