Art
Josiah McElheny Reenacted
When first I heard that the sculptor Josiah McElheny had devised a series of paintings for his current show at Andrea Rosen Gallery, I tried to imagine what they would look like.
Review
Performance
Queer Bodies, Obedience, and Aging in Crossing the Line Festival
The ninth edition of the French Institute Alliance Française’s Crossing the Line festival concluded on October 4 after presenting over three weeks of interdisciplinary performances at various venues across New York City.
Art
Jean Dubuffet and Art Brut in the US: A Historical Moment Re-examined
What if canonical art history had been written not by academics but by art’s makers themselves? Who would have been included in such a history, and who would have been left out?
Art
Coming Back to Kiefer
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Nearly eight years ago I wrote a review leading off with the question, “What is it about Anselm Kiefer’s art that inhibits unfettered admiration?”
Art
An Abandoned House in Detroit Blooms with Aromatic Plants
DETROIT — Two common themes in the Detroit lexicon: blighted houses, and nature persisting despite architectural ruin. Lisa Waud’s visually striking Flower House plays into both motifs.
Art
The Measured Precariousness of Sarah Sze
It’s a common promise made in many press releases and artist statements: rather than delivering an artwork with hermetic, built-in meaning and context, the art, by being loose in some way, will provide its viewer with materials and tools with which to construct meaning.
Art
Chasing Ghosts Through Bathhouses and Cisterns at the 14th Istanbul Biennial
ISTANBUL — Caroline Christov-Bakargiev’s highly anticipated Istanbul Biennial, SALTWATER, A Theory of Thought Forms, is not exactly a straightforward affair.
Art
Finding Fulfillment in Images of Empty White Rooms
PARIS — The silence of Seton Smith was significant.
Art
From Porn to Pizza, Some Postinternet Art Is Deeper Than It Looks
BERLIN — Much has been made of the banality of the apparent thematic interests in the show: porn, pets, plants, and pizza. What seems to have been overlooked in much of the coverage of the exhibition, however, is that this ironic superficiality is just a veneer.
Art
Contemporary Takes on China’s Oldest Painting Technique
DENVER — Do viewers outside of China still expect contemporary Chinese art to "look" Chinese, and what does that even mean?
Art
Two Exhibitions Showcase the Bloody Relics of Hermann Nitsch’s Rituals
Viewers may have seen similar Nitsch installations before, but it is important to re-experience his work, much of which has been long misunderstood by an art world dominated by political theory and formalism.
Art
Death Row Inmates Imagine Their Own Memorials
From a certain angle, the premise seems almost cruel: invite prisoners on death row to design their own memorials — ways for them to be remembered after they've been executed.