December 11, 2021 • View in browser

This week, our best of 2021 lists, the Met Museum removes the opioid-addled Sackler name from its galleries, and reviews of John Avelluto, June Edmonds, Pete Schulte, George Braque, Marisol, Coralina Rodriguez Meyer, and much much more.

I’m happy to report that Hyperallergic was just awarded a special prize at the 53rd International AICA Virtual Congress for our pandemic coverage. The honor comes from the largest international organization of art critics, and it was a wonderful surprise. The prize notes that Hyperallergic and its staff “never faltered publishing exemplary essays on art and humanities during the Covid-pandemic.” We couldn’t be prouder.

Thank you, our members and readers, for believing in us and supporting our work. Thanks to our staff and contributors for continuing to make Hyperallergic one of the most vibrant and rambunctious art publications anywhere, and thanks to our art critic colleagues at AICA for acknowledging all the hard work that goes into the thankless grind of daily publishing. This is just the beginning, though, and the best is yet to come!

— Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief 

The Best of 2021: Our Top 10 Exhibitions Around the World
This year we don’t have the breadth we’ve typically had in previous years because of travel restrictions and lockdowns, but as is our habit, we have the depth.

The Best of 2021: Our Top 10 United States Art Shows
Thanks to the beloved Hyperallergic contributors located around the country, we are able to bring you a list of 10 knockout exhibitions across several states this year.

The Best of 2021: Our Top 10 New York City Art Shows
The city brought shows to life that will be talked about for years to come.

The Best of 2021: Our Top 10 Los Angeles Art Shows
Our favorite LA shows of 2021, brought to you by our writers and editors.

A Look Back at Art News in 2021, From NFTs to Restitution
Hyperallergic journalists spent the year reporting on the stories most pressing in the cultural sector, from the January 6 Capitol attack to a stall on the Sacklers’ ability to artwash their reputations through philanthropy.

NEWS THIS WEEK

The Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (via Wikimedia Commons)

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced it would remove the Sackler name from its exhibition spaces, including the Temple of Dendur room.

• Billionaire Michael H. Steinhardt surrenders $70M in looted art, receiving a lifetime ban from acquiring antiques from the Manhattan D.A.’s office.

• The Nez Perce Tribe receives a total reimbursement from the Ohio History Connection 25 years after buying back their own artifacts.

• Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy combines 150,000 photographs to create a stunningly crisp image of our closest star.

• A new study confirms suspicions that the NFT market is likely reproducing similar dynamics at play in the art world, with 75% of sales averaging $15.

LATEST IN ART

Marisol and Warhol Take New York, installation view, the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh (photo by Abby Warhola)

How Marisol, “the True Trailblazer,” Paved the Way for Andy Warhol
Karen Chernick on Marisol and Warhol Take New York at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.

At first glance, an exhibition like this may seem like a way to boost Marisol’s visibility by placing her in Warhol’s orbit, but that’s not the case. It’s about how Marisol influenced him, not vice versa.

How Incan-Muisca Wisdom Helps Preserve the Lives of BIPOC Women
Daniel Larkin on Coralina Rodriguez Meyer: Mother Mold Project & Mama Spa Botánica at the Bronx River Art Center Gallery.

Toppling Columbus with a Rainbow Cookie
Hrag Vartanian on FooGayZee by John Avelluto at Stand4 Gallery.

June Edmonds, "Caravan: Better Here Free" (2020) (collection of Alex Friedman & Erica Tennenbaum, copyright the artist, image courtesy Luis De Jesus Los Angeles and Laband Art Gallery)

The Whirling, Spiritual Abstraction of June Edmonds
Allison Conner on June Edmonds: Full Spectrum at Loyola Marymount University’s Laband Art Gallery.

Edmonds’s paintings invite us to step back from the physical realm, not in an effort to escape its thorny textures, but in order to realize the other narratives existing alongside us — the intangible, the metaphysical, the ancestral. 

Pete Schulte’s Magical Abstract Drawings
John Yau on Pete Schulte: The Train and the River at McKenzie Fine Art.

The Neglected Afterlife of the Great Georges Braque
Michael Glover on Georges Braque: The Poetry of Things at the Bernard Jacobson Gallery.

ALSO ON HYPERALLERGIC

Jeremy Strong as Kendall Roy, Brian Cox as Logan Roy, and Hiam Abbass as Marcia Roy in season 1, episode 5 of “Succession,” featuring Peter Lely’s “Portrait of Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth” (ca. 1671–1674)

How the Art in Succession Paints a Picture of Power
Valentina Di Liscia unpacks five compelling curatorial choices that paint a picture of power, deceit, and unfettered capitalism in the hit HBO series.

The Power of the Dog Is a Different Kind of Western Film
Ela Bittencourt: "The measuredly paced direction and Ari Wagner’s airy cinematography marry the characters’ hidden anguish to the stoicism of the Montana landscape."

How a Documentary Used Animation to Protect the Identity of Its Main Character
M.Z. Adnan talks with director Jonas Poher Rasmussen about reaching visual pseudonymity to protect his subjects in his animated documentary Flee.

This Gallery Is Dedicated to the Aesthetic Joys of Rust
Sophie Atkinson shines a light on Stephen Raw, the 69-year-old artist behind Rust: The Art Gallery.

Required Reading
This week, the persistence of the non-modern, breaking up with the arts, photography and ethics, opera surprise, and more.

Support Hyperallergic

Your contributions support Hyperallergic's independent journalism and our extensive network of writers around the world.

IN OUR STORE

Our Most Popular Gifts This Holiday Season

Let Hyperallergic readers’ favorite accessories, books, home goods, and more guide you in your gift-giving plans this year.

COMICS

Now that’s change. By Guy Richards Smit.