Art
A Play About Metalheads and Metal Hearts
La Mélancolie des dragons is a magical play from director Philippe Quesne and Vivarium Studio about a crew of inventive metalheads.
Review
Film
A 1969 Film Offers Lessons in Resistance
Robert Kramer's 1969 film Ice, about a group of revolutionaries in New York City, is part of a series of dystopian movies screening at Anthology Film Archives to coincide with Donald Trump's inauguration.
Books
A Book and Exhibition Reveal Josef Albers's Rarely Seen Photocollages
In his only lecture on photography, Albers warned students against approaching photography carelessly, and the collages he made of his own photos show how he put that mantra into practice.
Art
Rehabilitating the Untrendy Tradition of Still Life Painting
In their two-artist show at Mrs. Gallery, Sarah Bedford and Tracy Miller offer complementary approaches to bringing the historically devalued genre of still life painting into the 21st century.
Performance
From Slut Shaming to Systemic Racism, Indie Opera Tackles Timely Issues
These operas are not the types of performances seen at traditional opera venues with their generous budgets, megastars, and perfect-pitch performances.
Books
Bursts of Humor and Intricate Visuals in a Collection of Alan Moore's Lesser-Known Comics
Though "Brighter Than You Think" is of limited use as a critical text, it’s tough to beat as a straight-up collection.
Art
An Artist Invites Viewers to Become Like the Animals to Understand the Animals
"The Unreliable Bestiary" evolved around interwoven stories, illustrated with beautiful videos of animals and habitats, maps, researched data, and costumed dancers in barn-like interior spaces and out “in the wild.”
Art
A Timely but Limited Look at Feminist Art from the 1970s
Far from perfect, this exhibition marks a step toward empowering voices that could do much to liberate our own identity from the cultural codes by which it continues to be confined.
Books
Reader’s Diary: David Graeber’s 'Debt: The First 5,000 Years'
It's no wonder that few things inspire as much persistent paranoia as banking. But a little paranoia might not be such a bad thing.
Art
The Difficulty of Getting the News: Lois Dodd, Sally Hazelet Drummond, and the Narrative of Exclusion
What the exhibition of Drummond and Dodd proves is that the art world was more diverse in the 1960s than has been told.
Art
No Point of View Is the Best View of All: Artists Working Between 1952–65, Many of Whom Are Forgotten
If 1962 is the dividing line between one art world and what we seem to have inherited, Inventing Downtown will bring you back to the period before the “art Establishment crossed the street.”
Art
What Lies Beneath: Carl D'Alvia's Buried Meanings
Though he wears his scholarship lightly, Carl D'Alvia is adept at the semaphores of 20th-century sculpture.