Arnolfini, Bristol The English artist has created a tense world of folkloric psychedelia and pagan aesthetics that is weird, threatening – and utterly compelling Arms are spread, hands are grasping, lips are puckered: everything in Jonathan Baldock’s eerie, uncomfortable, strange exhibition of tapestries and ceramics at Bristol’s Arnolfini is reaching out to you. The whole exhibition is an invitation to be held, or maybe its cuddliness is a threat, a violent trap. The English artist has created a tense world of folkloric psychedelia and pagan aesthetics here. Don’t read any of the bumf on the wall, it’s couched in gentle, therapy-lite language about “radical gestures” and “holding space for queer and working-class stories”. It doesn’t fit the show. Not that this isn’t about queerness and the working class, because it absolutely is. It’s just that this isn’t gentle and soft art, it’s weird and threatening and menacing – that’s why it’s so good. Continue reading…
Jonathan Baldock: Held review – lick me, trap me, pull me in
By Rupert Blackwood
Investigative journalist based in Sheffield, focusing on technology's impact on society. Rupert specializes in cybercrime's effect on communities, from online fraud targeting elderly residents to cryptocurrency scams. His reporting examines social media manipulation, digital surveillance, and how criminal networks operate in cyberspace. With expertise in computer systems, he connects technical complexity with real-world consequences for ordinary people