Art
The Luminous Plastic of an Underappreciated Light and Space Artist
To create translucent sculptures in the colossal proportions he desired, De Wain Valentine needed a new type of plastic.
Art
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Picking Apart Outmoded Museum Practices
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — How do we combat colonialism and the troubled history of ethnographies?
Art
The Lifeless Eyes of Laurie Simmons’s Human Dolls
From her early photographs of dolls acting like humans, to more recent explorations of humans who resemble dolls, artist Laurie Simmons has spent her career blurring the boundaries between reality and fantasy.
Art
The Meaning of the Ring, from Memento Mori to Marriage
Rings are one of the most personal and oldest human adornments, evolving in complexity with metalwork techniques and the gemstone trade.
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Joan Jonas as Interpreter, Guide, and Ghost at the Venice Biennale
VENICE — For more than five decades, performance has formed the center of Joan Jonas’s illuminating artistic career.
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Personal Data Surveillance as Modern Portraiture
The constant data collection on our lives, from iPhone usage to subway card swipes, transforms through Laurie Frick's art into portraiture.
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The Artist Who Turns Glass Shards and IV Drips into Instruments
For decades, Lucas Abela played turntables hooked up to all sorts of objects, from swords to meat skewers to amplified trampolines. Since 2003, however, the Australian experimental sound artist's instrument of choice has been a large shard of glass.
Art
Yasuo Kuniyoshi Retrospective Places the Painter at the Center of Modern Art in the US
WASHINGTON, DC — In 1948, Yasuo Kuniyoshi was the first living artist to receive a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art and that was the last time his career was thoroughly explored before this year's exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Art
Flashes of Life in Sculpted Skulls and Frozen Faces
Son Ford was born with dying on his mind.
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Listen to the Resurrected Voice of Alexander Graham Bell
WASHINGTON, DC — Out of patent litigation paranoia, inventor Alexander Graham Bell donated copies of his devices and sound recordings directly to the Smithsonian.
Art
Melancholy Tintypes of an Abandoned Amusement Park
Nothing says summer like a day at an amusement park, but few kids would comfortably venture into the abandoned fun land captured by Rob Ball in his series Dreamlands.
Art
Capturing the Moments Between Bullets and Bombs
Like many accomplished photojournalists, James Hill’s work exists in a blurred space between reportage and fine art.