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Diego Rivera by Francisco de la Mora and José Luis Pescador review – rumbustious hymn to a radical artist

by Rachel Cooke Feb 1, 2022

The eventful life of Frida Kahlo’s revolutionary husband makes for a rich, energetic graphic biography

In this frenetic, rumbustious new graphic biography of Diego Rivera by Francisco de la Mora and José Luis Pescador, the Mexican artist’s third wife (and fourth: they married twice) appears only fleetingly. We don’t find out where or how they met; the powerful connection between them, never fully explained, must simply be taken for granted by the reader. But perhaps the authors feel that Frida Kahlo has had a bit too much attention just lately: who could forget the snaking queues at the V&A’s show of her work in 2018? In their book, then, it’s Rivera who is centre stage. Like a raging bull, rushing into the ring for a fight, he dominates every page, all bristling melodrama and animal energy.

“There have been two great accidents in my life,” Kahlo said. “Diego was by far the worst.” There is surely hyperbole in this statement, however unhappy Rivera made her at times (both of them were repeatedly unfaithful). But you grasp her meaning: the sense of collision that accompanied her husband wherever he went. Though his talent was prodigious – he went to art school at 11 – it often struggled to find its place in a life that was by any standards overpopulated with incident. Born in 1886, Rivera was the son of a journalist who was involved in revolutionary politics, instincts he would famously go on to share. Travelling in Europe, he met Lenin in Paris and Stalin in Moscow; later, he offered refuge to Trotsky during his Mexican exile. But revolutionaries come in many guises. If he talked the talk – even after fame arrived, he remained proudly un-clubbable – he was also easily distracted, usually (though not exclusively) by women.

A huge and probably futile gamble: the strange TV return of BBC Three

by Mark Lawson Feb 1, 2022

What is the channel’s point? Will young people watch? And can the broadcaster even afford it? BBC Three’s relaunch is full of difficult questions

When BBC Three is reborn as an on-air channel at 7pm today, its schedule includes Eating With My Ex, a post-dating format in which former lovers meet up over a meal.

It’s an appropriate choice given that the network itself is returning to a former partner after a split that caused serious disagreement and left messy unfinished business.

Marcus Rashford to publish 'inspirational guide' You Can Do It

by Alison Flood Feb 1, 2022

England footballer’s follow-up to bestselling debut You Are a Champion is aimed at children aged between 10 and 14

Marcus Rashford is writing a follow-up to his bestselling debut You Are a Champion, in which the England footballer will explore “how to celebrate and champion difference”.

Rashford’s first book, published last May and co-written by Carl Anka, was the bestselling children’s non-fiction title of last year, selling over 220,000 copies in the UK, according to its publisher. His and Anka’s follow-up, which will be called You Can Do It: How to Find Your Team and Make a Difference, will be published in July, Macmillan Children’s Books said today.

Whoopi Goldberg apologises for saying Holocaust 'isn't about race'

by Press Association Feb 1, 2022

US talkshow host offers ‘sincerest apologies’ after comments spark online backlash

The US talkshow host and actor Whoopi Goldberg has offered her “sincerest apologies” after saying the Holocaust “isn’t about race”.

She said Jewish people around the world had “always had my support”, in a statement after her remarks led to a backlash online.

'If you've handled an opera director, you can handle a five-year-old': creatives who changed jobs during the pandemic

by Andrew Dickson Feb 1, 2022

Covid has devastated the arts, with many professionals forced to seek work elsewhere: as teachers, coders … and wine tasters. How have they found it?

A stone’s throw from London’s West End, the Groucho Club is exactly the sort of spot you’d expect to find a theatre producer holding court, surrounded by rumpled media types and within earshot of a Netflix exec or three.

But there is a more practical reason why Libby Zietsman-Brodie has suggested this location for our chat today: in a few hours, she has a wine tasting there. When I locate her in the upstairs bar, she is proffering a carafe of pale rosé. “A little something?” she asks, waggling a glass.

Playing to win: are Mattel movies about to take over Hollywood?

by Stuart Heritage Feb 1, 2022

The toy company has recruited Lena Dunham, Greta Gerwig and Tom Hanks to help usher in a new slate of films based on kids’ favourites

Deep down, everyone wishes they were Marvel. Armed with nothing but B-grade IP and heroic levels of pluck, a lowly comic book company slowly went about wrestling the film industry into an inescapable stranglehold. But a decade and a half on, Marvel has become the established order. It is time for a new plucky upstart to stage another revolution. That upstart?

Mattel. You know, Mattel. The toy people. No, really.