Barry Schwabsky

Art Critic

Barry Schwabsky is the art critic of The Nation.

A person views Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica” at the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid on April 3, 2017.

Art During Wartime Art During Wartime

Can it really be that to call for sympathy with victims of murder and kidnapping is necessarily to demand violence in return?

Mar 14, 2024 / Barry Schwabsky

Artemisia Gentileschi's “Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes” (detail), c. 1623–25.

A Hidden History of Europe’s Pre-Modernist Women Artists A Hidden History of Europe’s Pre-Modernist Women Artists

A recent exhibition documenting four centuries of art from female painters and illustrators provides a new way of looking at an era of art history where women are often left out.

Feb 29, 2024 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Isaac Julien at the Tate Britain, 2023.

Isaac Julien’s Truth Isaac Julien’s Truth

Dealing with time, race, and utopias, his work challenges conventional notions of where film belongs and should be consumed.

Dec 18, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Hannah Arendt, in a black and white photograph, sits in front of a wood paneled wall wearing a white jacket

Tomorrow’s Antisemitism Today Tomorrow’s Antisemitism Today

While real antisemitism is rearing its head, the assurance that “anti-Zionism is not inherently antisemitic” can feel like gaslighting.

Nov 21, 2023 / Barry Schwabsky

David Velasco on April 18, 2018, in Milan, Italy.

Once Upon a Time in “Artforum” Once Upon a Time in “Artforum”

Artists and critics are polarized—and under great pressure from both sides of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Nov 2, 2023 / Barry Schwabsky

A security guard stands in the doorway during a press viewing of

What Museum Guards See What Museum Guards See

A recent memoir by Patrick Bringley about his time working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art illustrates the intimate knowledge guards possess of the pieces they protect.

Sep 25, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Jimmie Durham in London, 2015.

The Unsettled Life and Art of Jimmie Durham The Unsettled Life and Art of Jimmie Durham

A retrospective in Naples magnifies the mystery of the conceptual artist’s work. 

Jun 21, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

A New Continuum of Art History at the Carnegie International

A New Continuum of Art History at the Carnegie International A New Continuum of Art History at the Carnegie International

The long-running exhibition of international art offers an indispensable lesson in art outside the bounds of America’s reach and a different way to see history.

Mar 23, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Nan Goldin

Nan Goldin’s Life Between Art and Activism Nan Goldin’s Life Between Art and Activism

The impact of her pioneering photography and her advocacy on behalf of those harmed by Purdue Pharma is chronicled in Laura Poitras’s All the Beauty and the Bloodshed.

Mar 4, 2023 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Beyond Zombie Figuration

Beyond Zombie Figuration Beyond Zombie Figuration

The craze for figurative painting might be at an impasse. These three painters stand above the pack, making work that challenges the very idea of the form.

Dec 19, 2022 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

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