Art
In Edo Japan, Artists Captured Whales Like Never Before
The whaling industry was an important economic force in both the United States and Japan, but each society captured the subject matter very differently in art.
Reviews
Art
Artist Michael Rakowitz Reveals the Iraq War's Many Wounds
From war loot to Saddam Hussein's Star Wars obsession, an exhibition at MCA Chicago considers the costs of power and destruction.
Books
Dada’s Holy Grail
Marcel Duchamp’s zines leapt from their lair to entertain artists and educate the public.
Music
Oceans of Sound: Jlin, Relax World, Slowdive, Thundercat
The best background music is also the best full-immersion music.
Art
The Impermanent Sculptures of Robert Grosvenor
Grosvenor shares almost nothing with other sculptors working today: He has not branded his work, nor has he made variations on a theme.
Art
Judith Bernstein Shines a Blacklight on Trump's Crimes
We cannot ignore the fact that Americans voted for Trump.
Art
Luisa Rabbia’s Tiny Marks and Big Mysteries
With her series Love-Birth-Death, Rabbia addresses some of humanity’s most enduring, universal enigmas.
Film
50 Years Later, We Still Don’t Know Whether This Film Is Fact or Fiction
In his 1968 film Symbiopsychotaxiplasm Take One, William Greaves turned cinéma verité on itself, never making it clear whether the story was in fact fiction, nonfiction, improvisation, or some combination of the above.
Art
The Permanence of Toyin Ojih Odutola's Invented World
In Ojih Odutola's conception of the world, its inhabitants never fell — not from divine grace, not from political autonomy, and certainly not from self-regard.
Performance
The Somber Fate of a Manuscript Illuminator
In Written on Skin, currently playing at Opera Philadelphia, an illuminated manuscript artist gets involved with his patron's wife.
Art
37 Artists Native to the Americas Weave Stories of Migration and Geography
In a time of bald-faced white supremacy and discrimination, the Nebraska exhibition Monarchs feels vitally relevant.
Art
How Books Get Banned
Xiaoze Xie’s humble books and photographs are quiet survivors that still hide in the shadows even when they are bathed in museum light.