We are waiting for spectacle and when the quotidian, yet incongruous actions occur I wonder whether there is any real payoff coming.

Seph Rodney
Seph Rodney, PhD, is a senior critic for Hyperallergic and has written for the New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, and other publications. He is featured on the podcast The American Age. His book The Personalization of the Museum Visit was published by Routledge in 2019. In 2020 he won the Rabkin Arts Journalism Prize. Find him at sephrodney.com.
Mourning a Tree That Has Lain Down
Jean Shin’s “Fallen” bids goodbye to the longevity we thought we had and mourns it, so that we might let it go.
Cloaked in Power and the Tutored Gaze, the Medici Portraits at the Met
My sense is that people come to this museum and this show wanting to learn other histories by having their way of looking tutored and trained.
The Galactic Visions of Leonardo Drew
This exhibition could use some more acreage to convey the feeling of standing at a doorway leading to a universe sparkling with abundant energies.
Pulling the Caribbean into Conceptual Focus
Six artists provide distinct ways of seeing the Caribbean in its proper orientation.
The Urgency and Resonance of Chakaia Booker
The intentionality of Booker’s abstraction gives me the impetus to discuss something about the current zeitgeist that’s been on my mind for a while.
Call My Agent and the Crisis at Work
The French television program does a good job exploring how people cope with work-related drama and its impact on relationships.
Shahzia Sikander Draws the Immeasurability of Women
The artist uses her technical and artistic gifts to render a clear vision of women who defy stereotypes.
Seeing the Armory Art Fair as a Chance to Reconnect
Art fairs always seem to privilege and fete consumptive behavior. But they also give me an opportunity to reconnect, to revisit, to see an artist’s work, and share the brilliance of my community.
Breathing More Deeply With Art in the Hudson River Valley
The second edition of the Upstate Art Weekend offered glimpses of some of the myriad flavors of art in the Hudson River Valley.
Painterly Visions of Zimbabwe Emerge in Soho
In this small art exhibition, the rich figural painting tradition of this southern African nation shines through.
Art! Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are!
In Art Hiding in New York, you can explore the art all around a city that can’t seem to get enough of it.