Conrad Atkinson’s subjects so far have included unemployment on Merseyside, a strike at a thermometer factory in West Cumbria, the incidence of pneumoconiosis and asbestosis in miners and factory workers, poverty in Britain, and the refusal to withdraw the Royal Warrant from the Distillers’ Company after the announcement of their responsibility for the thalidomide scandal. He can also claim a measure of success in a number of different areas—compensation in a lawsuit against the Arts Council of Great Britain for suppression of the “thalidomide” print, the unionization of whole departments of

Inspired by Alice in Wonderland, Markus Lüpertz made 48 paintings during a six-month period in late 1980 and 1981. In spirit, if not in appearance,they combine that blend of the absurd and the pompous stressed by Sir John Tenniel with elements of secrecy and terror which are Lüpertz’ own addition. The contrast in Lewis Carroll’s book between implacable authority and a natural order in which flux seems the dominant principle yields two distinct styles in Lüpertz’ rendering. In the first, a type of Surrealist portraiture, shapes like deserted buildings are situated in landscapes; the Caterpillar,