Art
An Illustrated Study of Black Cats, the "Little Aliens" of the Feline World
All Black Cats Are Not Alike, by writer-illustrator duo Amy Goldwasser and Peter Arkle, is a true feat in the age-old tradition of cat art.
Carey Dunne
Art
Why Does the CIA Keep Its Art Collection Secret?
Twenty-nine abstract Washington Color School paintings hang in the halls of the CIA’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia. But unless you’re one of the CIA’s undisclosed number of employees, your chances of ever seeing these paintings, or even digital images of them, are pretty slim.
Art
Hypnotic GIFs of Victorian Optical Toys
Long before the time of Disney and Pixar, artists made images move using a variety of -scopes and -tropes.
Art
Looking Back at 10 Years of Art Made from Printed Books
Donna Seager’s book collection doesn’t look like most people’s.
Art
Merry Kitschmas: A Photographer Documents Christmas in Suburban America
Santa Claus plays pool at a dive bar; giant muppets and nutcrackers fill a neon-lit lawn; a glowing sign reads “Happy Birt Jesus:” These are a few examples of suburban America’s take on the 2,000-year-old religious tradition of Christmas, as captured by photographer Jesse Rieser in his series Happy
In Brief
A Century-Old Spanish Church Transforms into an Art-Filled Skate Park
In 1912, when Asturian architect Manuel del Busto designed Church of Santa Barbera, in the Spanish town of Llanera, the skateboard hadn't yet been invented.
Art
Preserving the Little-Known Works of a Groundbreaking Guatemalan Sound Artist
For the past five decades, in a Guatemala City studio, 85-year-old sound artist Joaquín Orellana has been building unusual, sculptural útiles sonoros, or “sound utensils.”
News
Arts Education Is Growing in NYC Public Schools
Art classes are often the first to be sacrificed from school curriculums when budgets get cut — which makes the 2014–15 New York City Department of Education “Annual Arts in Schools Report" a welcome bit of good news for young artists in the five boroughs.
Art
Why the Rijksmuseum Is Removing Bigoted Terms from Its Artworks’ Titles
If you’re browsing the digital collection of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, you might come across a 1594 painting by Cornelisz van Haarlem, "Bathsheba at her Toilet," picturing “the beautiful Bathsheba” bathing outside the castle of King David.
News
Artist Shames Taylor Swift Over Pirated Painting, but Decides to Shake It Off
Last year, New Orleans-based artist Ally Burguieres painted a picture of a smiley little fox. A few months later, Burguieres was surprised to find that pop star Taylor Swift had shared an image that looked exactly like the fox painting on Instagram.
Art
The Striking Photographs of the First Female American War Correspondent Killed in Action
“You can do anything you want to do if you want to do it so badly you’ll give up everything else to do it,” the Wisconsin-born photojournalist Dickey Chapelle said, according to her biography.
Art
The Queens of Botswana's Metal Scene
South African photographer Paul Shiakallis’s series Leather Skins, Unchained Hearts provides a visual alternative to the stereotypical metalhead in the popular Western imagination.