Life According to Sylvia Snowden and Joan Semmel
Also: a graffiti artist's protest against ICE deportations, TIME Magazine's miserable "Person of the Year" cover, and the enduring relevance of W. E. B. Du Bois.
“Color is life. Without color, what would you have?”
Sad beige is officially over, if it ever really began. Look no further for proof than these words from 83-year-old artist Sylvia Snowden, whose paintings are live currents of electricity, organisms of paint and movement.
She opens up about her childhood in New Orleans, learning from giants of Black modernism at Howard University, and the community on her street in DC that inspired an entire series in an interview with critic Jasmine Weber. Snowden has dedicated her career to capturing the humanity at the core of these paintings, and to making the people for whom she names them think, Somebody cares enough of me to represent me.
It’s surreal to read this lovely interview on the one hand, and behold the truly ridiculous new TIME cover photo on the other. It’s not the first time the publication has been criticized for being out of touch with, well, the literal rest of the world. But it takes a special kind of villainy to think naming its 2025 Person of the Year simply “Architects of AI” and swapping the construction workers in the iconic “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper” photograph (1932) with odious tech billionaires was a good idea. Staff Writer Rhea Nayyar is here to remind you that no, you aren’t losing your mind; legacy media is.
Enjoy reading, and Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate!
—Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor
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News
- Inspired by the subway art of Keith Haring, a new work of graffiti in Manhattan portrays ICE detaining the Statue of Liberty.
- TIME’s “Person of the Year” swaps construction workers for tech billionaires, as it reimagines one of the most famous historical photographs in the world.
Reviews
Joan Semmel’s Paintings Are Beautifully Disturbing
The nonagenarian artist insists that women’s bodies are interesting for more than their eroticism. | Lisa Yin Zhang
The Glitter and Doom of Lee Miller's Vision
From her collaborations with Man Ray to her work as a WWII photographer, the artist retained a mix of defiance, poignance, and brazen, oddball humor. | Michael Glover
The Timeliness of W. E. B. Du Bois’s Philosophies
His prevailing influence over social theory and racial philosophy proves as relevant as ever in a group exhibition that explores his ideas, research, and legacy.| Jasmine Weber
The National Museum of the American Indian Presents Water’s Edge: The Art of Truman Lowe
The first major retrospective of acclaimed artist Truman Lowe (Hoocąk [Ho-Chunk]), features nearly 50 evocative sculptures and drawings.
Interview
For Sylvia Snowden, Color Is Life
The 83-year-old artist has dubbed her painterly detonations of color, which physically undulate from their surfaces, as “structural abstract expressionism.” | Jasmine Weber
Member Comment
Claudia Rousseau on Ed Simon's "Maurizio Cattelan Is No Duchamp"
Artist Connor Wright Debuts Solo Presentation: Alexa, Truth or Dare?
On view in Manhattan through January 20, 2026, Wright’s new large-scale paintings engage with the speed, scale, and inundation of images today.
ICYMI
Basking in the Light of Raúl de Nieves’s Stained Glass Tarot
With its spiritual and religious connotations, de Nieves's installation transforms Pioneer Works from a creative space to a contemplative one. | AX Mina
From the Archive
Modern Menorahs That Break the Mold
From a banana menorah to versions by Dalí and Peter Shire, artists have long remixed the traditional Hanukkah lamp. | Sarah Rose Sharp
Beer with a Painter: Joan Semmel
“How could I make work that was sexual from a woman’s point of view, that would not turn a woman off, as so much of pornography did?” | Jennifer Samet
