November 3, 2022

Good morning. ☀️ Today in the news, an auction house in Philadelphia sells a disturbing self-portrait by a serial-killer clown, and it's not funny at all. I blame popular culture's twisted fascination with serial killers. We have all the details about this troubling sale.

Also, Iranian artists seek international solidarity, an exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art explores the legacy of Bernd and Hilla Becher's photography, the divisive story of a lost cave house in Mexico City, and more.

Lastly, artist Denise Zubizarreta writes about the experience of living and working with chronic illness. Her moving words, and admirable resilience, will resonate with many.

— Hakim Bishara, Senior Editor

Iranian Artists Plead for International Support

Activists are organizing a “call-in day” to remind politicians of the ongoing crisis with a protest-performance planned in New York this weekend.

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IN THE NEWS

As the sinister clown painting fetches over $12K, what made an auction house in Philadelphia decide to sell the art of serial killer John Wayne Gacy?
Joan Didion’s art collection is up for auction. The trove of artworks includes a photograph by Patti Smith, pieces by Cy Twombly, Robert Rauschenberg, and more.

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Back in person! The Annual Art Sale at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University

Discover works from students, alumni, faculty, and friends of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. Proceeds from this year’s sale will provide crucial support to financial aid assistance, making it possible for SMFA to truly support the next generation of artists. Learn More

Image: Dinorá Justice, Brazilian-American. Portrait 32, after Matisse's Reclining Odalisque, oil and acrylic on canvas (© Dinorá Justice, courtesy the artist and Gallery NAGA, Boston)

LATEST REVIEWS

Reclining Men Reading Radical Books

Artist Pachi Muruchu merges his radical beliefs and resistance to colonialism with a complex sense of color and the moods it can conjure and inflect. | John Yau

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Wrightwood 659’s Fall Exhibitions Highlight the Expansive Cosmos and Same-Sex Desire

Discover works by Michiko Itatani in Celestial Stage and the history of queer identity in art in The First Homosexuals, now on view at the Chicago art space. Learn More

Bernd and Hilla Becher’s Misunderstood Oeuvre

Critics who have deemed the photographer couple’s work outmoded and detached are simply wrong. | Julia Curl

The Many Faces of Ukrainian Photography Today

In Ukrainian Photography Today the now and then come into intimate contact to reveal a story about one’s roots and uprootedness. | Lev Feigin

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Washington University in St. Louis: MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

Learn more about the two-year residential program for illustrators, comic artists, and designers at a virtual open house this November. Learn More

ALSO

The Contentious History of a Lost Cave House in Mexico City

The disappearance of “Casa Cueva,” a model of which is on view at the Noguchi Museum, pitted two great artists against each other in one of the most divisive episodes in Mexican contemporary art history. | Valentina Di Liscia

Finding Strength as an Artist With Chronic Illness

When the profits from every sale are dumped right back into medical costs, what does the balance of surviving and creating even look like? | Denise Zubizarreta

OPPORTUNITIES

Opportunities in November 2022

From residencies, fellowships, and workshops to grants, open calls, and commissions, our monthly list of opportunities for artists, writers, and art workers.

View the full list

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