Weekly
December 10, 2022

This week ended with horrific news from Iran about the execution by hanging of 23-year-old activist Mohsen Shekari. At least 10 other people have been sentenced to death for participating in the protests for regime change and equal rights for women. The regime thinks it can squash dissent with these monstrous crimes. But the people have the numbers, and it's only a matter of time before they overthrow their oppressors.

Also this week, the latest trend in AI art is an app that creates fantastical selfies of users while mining their personal data and stealing from artists. I see people falling in love with these AI-rendered versions of themselves. God, I wish Marshall McLuhan were still alive to write about this.

Another interesting piece from this week examined the real reasons for the decline in large-scale bathing in the late Roman Empire. And no, it wasn't Christianity's aversion to nudity, as historian Sarah E. Bond explains.

Now, let's say you have kids in the family and you're supposed to buy them holiday gifts, but you're confused and lost and don't know what to do. There's a way to solve this problem while also supporting Hyperallergic's independent art journalism. For example, how about you get them a Faith Ringgold puzzle? Or a Vincent van Gogh action figure? Or maybe an illustrated biography of Ruth Asawa (I got one of these for a nine-year-old in my family)? There are many other cool gifts for kids and adults in the Hyperallergic Store. Have a lovely, warm weekend.

— Hakim Bishara, Senior Editor

User @SimuLiu shares his Lensa avatar on Twitter. (screenshot Rhea Nayyar/Hyperallergic)

Read This Before You Jump on the Lensa “Magic Avatar” Trend

Lensa AI’s digital avatars have captivated users, but some say the app is stealing from artists and reflects racial stereotypes. | Rhea Nayyar

NEWS THIS WEEK

The Instagram account @womanlifefreedom.art is sharing tributes to Mohsen Shekari, such as this artwork by Masih Fah. (screenshot Valentina Di Liscia/Hyperallergic with permission)

• Dozens of artists honor the life of Iranian activist Mohsen Shekari, calling for the immediate release of protesters.

• Activists staged a "die-in" at the Met's Assyrian Sculpture Court in solidarity with protesters in Iran.

• Depicting a man holding his penis, an 11,000-year-old wall relief may reflect humans’ changing roles during the Neolithic Revolution.

• Alt-right protesters interrupt a Florida art center’s family-friendly drag event, performing the Nazi salute and chanting “Heil Hitler.”

• London’s Wellcome Collection permanently closes one of its foundational exhibitions, citing its promotion of racist, sexist, and ableist theories.

OPPORTUNITIES IN DECEMBER

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

WHAT TO SEE IN CHICAGO

Dianna Frid, “Kernel” (2022), artist book (photo by Tom Van Eynde, courtesy the artist and Alan Koppel Gallery, Chicago)

Celebrating “Weird” Art in Chicago

Rocks, ducks, and a self-organized survey of Gingham are some of the things to see right now in four Chicago art galleries. | Lori Waxman

MFA, MA, & PhD PROGRAMS TO APPLY FOR

Looking to apply to grad school? We’ve organized a list of arts-related MFA, MA, and PhD programs to explore and apply to before their deadlines early next year!

Support Hyperallergic's independent journalism

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ROOTS & ORIGINS

William Kentridge, “Refugees (You Will Find No Other Seas)” (2017) (photo Debra Brehmer/Hyperallergic)

For William Kentridge, Art and Life Animate One Another

In an exhibition that consists of mostly small-scale black and white works on paper, viewer engagement almost magically awakens the sleepy room. | Debra Brehmer

Ways of Seeing, According to Roberto Gil de Montes

Nothing on the canvas wholly captures what it means to belong on land or at sea. | Mebrak Tareke

Two Artist Friends Look to Their Roots for the Future

Both Don Ed Hardy and Laurie Steelink refuse to adhere to traditional artistic hierarchies, an attitude they have shared throughout their 30-year friendship. | Matt Stromberg

DEEPER EXPLORATIONS

Caitlin MacBride, “Delaine Directions” (2022) (courtesy Deanna Evans Projects)

Caitlin MacBride Explores the Politics of Dye

In an era of fast fashion and sweatshop exploitation, the artist demonstrates how far an industry will go to keep workers out of the picture. | Billy Anania 

The Typography of Change 

An exhibition at San Francisco’s Letterform Archive highlights typography’s role in iconic social movements from the 1800s through the present. | Emily Wilson

Art in the Attention Economy

If there is an object you have ever desired in your life, rest assured that someone in the advertising industry made money convincing you of exactly that. | AX Mina

MORE ON HYPERALLERGIC

Hubert Robert, “Ruins of a Roman Bath with Washerwomen” (after 1766) (courtesy the Philadelphia Museum of Art)

Why Did Roman Baths Disappear?   

New research contests the myth that it was Christianity’s opposition to public nudity that led to the decline in large-scale bathing in the late Roman Empire. | Sarah E. Bond

The Spun-Glass Dress That Made a Splash at the World’s Fair

It took over 37 hours to pull 1,900 miles of glass filament to create the garment, now on view at the Toledo Museum of Art. | Rhea Nayyar

How One Woman Built a Famous Male Architect’s Legacy

Eva Hagberg’s new book sheds light on the relationship between critic and publicist Aline Louchheim and architect Eero Saarinen. | Sophia Stewart

Rewind & Play Pits a Musical Genius Against a Culture of Racism

An insidious racism is at play in interviewer Henri Renaud’s attempt to groom Thelonious Monk for public consumption on French television. | Anthony Hawley

Required Reading

This week, news outlets flock to TikTok, New York Times staff strikes, the problem with the phrase “late-term abortion,” and was the North Pole once a forest? | Hakim Bishara and Lakshmi Rivera Amin

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