Opinion
A Brief Lesson on Media Bias and Palestine
The ways in which media has abstracted the violence in Gaza brought back to mind an experience I had with an editor in 2014, when I tried writing about the Oakland-Palestine Solidarity Mural.
Opinion
Opinion
Early Christians Would Have Found the Met Gala Gaudy
A historian of early Christianity with a specialty in religious dress considers how the Metropolitan Museum's recent gala and new Costume Institute exhibition might align with or offend early Christian sensibilities.
Opinion
Melania Trump Designed the Logo for Her "Be Best" Initiative
As if things weren't bad enough, the new logo for Melania Trump's initiative was reportedly designed by the FLOTUS herself.
Opinion
Why I Am Resigning from X-TRA Contemporary Art Quarterly and the Problem with 356 Mission’s Politics
The publication’s board is scheduling an event at an establishment boycotted by a long list of grass-roots organizations in Boyle Heights.
Opinion
Stop Treating the Berkshire Museum as a Sacred Space for Masterpieces
Locals like me don't visit the Berkshire Museum to look at famous paintings. Why did 40 artworks become the center of a national controversy?
Opinion
What Black Panther Gets Right About the Politics of Museums
In one scene, the blockbuster superhero movie touches on issues of provenance, repatriation, diversity, representation, and other debates currently shaping institutional practices.
Opinion
By Flipping Its Symbol on International Women's Day, McDonald's Serves Up Fast Food Feminism
Like other examples of corporate feminism, the upside-down Golden Arches are a filling but nutrient-poor serving of feminist art.
Opinion
The Illegal Papyrus Trade and What Scholars Can Do to Stop It
In 2012, a remarkable artifact appeared on eBay — and my research into its origins raised troubling questions.
Opinion
The Symbolism and Bigotry of a Supposedly Satirical Cartoon About 'Dreamers'
A troubling cartoon in the Albuquerque Journal takes the perspective of the surveillance state, when it ought to examine the state itself.
Opinion
Who Is Threatened by Women Who Curate Political Art?
Challenging art is essential for sparking difficult conversations, but two museum directors — both women — have recently stepped down after championing politically engaged programming.
Opinion
Paris Deserves Better than Jeff Koons
In defending Koons's giant "Bouquet of Tulips" sculpture for Paris, two art dealers working on the project expose its many flaws.
Opinion
Do We Really Have to Ask if Trump Is a Conceptual Artist?
Trying to label the border wall prototypes as Land Art (and Trump and the American people as engaged in a collaborative artwork) artist Christoph Büchel raises some unpleasant questions.