Page 24 - NLP244603 "NE Volume" Magazine (56pp 240 x 170 self cover)

DALI/EL GRECO: CHRIST ON THE CROSS
AT THE SPANISH GALLERY, BISHOP AUCKLAND
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ART
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MATT REED
AT THE STAND, NEWCASTLE
Local talent Matt Reed will be at The Stand in Newcastle on Sunday 4th September for “Ha-Harmageddon”, his latest bout of thrilling audience participation. In his conceptual show, Reed is constructing a bunker to see out doomsday and wants audience suggestions as to how best to arrange such a thing, as well as justifications as to why punters should get access. He will decide which seemingly lucky people (presumably, depending on the direction the night ultimately travels in) are admitted, promising the sort of high-stakes, sweaty-palmed affair more commonly associated with trying to gain access to notorious Berlin super-club, Berghain. The Sunderland-born comedian, now based in Newcastle, is a local treasure. Naturally a regular at The Stand, where he can freely workshop comedic ideas on the fly after building over two decades of performative pedigree while, crucially, still deeply entertaining the room, Reed is currently in his element and firing on all artistic cylinders. With a vast history as an MC to draw upon, Reed is effortlessly witty, quick and personable, as well as being anathema to hecklers; truly a model skillset for any improvisational comedian. Reed’s free-form booking patterns mirror the potential of any live date he appears at, summoning a well-deserved aura of trust and confidence before he sets foot on the stage. So it will prove with the idea behind “Ha-Harmageddon”. The sprawling diversity of the terrain of stand-up comedy as an artform, compared to many other creative forms and disciplines from music to film, still feels somewhat underexplored in mainstream terms. It is on nights such as this that the outer corners of the mode can be tapped, with the unpredictability generating an exhilaration that is difficult to match elsewhere, in stand-up or beyond. In the hands of a comedian with less expertise and wisdom this would be a shaky prospect; daunting at best, impossible at worst. However, Reed has no such problems to contemplate. At any given time, and especially in 2022, Reed is touring a catalogue of one-off
This fascinating display celebrates two of the most original and idiosyncratic painters in the history of art with their versions of the enduring subject of Christ on the Cross. Featuring Dali’s Christ of St John of the Cross, on loan from Glasgow Life Museums, and El Greco’s Christ on the Cross, the display invites visitors to consider their own response to the work of these two radical artists. Separated by nearly 350 years, both artists were innovative in their own time – El Greco with his deeply expressive use of exaggerated form and colour, and Dalí with his dream-like compositions rendered in lucid detail – and each artist offers a deeply contrasting perspective on the theme of Christ on the Cross. Dali’s Christ of St John of the Cross is one of the most celebrated and reproduced images of the 20th century, and this is the first time the painting has been on display in the North East LEE ALLCOCK
Visit: aucklandproject.org
24 \\ NE VOLUME MAGAZINE \\ CULTURE
1. CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collection
OMEDY