Film
Bruno Dumont’s France Is a Cogent, if Convoluted, Critique of Celebrity Culture
This may not be a great film, but its narrative and tonal weaknesses throw into relief just how strong Léa Seydoux is as its thumping heart.
Reviews
Art
Paintings Rather Than Pictures
This desire to go beyond the ordinary without forgetting its existence seems to be one motivation that Jane Freilicher and Thomas Nozkowski shared.
Film
Denzel Washington Stars in a New Black-and-White Macbeth
Working for the first time without his brother Ethan, Coen’s film adaptation, featuring Denzel Washington as Macbeth, embraces the text with unusual faithfulness.
Art
When an Artist’s Body Breaks Down, Human Relations Become Crucial
Michael Mandiberg’s Timeframe exhibition gives the viewer a window into a period of time when they had to deal with the breakdown of their own body.
Film
Exploring the Baffling Popularity of Kenny G
Penny Lane’s Listening to Kenny G finds fascinating layers to the cult of the smooth jazz icon.
Art
Bob Thompson's Provocative Challenge to Euro-American Art History
A new retrospective expands on the late artist's legacy as a Black Expressionist who teased out Civil Rights-era tensions in the United States.
Art
Assemblage Art for the Age of the Online Shopper
Bader brings a conceptual playfulness to found-object assemblage, updating Marcel Duchamp’s concept of the assisted readymade for the age of the online shopper.
Art
An LA Gallery’s Sexy Xmas Tradition
The Lodge has a cheeky interpretation of Christmas cheer.
Art
The Mysteries of the Universe in John Willenbecher’s Early Work
Between 1962 and ’75, Willenbecher made a substantial body of work reflecting his interest in games and the night sky, in the ancient human desire to make order out of the inexplicable.
Art
A Moving Meditation on Mortality in Brice Marden's Late Paintings
What I see as his late period reveals an artist who knows that change is inevitable, that mortality is hurrying closer, and that art is not a bulwark against time.
Art
An Artist Honors Iceland's Wild Nature from a Distance
Jónsi hasn’t just utilized natural materials but has, one senses, collaborated with them, allowing them their own innate power.
Film
Yugoslavian Monuments Deliver a Message from Two Billion Years in the Future
The only film directed by composer Jóhann Jóhannsson before his death in 2018, Last and First Men is an eerie combination of sci-fi and documentary.