October 9, 2021 • View in browser
Earlier this week, in one of the more fascinating things I’ve heard in a while, artist Tania Bruguera, who should be no stranger to Hyperallergic readers, agreed to leave her native Cuba in exchange for the release of 25 artists and activists from prison. Bruguera has also called for a boycott of the Havana Biennial, the island nation’s most prominent contemporary art event. Artists often discount the power they have when dealing with institutions — even governments — and this is a good reminder that many things are possible.
In other stories this week, the art world unsurprisingly shows up in the Pandora Papers, a look at the history of the Free Nipple movement, and an essay by Daniel Gerwin about having children while being an artist.
Also, be sure to catch John Yau’s fascinating review of an exhibition at Pace Manhattan of some of Thomas Nozkowski’s last paintings.
— Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief
Erin Morrison and her son Guston on a couch in her studio in 2018
(photo by Brennan Dignan and courtesy Erin Morrison)
The Myth About Having Children as an Artist
Daniel Gerwin takes on the challenges faced by parents and guardians in the art world.
COVID-19 demolished the canard that serious work is incompatible with family life. We can no longer entertain the illusion that raising children requires a total sacrifice of any other endeavor.
A History of Digital Art Through a Feminist Lens
Judith Brodsky expands on the current climate for digital art and NFTs through the lens of feminist theory.
Free the Nipple: A History of a Hidden Movement
Emma Shapiro explains the (surprisingly short) history and unceasing urgency of the “Free the Nipple” movement.
SPONSORED
The Wellin Museum of Art Presents Sarah Oppenheimer: Sensitive Machine
Through four newly designed “instruments,” Oppenheimer explores how individual and communal actions shape the spaces we inhabit. Learn more.
NEWS THIS WEEK
Samples of bones that were used for processing animal skin for clothing (courtesy iScience)
A new archaeological discovery dates the oldest recorded human-made tools for making leather and fur garments to the onset of the ice age.
Pandora Papers reveal that dealer Douglas Latchford used offshore accounts to trade looted Cambodian antiquities housed in major museums.
Tania Bruguera urges visitors to boycott the 2021 Havana Biennial, agreeing to also leave Cuba in exchange for the release of 25 prisoners.
The Creative Economy Revitalization Act proposes a $300 million federal grants and commissions program for art workers.
Golden Artist Colors is now 100% owned by its 200 employees through the company's Employee Stock Ownership Plan.
SPONSORED
Gaika’s NFT Project for Voice Turns Viewers Into Participants
The Voice NFT Residency provides artists with resources to experiment in creating art that utilizes blockchain technology. Learn more.
LATEST IN ART
Thomas Nozkowski, "Untitled (9-69)" (2019), oil on linen on panel 22 × 28 inches
(© Thomas Nozkowski, courtesy Pace Gallery)
The Democracy of Abstraction
John Yau on Thomas Nozkowski: The Last Paintings at Pace Gallery.
Is it possible to celebrate the innate wild beauty of the indifferent universe while acknowledging one’s inevitable disappearance? Nozkowski’s paintings convince me that it can be done.
Painting’s Perpetual Death and Rebirth
Caroline Ellen Liou on Stop Painting at Fondazione Prada in Venice, Italy.
Judy Chicago Retrospective Brings the Artist Full Circle
Grace Loh Prasad on Judy Chicago: A Retrospective at the de Young Museum.
SPONSORED
University at Buffalo Art Galleries Presents Heather Hart: Afrotecture (Re)Collection
On view through May 21, 2022, Hart’s new work “Sweet Lorraine” re-creates the historic motel balcony where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.
Jean Shin’s installation “FALLEN” on the East Lawn of the Olana State Historic Site, part of Cross-Pollination. (courtesy the exhibition partners; © Peter Aaron/OTTO)
In the Hudson River Valley, Artists Navigate Ecology
Sarah Rose Sharp on Cross Pollinationat the Thomas Cole Site in Catskill and Frederic Church’s Olana.
There is a definite poignance to this exhibition, which pits the nascent awareness of human impact on wild spaces evident even in the 19th century to our present-day urgency around climate change and the need for meaningful revision of our relationship with consumption of natural resources.
Not Your Grandmother’s Doilies: New Exhibition Explores the History of Lace
Valentina Di Liscia on P.LACE.S – Looking through Antwerp Lace, presented by the ModeMuseum.
Cloaked in Power and the Tutored Gaze, the Medici Portraits at the Met
Seph Rodney on The Medici: Portraits and Politics 1512–1570 at the Metropolitan Museum.
SPONSORED
New Arts Faculty at SMFA at Tufts Boost the Curriculum’s Social Justice Perspectives
A group of 10 renowned interdisciplinary artists and educators have joined the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University as full-time faculty.
ALSO ON HYPERALLERGIC
Sandro Botticelli, “Map of Hell” (1480–1490) painted parchment, illustration for an edition of The Divine Comedy, Vatican Library, Vatican City, Italy (image courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
Why the Hell We Are Obsessed with Hell
Sarah E. Bond explores our deep obsessions with the reimagining of hell, from Dante to Netflix.
Before 3D Prints There Were Plaster Copies
Pinar Durgun looks at what historical plaster castings can teach us about responsible 3D modeling and digital reproduction.
Film Reels Dredged from the Sea Become an Eerie Meditation on Mortality
Dan Schindel on Bill Morrison’s new documentary The Village Detective: A Song Cycle.
Required Reading
This week, Bad Art Friends, framing Latinx art, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" the comic, Facebook's continuing problems, and more.
OPPORTUNITIES
See our full list of opportunities this month — from residencies, workshops, and grants to open calls for art and writing.
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