Alex Katz’s Downtown Dreams Alex Katz’s Downtown Dreams
In a recent show curated by the New York painter and sculptor, as well as a showcase of his new work, his particular artistic psychogeography comes to life.
Aug 16, 2019 / Barry Schwabsky
The Whitney Biennial’s Flimsy Promises The Whitney Biennial’s Flimsy Promises
The show claims to explore questions of sincerity amid a world of fakes, but the shallow results end up reinforcing long-held problems about the museum as an institution.
Jul 22, 2019 / Barry Schwabsky
Sara Cwynar’s Photoshop Proletariat Sara Cwynar’s Photoshop Proletariat
Her photos and videos capture visual culture and fashion’s messy means of production.
Jul 11, 2019 / Hannah Stamler
Gretchen Bender’s Video Art Predicted the Bleak Future of Mass Media Gretchen Bender’s Video Art Predicted the Bleak Future of Mass Media
A retrospective of her art looks at the Pandora's box television unleashed and how we continue to reckon with the effects of an unrelenting, 24/7 visual culture.
Jun 17, 2019 / Hannah Stamler
Photographing the Otherworldly and the Abject Photographing the Otherworldly and the Abject
Barbara Ess’s lo-fi photos, which pluck scenes from our culture’s surveillance regime, make the banal seem terrifying and mystical.
Jun 14, 2019 / Barry Schwabsky
Lincoln Kirstein’s Intimate Modernism Lincoln Kirstein’s Intimate Modernism
A new show at the MoMA illustrates how one of New York’s great cultural impresarios and writers espoused a more magical realist vision of modern art history.
May 23, 2019 / Barry Schwabsky
The Legend of the Spider Woman: Imagining the Mind of Louise Bourgeois The Legend of the Spider Woman: Imagining the Mind of Louise Bourgeois
Jean Frémon’s book about her life and art is a perceptive but flawed attempt to understand the inner workings and inspirations of the brilliant artist.
May 15, 2019 / Jillian Steinhauer
Museums’ Recent Tech Obsession Does Not Compute Museums’ Recent Tech Obsession Does Not Compute
A spate of recent shows, including one at MoMA about the material and cultural role of 21st-century technology, shows how little the art world understands its buzziest new interest...
May 6, 2019 / Sophie Haigney
The Transfixing Spell of Edward Gorey’s Life in Art The Transfixing Spell of Edward Gorey’s Life in Art
Mark Dery’s Born to Be Posthumous meticulously tells the story of the unconventional author and artist, who amassed an ardent following yet remains unknown to many readers.
Apr 16, 2019 / Books & the Arts / Jillian Steinhauer
What to Do When Art Leaves You Speechless What to Do When Art Leaves You Speechless
Optic Nerve, the debut novel from Argentine writer María Gainza, is an exquisite and intimate look into one person’s idiosyncratic vision of art history.
Apr 8, 2019 / Dustin Illingworth