On December 4, someone killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in front of his Midtown hotel, and it feels like we’ve been hovering in a state of heightened hysteria since. On my commute home, a dad on the uptown N train read the manifesto of the alleged killer on his phone with one hand, rocking the baby in his stroller with the other. During my lunch break, two kids at the table behind me at Oasis gushed over him between mouthfuls of shawarma. There’s an art angle, of course: We reported on the New York Times’s policy of not showing Luigi Mangione’s face. We interviewed his courtroom sketch artist, Jane Rosenberg. We did a deep dive into the Christ-like composition of photographs of his perp walk, and a corresponding infatuation so intense it feels like devotion. This phenomenon has either irrevocably changed our culture, or dredged something vital and unseen to its surface. I think in times so charged, it can be difficult to look directly at a thing so fiery and see it for what it is. I recommend not looking away, but instead turning to art, that most ambiguous mirror. The work of Thomas Schütte, for instance, makes the familiar strange again, Hrag Vartanian points out in our guide to the exhibitions to see over the holidays. And down the hall, another show at MoMA offers an unusually cerebral take on the corporeal. I know what I thought of when I read critic Yota Batsaki’s description of artwork attaining a “planetary scope through quirky means.” The Swiss Institute exhibition she reviews springs out of an origin story from the ’70s. A scrappy group of environmentalists and artists somehow won a fight against the monopolistic Con Edison, opening a path for decentralized power production in the US, and “planting hope in the rippling wake of small local acts.” There’s hope for us yet. Happy holidays! —Lisa Yin Zhang, Associate Editor
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Take a break from the holiday chaos and replenish yourself with funny, dynamic, and subtle art by Thomas Schütte, Ralph Lemon, Alexandra Exter, and others. | Hrag Vartanian, Natalie Haddad and Hakim Bishara
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REVIEWS
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Energies continues at the Swiss Institute through Jan. 5, 2025.
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“They prevailed, opening a path for decentralized power production in the United States and, like the show that they inspired, planting hope in the rippling wake of small local acts.”
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The Umbrellas of Cherbourg at Film Forum through Jan. 2, 2025.
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“The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is simply one of the most brain-quiveringly beautiful films ever to flood a screen: a hyper-saturated, hyper-feminine deluge of color, texture, and line.”
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Theater of Thought at Film Forum through Jan. 2, 2025.
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“The film doesn’t evince the kind of philosophical resonance or sheer weirdness that we know Herzog is capable of.”
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LUIGIMANIA
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The authorities inadvertently transformed a perp walk photo of the accused killer of a healthcare CEO into a Renaissance painting of the arrest of Christ. | Ed Simon
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“I was so disappointed that they had changed him out of his orange jumpsuit,” said courtroom sketch artist Jane Rosenberg. | Valentina Di Liscia
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Alleged editorial chats published by independent journalist Ken Klippenstein suggest the paper tried to limit the publication of photos of the accused shooter. | Isa Farfan
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WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING? |
From 11:57pm to midnight through Mon., December 30, Laurie Simmons’s surreal, AI-infused Autofiction takes over Times Square [timessquarenyc.org]
Don’t miss ongoing holiday train shows at the New York Botanical Gardens and at Grand Central [nybg.org & grandcentralterminal.com]
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s got a can’t-miss nighttime light show. But if that’s not your borough of choice, CitiField’s got a lit-up wonderland, too. [bbg.org & tianyuculture.us]
The Met’s got a Christmas tree festooned with angels in its Medieval Sculpture Hall, and the American Museum of Natural History’s got an origami tree. [metmuseum.org & amnh.org]
I’ve heard that Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off — yes, a show of gingerbread houses, landmarks, and neighborhoods — at the Museum of the City of New York smells amazing. [mcny.org]
Central Park’s got a whole guide to spending the holidays in its bounds. The Dana Discovery Center, in particular, always gets dressed up. [centralparknyc.org]
I get it, believe me, if you’re tired of all the running around. Ignore the above list, and go spend some time with your loved ones ❤️
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