Art
The Unwanted Guest at Modernism’s Table
Martin Barré’s work refutes the American view that painting is something that could be used up — as if it came in a pail rather than a well.
John Yau
John Yau is an award winning poet, critic, curator, and publisher of Black Square Editions. He has published over 50 books of poetry, fiction, and art criticism.
Art
Cy Twombly’s Extravagant Synesthesia
Rosalind Krauss misreads Twombly in more ways than I can enumerate.
Art
A Minimalist Transformation of Minimalism
Otis Jones proves that painting’s parameters continue to be commodious — even reductive painting has not been used up.
Art
Deana Lawson’s Iconoclastic Portraits
Lawson confronts viewers with multifaceted visions of black identity, as embodied by strangers and neighbors alike, with whom she has established an intense rapport.
Art
When a Painting Becomes an Incantation
Douglas Florian’s choice of words reminds us how much our nation indulges in name-calling and name checks.
Art
Laurel Nakadate’s Diary of Mourning
Nakadate’s The Kingdom is haunted by grief and irrevocable loss.
Books
Douglas Crase, Literary Subversive
The entire body of Crase’s writing invites the kind of close attention that is usually reserved for poetry.
Art
Peter Williams's Everyday American Hell
Williams has a deeply personal awareness of the irreparable harm done to black bodies.
Books
Charles North Shows Us How to Read without Relying on Theories
North pays close attention to what is in front of him, never resorting to what he calls, in another context, a “theoretical program.”
Art
Trevor Winkfield’s Undomesticated Imagination
Winkfield’s combinations of forms are inexplicable, a seamless fusion of the sinister and innocent.
Art
The Impermanent Sculptures of Robert Grosvenor
Grosvenor shares almost nothing with other sculptors working today: He has not branded his work, nor has he made variations on a theme.
Art
Back When Painting Was Dead
When Clement Greenberg, Frank Stella, and Donald Judd tried to define what makes a painting, they overlooked a central feature — capaciousness.