The Mount Rushmore of Racism
Blizzard shuts down museums in New York, Prince Andrew's arrest photo is hung at the Louvre, a beloved hand-drawn calendar in Los Angeles, and a biography of a mountain.
Can't New Yorkers catch a break? Just when the stubborn mounds of filthy snow that haunted us for weeks finally began melting away, we got hit with a blizzard that shut down all art institutions and blanketed the city in white again.
Speaking of whiteness, after forcing his name onto the Kennedy Center and slapping his portraits on the facades of federal buildings, what's the one honor that could maybe fill some of the deep hole inside of Trump's soul? Seeing his likeness engraved into Mount Rushmore might be it. And you know what, that would be a fitting addition to the monument, whose history is steeped in racist ideology, as a recent book by Matthew Davis explains. In his review of the book today, Irvin Weathersby Jr. stresses the importance of revisiting the real history of the monument as we approach the country's 250th anniversary.
—Hakim Bishara, editor-in-chief
Chipping Away at the Facade of Mount Rushmore
How do you write a biography of a mountain? Author Matthew Davis deftly weaves together interviews and stories that reveal so much more than a linear narrative of the monument’s history.
Detroit Institute of Arts Reinstalls African American Galleries at the Heart of the Museum
African American art history has often been underrepresented. “Reimagine African American Art” invites visitors to discover transformative works across two centuries.
News
- Activists install a photo of former Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, taken after his recent arrest, at the Louvre museum in Paris. The photo is titled, "He’s Sweating Now.”
- A severe winter storm shuts down museums across New York and other East Coast cities.
A Closer Look
Artists’ Calendar Celebrates LA’s Everyday Landmarks
For 40 years, artists Nib Geebles and Abira Ali have highlighted the unspoken, day-to-day minutiae of their hometown in their locally celebrated calendar, gesturing with tongue-in-cheek to the politics of urban space in a rapidly evolving city. Urban decay is the muse of the 2026 calendar, “Unknown Landmarks,” from strip malls in Highland Park to flower shops in Eagle Rock. Sophia Haydon-Khan has the story.
How to Tell the Story of Extraction in Appalachia
Lauren O’Neill-Butler writes about Swedish artist and writer Fia Backström's years-long research into environmental degradation in Appalachia and its impact on local communities, resulting in a series of works now on view at the Queens Museum.
Prisoners of Love: Until the Sun of Freedom
The only US presentation of this exhibition by renowned artists Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme is on view at The Bell Gallery, Brown University.
Member Comment
Lowery Sims on Renée Reizman’s “LA’s Art Scene Is Not a New York Outpost”:
From the Archive
Mount Rushmore Is Not My Monument
For a century, our connection to the Black Hills has been disrupted by this eyesore and those who flock to a place that we see as our relative, our grandfather and grandmother. | Clementine Bordeaux
