This week, the world’s biggest Pokémon card collector, how a photojournalist was killed in Afghanistan, Dan Hancox and Kasia Tomasiewicz, writing for Coda, discuss how children’s toys may be normalizing surveillance, coopting “woke,” and much more.
Weekend
Revisiting the Joy of Pattern and Decoration
The Pattern and Decoration movement was a hard-charging assault on traditions both ancient and oppressive. It was also an explosion of joyously liberated impulses.
The Art of Not Communicating
Caroline Kent’s installation practically vibrates with the energy of near-connection and near-signification.
Making Poetry From Mallarmé’s Mistakes
Ellen Dillon’s verdict on Mallarmé’s pedagogical text? Pretty shaky.
Brilliant? Hatable? Annette Is Both (and Neither)
It remains to be seen whether future critics will see the film as contrarian triumph or empty provocation.
David Driskell’s Wheel of Action
A retrospective pays homage to the pioneering artist and curator, who passed away last year.
A World Made of Words
Garielle Lutz’s sentences are among the most original in modern English, their linguistic specificity making them virtually untranslatable.
Required Reading
This week, the battle over book reviews, Alice Neel’s populism, Herat’s history with the Taliban, considering cultural appropriation, and more.
An Icon of Unconventional Abstraction
Serge Poliakoff: Gouaches 1938-1969 furthers the case for Poliakoff’s importance and continuing relevance to abstract painting.
Paula Rego’s Raging Women
Rego’s women are always independent spirits, and they are often raging.
Two West Coast Art Communities Outside the Mainstream
One thing seems pretty clear about both groups: they separated themselves from mainstream culture, including the art world. This is practically unheard of today.
Ema’s Visuals Ignite the Screen, but Its Story Ultimately Flickers Out
Director Pablo Larraín doesn’t trust his own filmographic brilliance, and lets the story take over in the end.