Books
Beneath the Pretty Surfaces of Sofia Coppola’s Films
A new monograph demonstrates that the director’s aesthetic does not equal “mere frippery,” but examines important issues.
Books
Books
Wallace Berman's Magical World
If you have any interest in the wild array of people who defined the West Coast bohemian world, you must read Tosh Berman's Tosh: Growing Up in Wallace Berman’s World.
Books
Is It Beautiful, or Is It Art?
We philosophers love to argue, and so when I say that Thierry de Duve offers a lot to argue with, I mean that as sincere high praise.
Books
Contrariness and Subtle Humor from a 19th-Century Proto-Feminist Art Writer
A recently published volume of Vernon Lee's writing reveals a woman who is a product of privilege, as well as someone who used what it afforded her to resist the status quo.
Books
A Book of Necessary, Speculative Narratives for the Anonymous Black Women of History
Saidiya Hartman's new book of speculative fiction unearths the beauty in the wayward, the fiction in the facts, and the thriving existence in the face of a blanked out history.
Books
A Book Assumes the Voice of Louise Bourgeois in Uncomfortable Ways
Jean Frémon began his book Now, Now, Louison while the artist, who was also a friend, was still alive.
Books
An Attempt to Translate Philosophy into Comics Fails Miserably
Unlike their earlier books illustrating philosophical ideas, this book lacks clarity.
Books
A Captivating Biography Chronicles the Important Life and Work of Judy Chicago
Levin conducted 250 interviews with Chicago and her friends, family, colleagues, admirers, and critics, and had access to Chicago’s diaries and letters.
Books
A Book Argues for Dada’s Russian Origins
Unlike its Western iteration, Dadaism in early twentieth century Russia was closely allied to political revolution.
Books
When Capri Was the Place to Be
Jamie James gives a full, intriguing, detailed history of the island's visitors and expats, a wild panoply of writers, artists, rogues, madmen and madwomen, and thieves.
Books
Dismantling the Narrative of Soviet Socialist Realism Versus American Abstract Expressionism
A new book injects nuance into reductive historical interpretations of how the Cold War affected global art in the second half of the 20th century.
Books
An Uncompromising Look at Photography and Gender
In Photography after Photography Abigail Solomon-Godeau’s overarching goal is to offer a feminist critique of the art world.