33 h. ago ‘It’s unexpected joy’: the guerrilla mosaic artists adding colour to potholes, benches and bomb craters

From Southampton to Sarajevo, urban mosaicists are transforming city spaces and bringing communities together – one tile at a timeOur cities are full of grey tower blocks built for efficiency rather than aesthetics. Public benches are made of cheap concrete, pavements are falling apart, old structures are left derelict. Amid this backdrop of unloved, muted ugliness, a new wave of guerrilla mosaicists are enlivening their cities with beautiful, colourful designs.These artists rarely get official sign-off for their work. The legality of their art can be murky, with one of the medium’s more prolific artists, Will Rosie, calling it “Permission-vague street art” (His book is aptly named Mr Mosaic: Unarrestable). Rosie installs Mr Men and other cartoon-inspired mosaics around Southampton, where he lives. He encourages volunteers to assist him with projects to make the art form more accessible. “People are bored and missing community,” the 52-year-old youth worker says....

Events

4 d. ago Diddy responds to claim he was 'caught drinking moonshine' in prison despite telling judge he is sober as he serves four

Combs, 56, 'has not violated any prison rules,' his spokesperson said, adding that the musical artist is looking to keep clean while serving his sentence.

Events

7 d. ago AD FEATURE: Neighbourhood Weekender announces first wave of artists

Some big names in music are returning to the city and the wider region this autumn and beyond

Culture

9 d. ago Drink tea, tidy up and take action! Can advice from artists really improve your life?

As three self-help books chock full of arty wisdom are released, an art critic tests whether they can improve a seemingly lost cause: himYou’d think at this point I would have learned all the lessons I could from art. I have been a full-time, professional art critic for most of my adult life. I spend my days in galleries, surrounded by art, reading about it, absorbing it. I like art a lot, but I am also cynical about its supposed benefits beyond the merely aesthetic.But just as a new study by the Art Fund finds that art isn’t just good for our mental wellbeing but our physical health, three new books are hell-bent on proving that art is chock full of important life lessons too. Can art really teach us anything, can it change the world, can it make you a better person? We might as well put it to the test and see if it can improve the apparently unimprovable: me. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Father and teenage son bond over ’90s club hit for John Lewis Christmas campaign

Alison Limerick’s Where Love Lives provides the soundtrack, with fellow British artist Labrinth contributing a new version of the track for the ad.

Events

2 w. ago Man Utd bomb squad star on BENCH vs Brighton as he returns to squad in surprising team news

TYRELL MALACIA is back in a Manchester United matchday squad for the first time since January. The defender has struggled massively with injuries over the past couple of years and suffered again whilst away on loan at PSV Eindhoven. Ruben Amorim only offered the 26-year-old five starts after his arrival in November 2024 but has...

Events

3 w. ago AD FEATURE: See Alfie Boe, Madness and more fantastic artists in Manchester

See incredible artists including Pete Tong and his 'Ibiza Classics' tour in Manchester

Sport

3 w. ago ‘A world detached from struggles of urban life’: a rare exhibition of Renoir drawings

Morgan Library & Museum, New YorkFamed impressionist painter’s lesser-seen drawings are the focus of a major new exhibition that invites us into the stages of his artistic processHis luminous colours and sensual brushwork adorn countless mugs, posters and tote bags as well as blockbuster exhibitions. But the commodification of Pierre-Auguste Renoir and his fellow impressionist painters has been missing something.Renoir was an accomplished draftsman who produced a distinguished but largely unheralded collection of drawings, pastels, watercolours and prints. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago BBC star’s nepo daughter reveals addiction battle on new single

A BBC star’s nepo daughter has revealed her addiction battle on her new single. The singer has opened up for the first time about struggling with addiction, ADHD and substance abuse. Line of Duty star Adrian Dunbar's daughter, Madeleine Dunbar, 37, whose artist's name is Minx has explored her past in her new music video. The artist took...

Events

4 w. ago Keeper review – an artistic and visually arresting adventure through the mind of Double Fine

Double Fine has put together an astoundingly beautiful and cinematic puzzle game that isn't afraid to surprise and delight you in equal measure.

Events

last month Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser review – painfully clunky lessons in art

This French bestseller, in which a girl and her grandfather visit Paris museums, aims to be a Sophie’s World for art history – but the conversations are sentimental and simplisticThe complaint that cynics often make about modern art is that most of it looks as though it were made by children. (If your 10-year-old is pulling out crumpled Kandinskys from their schoolbags on a regular basis then lucky you, I say.) But what about art criticism? Could a child’s understanding of art be as radical as John Berger’s or as wise as Sister Wendy’s, for instance? Art historian Thomas Schlesser thinks so. His debut novel, a bestseller in France, has been translated into 38 languages. Perhaps in one of them it lives up to the hype.In Mona’s Eyes, a 10-year-old girl embarks on an artistic adventure with her grandfather, visiting the most famous works in Paris museums over the course of a year. They pledge to gaze at these works intently and to discuss them deeply. The resulting conversations are in...

Politics