Art
The Pursuit of Art, 2019
MoMA’s recognition of modernism’s multiverse, alongside artist-led drives for greater transparency on the part of museums and their boards, brought a twinge of optimism to the close of the year.
Review
Books
This Be the Verse 2019
John Yau and Albert Mobilio select a few of their favorite poetry books from the past year.
Books
A Tantalizing, If Flawed Reinterpretation of Picasso’s “Demoiselles d’Avignon”
In her new book, Suzanne Preston Blier seduces the reader with a reinterpretation of the painting, based on sources she claims no Picasso scholars have addressed before.
Books
“The Hardest Story I Have Ever Done”: Autobiographical Comics Illustrated by Sexual Abuse and Harassment Survivors
Some of the contributors to Drawing Power: Women's Stories of Sexual Violence, Harassment, and Survival maintain a “straightforward” style of testimony, while others employ creative license to convey the lasting psychological effects of sexual violence.
Art
Joy Labinjo’s Dynamic Process in Painting Her Family
Joy Labinjo’s intimate family portraits are based on her archive of photographs, as well as Instagram and Flickr, straddling online and offline worlds and forging links between past and present.
Art
The Transcendent, Spiritual Fiber Art of Lenore Tawney
More than 40 textile works dating from the 1950s to her death in 2007, at age 100, float in the artist’s retrospective at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.
Art
Technological Invention Is Not Necessarily the Answer to a Sustainable Future
An exhibition at the Royal Academy suggests that technology is our main hope for a better future, generally ignoring the current discourse around natural climate solutions.
Film
How Bible Salesmen Paved the Way for Capitalism to Devour Evangelicalism
The classic documentary Salesman, which turned 50 this year, presaged our current age of megachurches and Christian influencers.
Film
The Crowded, Lonely World of Live Streaming
A wave of documentaries from China, including Present.Perfect and People's Republic of Desire, follow the lives of popular streamers.
Books
The Complex History of Yellow, a “Mediocre” Color
Considering the evidence of yellow’s constant fluctuation in and out of favor, it is curious to see author Michel Pastoureau wonder if it could be “the color of the future.”
Film
The Exuberant, Meditative New Little Women
The latest adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel, written and directed by Greta Gerwig, uncovers new textures for its iconic characters.
Books
The Restless Mind of Giorgio de Chirico
The symbolism that runs through much of de Chirico’s visual art is also apparent in his poetry.