Music
Fagen’s Critical Catalogue (December 2013, Part 2)
Reviews of Jake Bugg, Veronica Falls, Danny Brown, and M.I.A.
Latest
Art
The Pursuit of Art, 2013
Memories fade. That’s the one good reason, as far as I can see, to compile an end-of-year list. It’s sometimes startling to retrace what attracted my attention over the course of a year; it is also instructive to determine where such a miscellany of shows fits in with ongoing areas of interest, and
Opinion
6 Videos from the Past that Predicted the Future
Which television family do you prefer: the Jetsons or the Simpsons? If you picked the former, you will certainly enjoy this visit to the future past, when sci-fi-esque advertisements provided a vision of the then-future, which is now a part of our present reality.
Art
The Many Contradictions of a "Ghetto Biennale"
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — In 2011, for the second Ghetto Biennale, artist Jason Metcalf hired a Haitian translator to translate the chapter on creolization from Nicholas Bourriaud's The Radicant into Creole and distributed it throughout Port-au-Prince, the location of the biennale. When I read about t
Art
The Geometric Perfection of Snowflakes
We all grew up hearing that each snowflake is unique, but Moscow-based Alexey Kljatov's macrophotography of snowflakes makes your realize the mind-blowing complexity of these crystalline marvels.
News
Italy to Offer Tax Deduction for Book Buyers
The Italian government has unveiled a master plan for attracting foreign investment, and for some reason, it includes a tax rebate for people who buy books!
Opinion
Kanye Gives Kim Kardashian a George Condo-Painted Hermès Birkin Bag
Kanye has had a longstanding relationship with artist George Condo, but their latest "collaboration" came in the form of a gift for Kim Kardashian — a hand-painted Hermès Birkin bag.
News
Art Movements
French government returns looted Egyptian antiquities, Miró full of fakes, Bill Drentell passes away, FAT Architecture calls it quits, and more from the week in art news.
Art
Flowers on the Blue Line
CHICAGO — For two days in a row this past weekend, I boarded the train to Forest Park at the Damen Blue Line station. Dragging my feet up the snow- and dirt-muddied stairs, I looked up to see flowers — actually collages of images of flowers, cacti, and other foliage. They were, I soon learned, creat
Art
Subway Street Art Gets on the GIF Train
Artists Jilly Ballistic and Ryan Seslow have recently started creating their own version of GIF-iti.
Art
Among the Period Rooms, a Failed Architect's Fictional Apartment
LONDON — At the 2009 Venice Biennale, Elmgreen & Dragset converted the Danish and Nordic Pavilions into the stylish home of a mysterious “Mr. B.” This fall, the artist duo did it again, with "Tomorrow" at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Opinion
Online Museum Celebrates Pioneering Black Animation
Think of trailblazing black TV shows, and The Cosby Show immediately comes to mind. But before the Cliff Huxtable, there was Fat Albert, Bill Cosby's beloved animated creation that became famous for his catchphrase, "Hey, hey, hey!"