November 27, 2021 • View in browser

This week, how African cultural institutions are leading the way, the observational genius of Catherine Murphy, and we announced the five recipients of the Emily H. Tremaine Journalism Fellowship for Curators.

We hope our American readers are having a restful holiday, and I wanted to let you all know that we’re compiling our year-end lists of the best of 2021, not to mention our infamous 20 Most Powerless People in the Art World.

— Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief 

Artist Marta Rodriguez Maleck engages with a participant for her exhibition Morir es Vivir at the New Orleans Museum of Art (photo by Zac Manuel, courtesy the artist)

When “Art” Dies, the Community Will Thrive
Nic Brierre Aziz responds to artist Marta Rodriguez Maleck’s exhibitions at the New Orleans Museum of Art and the New Orleans Public Library.

When I say that “art and artists need to die,” I mean the concepts and foundations of these two things as manifestations of imperial-induced greed and elitism need to die, in order to be reborn.

NEWS THIS WEEK

• The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is gifted a rare 19th-century Navajo First Phase Chief’s Blanket, joining two pictorial weavings in the collection.

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art officially repatriates three Nigerian works, including Benin bronzes “Warrior Chief” and “Junior Court Official."

• Rare 16th century Tudor wall paintings were discovered hidden behind the plaster walls of a medieval manor in Yorkshire, England.

• The Brooklyn Museum receives a massive $50 million investment from NYC’s Department of Cultural Affairs.

• Tahnee Ahtone, La Tanya S. Autry, Dan Cameron, Jeremy Dennis, and Frederica Simmons are the recipients of this year's Tremaine Journalism Fellowship for Curators.

LATEST IN ART

Catherine Murphy, “Kitchen Door” (2021), oil on canvas, 52 1/4 x 60 inches

Catherine Murphy's Observational Paintings Find the Uncanny in the Ordinary
John Yau on Catherine Murphy: Recent Work at Peter Freeman, Inc.

There is nothing extraordinary about Murphy’s subjects. And yet there is something inexplicably disturbing about her paintings and drawings. It is this aspect of her work — her particularizations of the ordinary — that are central to why I believe she has become an unrivaled figure in contemporary art.

Inside Luis Jiménez’s American Southwest
Lauren Moya Ford expands on the artist's influences and the materiality of the works in Border Vision at the Blanton Museum of Art.

The Spiritual and Erotic Role of Touch in Early Modern Art
Anne Wallentine on The Expressive Body: Memory, Devotion, Desire (1400­–1750) at the Norton Simon Museum.

Genieve Figgis, “Irish House” (2021), acrylic on canvas (image courtesy the artist and Almine Rech Gallery, photo by Dan Bradica)

Genieve Figgis Paints High Society as a Spectacle of Humor and Horror
Billy Anania on Genieve Figgis: Immortal Reflection at Almine Rech Gallery.

On the surface, the artist’s irreverence seems charmingly innocuous. She satirizes the pomp and circumstance of Britain’s and Ireland’s upper classes in bright shades of pink and yellow, hinting at superficial sweetness in the gaudy dress and decor of her subjects.

The Great Painter of London's Mayhem
Michael Glover on Hogarth and Europe at Tate Britain.

The Jewish Immigrant Modernists Who Dreamed a Better Future in Brazil
Ela Bittencourt looks at how the artists' resilience and desire for renewal impacted their art practices.

Two vintage Thanksgiving postcards (image by Hrag Vartanian)

Vintage Thanksgiving Postcards Are Bizarre
Hrag Vartanian shines a light on an incredibly surreal stack of vintage Thanksgiving postcards this holiday. 

A Landscape Photography Contest Rewards Unique Approaches to the Genre
Jasmine Liu highlights the winners of the inaugural Natural Landscape Photography Awards and the organizers' selection approach.

Why Are so Many Online Shows Phoning It In?
Seph Rodney examines the function of exhibitions in a digital space, and whether they reach their full potential.

ALSO ON HYPERALLERGIC

Aerial View of the John Randle Centre for Yoruba History and Culture set to open in Lagos, Nigeria in 2022 (image courtesy John Randle Centre for Yoruba History and Culture)

How Africa’s Cultural Institutions are Leading the Way in Audience Development and Research
Charlotte Ashamu: “Rather than engaging with Africa’s cultural sector through a singular lens, what if the world looked to it as a source of innovation and instruction?”

Why Frida Kahlo Still Isn't a Great Woman Artist
"Has [Frida Kahlo] achieved that elusive female “greatness” of which Linda Nochlin so famously wrote?" — Hall W. Rockefeller 

Just like Museums, Libraries Aren’t Neutral
Fuchsia Hart addresses how structural inequalities in library classification systems contribute to the further marginalization of already marginalized groups.

The Shaggy Appeal of Kurt Vonnegut
A new documentary about Vonnegut prompts Nathan Gelgud's memories of first encountering the author.

Required Reading
This week, a Frank Stella is installed as a public artwork in NYC, the women behind some iconic buildings, looting Cambodia, fighting anti-boycott laws, and more.

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COMICS

Did you say public engagement?
By Guy Richards Smit.

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