May 12, 2021 • View in browser

Good morning. ☀️

Today, the exploitation of a Doris Salcedo installation by the Colombian government, a thoughtful review of the Alice Neel retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and our editors spotlight three online events worth checking out.

— Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief

Colombian Government Exploited Doris Salcedo’s Art to Denounce Nationwide Protests

The government’s usurpation of Salcedo’s Fragmentos installation has been viewed as the latest instance of “artwashing” by the Colombian Ministry of Culture.

Valentina Di Liscia

What Else Is Happening?

More than 75 art historians, curators, and scholars denounced the “senseless monetization” of the Newark Museum of Art’s collection; 17 paintings are scheduled to go to auction next week.
Palestinian actress Maisa Abd Elhadi, who starred in Larissa Sansour’s film featured at the 2019 Venice Biennale, was shot by Israeli police while participating in a demonstration in the city of Haifa.

Event Picks

Learn How to Make Your Own Artist’s Book

Artist Debra Disman hosts an online workshop, “Bookmaking with Self-Compassion.”

Elisa Wouk Almino

1-54 New York Returns with an Emphasis on Textiles

This year’s edition will highlight contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora through both an online platform and an in-person exhibition.

Dessane Lopez Cassell

An Online Film Festival Commemorates the Liberation of the Nazi Concentration Camps

Liberation75 is streaming movies about World War II and the Holocaust, including The Great Dictator and Schindler’s List.

Dan Schindel

More From Hyperallergic

The Anti-capitalist Candor of Alice Neel

Neel’s approach defied the conventions of both schlocky social realism and traditional portraiture.

Daniel Larkin

Why Does Quebec’s Museum of Civilization “Own” Human Remains?

In 2016 I noticed an image of tattooed skin affixed to a wooden plaque. Today I initiate court cases against the Ministry of Public Security.

Jamie Jelinski

From the Archives

Figuring Out an Artist's Wants and Needs

What happens when they don’t overlap?

Lauren Purje