Art
Fernand Léger and the Rise of the Man-Machine
A major retrospective of the French artist's work at the Centre Pompidou-Metz highlights how he anticipated the accelerating mechanization of human life.
Reviews
Books
Object Permanence: The Role of Curators and Cultural Institutions
Voorhies’s book is partly a series of case studies on watershed shows of the last fifty years — shows that, in his view, “relie[d] upon and utilize[d] the exhibition form and art’s critical potential within that form.”
Books
Mary Ruefle’s Sage Advice on How to Keep Your Eyes Open While Sleeping
This is a book you want to read slowly, to savor both for what it says and how Ruefle says it.
Art
Hair and Mushrooms, Gnarly Paint and Smooth Pours
Two artist couples that are good friends have an exhibition and show together for the first time. That seems to me as good a reason as any to have a show.
Music
Kendrick Lamar Goes Back to Bangers
Tonally, Damn is Lamar’s definitive album, refining his craft down to its quintessence.
Art
Preserving Dieter Roth's Ephemeral Art
There’s a discrepancy between Roth’s relationship with his art — so much of which was never meant to last — and its reception by an art establishment that has canonized the late artist.
Art
The Alchemical World of a Performance Artist Who Plays with Fire
Miao Jiaxin — best known for a work that invited strangers to Airbnb a cage in his apartment — lit a room up with fire at the Just Situations performance festival.
Art
Topsy-Turvy Art for a World Turned on Its Head
P.P.O.W.'s exhibition is perfectly timed to dig into the rich seam of madness at the heart of our present cultural and political moment.
Art
Queer Artists Show that Activism Is Key to Survival
VOICE = SURVIVAL contains some wrong turns and dead ends, but these impediments are few and do not detract from the sublime experience of listening to activists speaks their truth.
Art
Artists Embrace the Grayscale
Gray Matters, featuring 37 artists working almost exclusively in shades of gray, is a dazzling exhibition.
Art
Playing with Words in the Most Linguistically Diverse Place in the World
At Flux Factory in Queens, Tongue Tide treats other languages as treasure chests of unique expressions.
Art
Radical Art from the Past Decade, from Tahrir Square to Recife
In MoMA’s Unfinished Conversations, artists around the world engage with today’s political struggles while exposing their personal, cultural, and historical roots.