Art
Leaving Cynicism Aside to Take a Fresh Look at Detroit
For Ryan Standfest to give off a defeatist vibe in the face of adversity is nothing new, but for him to use humor as a coping mechanism rather than a distancing device is refreshing.
Review
Art
A Visual Alphabet for an Oral Language from the Ivory Coast
The Bété people did not have a writing system for their spoken language, so Frédéric Bruly Bouabré created one and used it to describe the scenes in his artworks.
Art
Jeffrey Gibson’s Futurist Gaze
In a word, Gibson’s work is anticipatory — imagining who we humans might become when we truly begin to fill out the contours of our expansive humanity.
Art
When "Outliers" and "Outsiders" Are No Longer Useful Categories in Art
Inherent in the show Outliers and American Vanguard Art is a kind of subtle hierarchy among artists, even if the curator has tried to delimit its force.
Art
Stories of an Assyrian King and What Became of His Empire
A new exhibition at the British Museum underscores the material remains associated with the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, and their display alludes to Britain’s long and fraught history with Iraq.
Art
The Late Robert Morris’s Final, Political Exhibition
Morris, who died last week, left us with this intelligent, stimulating, and typically open-ended show.
Art
The Potent Realism of Robert Pruitt’s Black Portraiture
Pruitt unexpectedly makes draftsmanship feel relevant, even urgent.
Art
The 2018 Turner Prize Focuses on Video Art in Political Times
The 2018 edition of the provocative prize is dedicated to digital art, exploring queer identity, racial violence, and the Israel-Palestine conflict through video art.
Art
Dorothea Tanning's Surrealist Depictions of Women's Pain
Overshadowed in her lifetime by her famous husband, Max Ernst, the American painter gets a major retrospective in Madrid.
Art
How Lorraine O’Grady Has Challenged a Segregated Art World
O’Grady has persistently raised questions about the lack of black representation in art and in the art world. But her latest exhibition represents a shift.
Books
The Ethics of a Mother's Labor
MyOther Tongue offers up an elderly mother’s particular, business-like attributes for consideration in an extended meditation on her work ethic.
Books
Poems Written in the Company of Other Writers
Friederike Mayröcker's poems are often dedicated to specific people and thus constitute a very present act of communication.