Mernet Larsen claims an unlikely pair of influences: 15th-century Italian painting and the austere abstractions of the Russian modernist El Lissitzky (1890–1941).
February 11, 2016
The Myth of Beyoncé and Pop Cultural Liberation
The argument is that Beyoncé’s “Formation” is complexity masquerading as simplicity. But it’s also simplicity pretending to be more complicated.
Quiet and Haunting Photographs of Our Modern Ruins
Our fascination with ruins is nothing new.
MIT Students Win Design Competition to Help Bring the Hyperloop from Hype to Reality
In 2013, tech billionaire and “real life Iron Man” Elon Musk first proposed his concept for the Hyperloop, a futuristic ground transport system made up of levitating pods hurtling through pressurized tubes at 700mph.
An Exhibition Goes in Search of Victor Hugo’s Artistic Libido
PARIS — With Eros Hugo: Between Modesty and Excess, the Maison Victor Hugo offers up a fervent paradox: how can an author lead a bawdy and risqué lifestyle while handling the subject of sex prudishly in his virtuosic writings?
Paintings of Roller Derby Butt Bruises as Feminist Badges of Honor
For most people, a nasty bruise is something to cover up.
In Cindy Sherman’s Street Style Satire, the Joke’s on Her
Chameleonic photographer Cindy Sherman is featured in March’s Harper’s Bazaar in a send-up of street style Instagrammers that makes both the artist and the magazine look out of date and tone deaf.
A Japanese Artist Who Sculpted Rather Than Painted His Canvases
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — All of the frustration and sense of dislocation the Second World War had caused Yoshishige Furukawa was visible in the self-portrait he made after all his works were destroyed in air raids that burned down his parents’ home.
Photos of Elizabeth Taylor’s Home Capture Its Beauty and Banality
Like a closed curtain at the beginning of a performance, a red, wavy material with the name “Elizabeth Taylor” emblazoned in white lettering fills the frame.
Mining Flickr for 1 Million Moons
In terms of things we photograph the most, the moon probably ranks pretty high, especially when it floats in the cosmos as a full-bodied orb.
The Historical and Fictional Worlds of Nari Ward
MIAMI — At the Pérez Art Museum, Nari Ward’s retrospective looks at simulations of paradise.