Film
A Cruel and Comic Allegory of Destroyed Masculinity
Shock, gallows humor, and defanging the alpha male in Yorgos Lanthimos's The Killing of a Sacred Deer.
Reviews
Art
Conceptual Art You Can Play With
Andy Malone's games deliver conceptual ideas as a sneaky side effect of playing with them.
Art
A Retrospective for a Painter Who Broke Away from Murals
This major retrospective of Carlos Almaraz focuses on the less examined but rich painting practice Almaraz pursued upon leaving mural making.
Books
Stamps of Vanished Countries, from Van Diemen's Land to Biafra
Nowherelands: An Atlas of Vanished Countries, 1840-1975 features the postage stamps and histories of 50 former nations.
Film
Revisiting David Lynch’s Classic Blue Velvet with Behind-the-Scenes Footage
Rich in interviews and ephemera from the making of Lynch's classic, Blue Velvet Revisited is ultimately disappointing as a standalone artistic achievement.
Art
How Art Has Framed Our Celebrity Worship
Pop Stars! Popular Culture and Contemporary Art explores the imagery of celebrity culture and likens it to a religious experience.
Books
The Elegant Minimalism of Soviet-Era Swimming Pools
Photographer Maria Svarbova focuses on the Communist-era swimming pools of her native Slovakia.
Books
Declassified Drawings from the British Government's UFO Desk
UFO Drawings From The National Archives by David Clarke publishes eyewitness illustrations of unidentified flying objects.
Books
The Aspirational Living and Jet-Setting of Midcentury Vinyl LPs
Designed for Hi-Fi Living delves beyond the kitsch of midcentury album art to explore the aspirational lifestyles, and travel destinations, in its visuals.
Books
The Past and Future of China's Socialist Literature
The story Nicolai Volland tells will surprise those who believe communist China was closed to the world, and anyone who thinks communist literature is dull or irrelevant.
Books
Letters to the World: A Poet Turns His Words Into Song
In The Absolute Letter, poet Andrew Joron breaks words down to their constituent parts to reveal their hidden music.
Art
You Are in Good Hands with Matt Connors
Connors has arrived at a synthesis of what, up until now, has been a stylistically identifiable but rather diverse output.