Jimothy, Meme and Muse
Artists share tributes to the beloved raccoon, plus Sabri Sundos’s odes to Palestinian diaspora and memory.
Palestinian-American artist Sabri Sundos doesn’t paint people — he “finds” them. After rediscovering visual art while creating an album cover for his music in 2018, Sundos embarked on a series of painting and tatreez embroidery projects dedicated to Palestinian memory, freedom, and identity. Samantha Jensen speaks with the artist about his practice as a love letter to the diaspora, where sorrow and beauty coexist.
Meanwhile, in the news, the Art Institute of Chicago is planning to transfer its entire custodial team to an independent contractor, drawing outcry from union workers. Staff Writer Rhea Nayyar also sifted through a sea of memes and artworks after Seattle’s beloved raccoon, Jimothy; see her curated selection in today’s edition, a welcome bit of levity amid a grim news cycle.
More, as always, including a new book on Helen Levitt’s precious photographs of 1940s New York City.
—Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor
Sabri Sundos Faces Catastrophe With Flowers
“It’s the one thing in the world that is just there to make things beautiful,” Palestinian-American artist Sabri Sundos says of flowers. The motif appears throughout Chasing Flowers, his solo exhibition at Fisk Gallery in Portland, Oregon, where dancing figures and floral forms become vehicles for exploring freedom, longing, and Palestinian diasporic identity.
Yet painting is a relatively recent chapter in Sundos’ creative life. Before turning to visual art in 2018, the Brooklyn-based artist spent years making music, touring, and performing, only picking up a paintbrush while designing an album cover. | Samantha Jensen
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Open Call 2027: Jentel Artist Residency
A Mountain West residency for artists, writers, and composers.
News
- The Art Institute of Chicago plans to transfer its in-house custodial workforce to a private contractor in August, drawing outcry from unionized workers.
Features
How Jimothy the Raccoon Became a Hero of the Misfits
The short-spined Seattle animal with an unfettered spirit has been honored in fan art, tattoos, and murals. | Rhea Nayyar
Read MoreFrom Our Critics
Helen Levitt Captured the Poetry of New York City
A new survey publication serves as a testament to the photographer’s belief that the city’s working-class communities of color possessed a beauty and drama all their own. | Natalie Weis
Read MoreSVA Grads Make Art out of History’s Rubble
The Art Practice MFA thesis exhibition rewrites what came before, pushing back against harmful systems and inventing better ways of living together. | Julie Schneider
Read MoreMember Comment
Butch Murphy on “The Sunflower Effect of Kyung-Me”
From the Archive
The Comedians Who Helped Define Generation X
In the early ’90s, the Kids in the Hall transgressed boundaries of propriety, gender, sexuality, even species as an alternative to binary thinking. | Natalie Haddad
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