For over ten years Peter Campbell has reviewed art exhibitions for the London Review of Books. His writing is distinctive: often closely descriptive, always inquisitive about technique, it is the product of an independent mind and eye. Easy evaluations are resisted: we are invited to consider the work on show in its present place – ‘at’ the museum or gallery to which the critic has travelled on our behalf. This generous selection of reviews covers a wide range of subjects, from Bellini and Titian to Lucian Freud and Louise Bourgeois, from Hawksmoor to Libeskind. Blockbusting shows are noticed, but so too are exhibitions of unfashionable artists, of photographers and applied artists. Reviews of buildings and pieces on the everyday urban scene add another dimension to this book. Campbell is a typographer and book designer, and is also the draftsman of the London Review’s covers. His writing is of a piece with these accomplishments.
| availability | in print |
| published | 2009.11.26 |
| extent | 400 pp |
| dimensions | 210 × 125 mm |
| illustrations | 2 b&w |
| binding | sewn & flapped paperback |
| ISBN13 | 978-0-907259-43-5 |
| £20.00 |
I rather enjoyed this volume, as Campbell neither feels the need to bow to current fashion or to engage with trendy critical stances; he prefers to describe what he sees and discuss it, usually in a fairly brief manner (that presumably the magazine column format demands).
The reviews are carefully grouped and this juxtaposition gives a sense of Campbell’s wider take on things, which is also apparent from sections which discuss architecture, escalators, London and doors. This is careful and considered writing, with its focus rightly on the work itself rather than those who make such work. This is a book I shall return to again and again; it is a pleasure to both read and hold.
Rupert Loydell, Stride Magazine
