Nick Cave Is Serving You Everything
One of seven brothers, Nick Cave grew up watching his family create magic out of scraps. His aunts would cut paper bags into patterns, and in just one day, make…
The Women Weavers
of the Little Loomhouse
Philip Guston Mural Warning Against Fascism Restored in Mexico
“The Struggle Against Terrorism” (1934–35) was originally met with mixed reactions and censored for decades.
Robber Barons, Marcel Duchamp, and Big Museums’ Dirty Little Secrets
In 1915, Marcel Duchamp bought a snow shovel at a hardware store in New York City. He inscribed his signature and the date on its wooden handle. On the evening…
Abstract Trailblazer Frank Stella Dies at 87
The painter and sculptor reoriented the North American arts landscape, defying any strict characterizations of his work as it evolved across concepts and media.
Stunning Codex Documenting Aztec Culture Now Fully Digitized
The 16th-century “Florentine Codex” offers a Mexican Indigenous perspective that is often missing from historical accounts of the period.
A Trite Dramatization of the Oslo Peace Accords
An adaptation of the Tony-winning play, Oslo‘s apolitical take on the Israel-Palestine conflict is of little use to anyone.
Hillbilly Elegy Tries, and Fails, to Understand the Working Class
In 2016 Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance’s memoir of growing up in rural Ohio, became a bestseller in no small part due to the idea that it could “explain” the average…
How the Louvre Codified Essentialism in Art History
The art historical meta-narrative canonized by the Louvre Museum converts all artworks into specimens of their cultural moment. No wall tag can fix this.