Books
Looking for Traces of Lenin in Ukraine
The former Soviet republic, which used to have the most Lenin statutes per capita, has dealt with its old communist monuments in a myriad of ways.
Review
Art
Paintings in Which Splotchy Blobs Stand in for Historical Figures
Alun Williams makes ahistorical history paintings by playing with the postmodern circulation of context-free imagery, mixing free-spirited image accumulation with glints of personal specificity.
Art
The Startling Abstractions of Arpita Singh
For those who know only Singh’s figurative paintings, this exhibition of 33 abstract works will come as a surprise in the very best sense.
Art
At the Venice Biennale, Pinocchio Is a Trojan Horse for Capitalist Critique
In the Scottish Pavilion, Rachel Maclean’s film Spite Your Face lays bare how greed corrupts so deeply that even helpless souls are turned savage.
Books
Photographs Document Arctic Change on Our Frozen Seas
Pictures like Diane Tuft's and Stefan Hunstein's eventually may be all that remains to remind us of the Arctic’s terrible beauty.
Art
An Audio Tour Dredges Up the Dark Ecology of NYC's Newtown Creek
A new field guide takes listeners on a walk along one of the country's most polluted waterways, where unexpected nature mingles with relics of industry.
Art
A Death-Plagued Gilded Age Ballroom, Recreated on the Edge of Central Park
I don’t believe in ghosts, but if I did, I would wonder whether the many dead owners of the William C. Whitney Ballroom might be tempted to haunt Liz Glynn’s reincarnation of it.
Art
Portraits of Angelenos that Illuminate the Complexities of the City
The photographs in Star Montana's show at Beta Main contain the beauty of Los Angeles without hiding its rougher edges.
Film
A Century’s Worth of Movies About Cross-Dressing and Drag
The series Cross-Dressing and Drag on Screen at the Anthology Film Archives highlights drag’s ubiquity across time, place, and social milieu.
Performance
Before the Trump-Inspired Julius Caesar, There Was Orson Welles’s Anti-Fascist Staging
The current, controversial Shakespeare in the Park show owes a more than superficial debt to Welles’s landmark production.
Art
The Postwar Japanese Home as a Laboratory for Architectural Experimentation
An expansive and enthralling exhibition at London’s Barbican Centre pulls work from more than 40 architects.
Art
If Hollywood Actors Tell Refugees’ Stories, Will We Finally Listen?
In Candice Breitz’s video installation, six men and women recount their stories, which are then reinterpreted by Alec Baldwin and Julianne Moore.