May 6, 2023

Hello, I'd like to introduce myself to readers who may not know me. I'm Hyperallergic’s editor in charge of reviews. I'm from Detroit, and I have a PhD in art history from UC San Diego, where I focused on Otto Dix and World War I, though my interests extend to contemporary art. Anyone who's read my writing here might notice that I have an affinity for the grotesque and carnivalesque, and a soft spot for anyone overlooked.

I’d like to draw your attention to some of the standout exhibitions our writers are visiting. This week we covered shows around the country and across the Atlantic, to catch you up on the artists and topics making waves. In Turin, Kimberly Bradley looks at the legacy of the late Lee Lozano, an artist who was unafraid to exit the art world. Bradley asks how Lozano would feel about the commodification of her work. She writes: 

I wonder what she would think of how today’s art world functions. Friends apparently came to save her pieces when she was evicted from a New York apartment; now Hauser & Wirth manages her estate and her works fetch up to a million dollars each. 

Shifting from artists leaving the art world to untold stories entering the gallery, in Los Angeles, AX Mina describes the hardships and losses facing undocumented migrants, as told in an exhibition at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes. Mina reminds us that, “Uncertainty is one of the most painful aspects of the undocumented migration experience. Sometimes, as in the case of a disappearance, families are not even afforded the certainty of death.” 

Meanwhile, in London, Michael Glover offers his take on the strengths and weaknesses of sculptor Anthony Caro, as reflected in concurrent shows. Back in New York, Daniel Larkin reports on Pratt’s MFA students, who have embraced the “mess” around us, and Irini Zervas sheds light on Arthur Bispo do Rosario, a visionary Afro-Brazilian artist, whose retrospective is currently on view at the Americas Society.

And in books, Nageen Shaikh reviews Katy Hessel’s The Story of Art Without Men and suggests that educators may want to “trade some Picassos for Gegos” in their art history surveys.

Let’s hope that some professors take that advice. As always, we’re glad we can bring you thoughtful, intelligent reviews on such a range of shows, and thanks for reading! 

And by the way, we’re doing our first readers’ survey in years, so please help us learn more about you, our members and readers, to ensure we can continue to improve Hyperallergic and give you the best quality news, views, and reviews of any art publication. You can fill out our survey online. We’d love to hear from you.

— Natalie Haddad, editor

Is a Brazilian Art School Actually a Cult?

Former students of the Atelier do Centro have come forward with horrific allegations of abuse by Rubens Espirito Santo, the man they once called “master.” | Luana Fortes

NEWS THIS WEEK

• Dedicated to scientist Rita Levi-Montalcini, a voluptuous mermaid sculpture in Italy is stirring up controversy online.

• An art student eats the latest edition of Maurizio Cattelan's duct-taped banana on view at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul.

• Students and faculty at Florida International University are making their voices heard as the threats to critical race and queer theory loom.

• Dozens of New York City galleries are making the move to Tribeca.

• In the first insider trading case involving NFTs, a former OpenSea staffer was convicted of fraud

FROM OUR CRITICS

Mie Yim's Howls of Uncertainty

Her work derives its power from the instability of not knowing exactly what ground you’re standing on when looking at it. | John Yau

A Sobering Time Capsule of Humanity

The artists in Message from Our Planet: Digital Art from the Thoma Collection at the Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis want to shake us awake before it’s too late. | Sheila Regan

A Crowd-Pleasing Party of Post-Impressionists

Here they are at the National Gallery, almost all at once, all those modern artists we came here to see, those we have come here to report having seen later. | Michael Glover

Lee Lozano’s Dropout Boogie

​​​​​​In this age of self-promotion and careerism, there’s something stunning, and inspiring, about the integrity of someone who had the courage just to leave.  | Kimberly Bradley

A Show About Migration Is a Hall of Memories

Hostility comes across in various forms throughout “Hostile Terrain ’94,” a show about the perils involved in undocumented migration. | AX Mina

Just Don’t Tell Me the Artist Was “Influenced by Music”

Two London shows highlight the influences of music and architecture on sculptor Anthony Caro’s work. The latter is more successful than the former. | Michael Glover 

Katy Hessel Kicks Men Out of the Western Art Canon

After reading The Story of Art Without Men, educators may aspire to redesign their art history surveys and syllabi — and trade some Picassos for Gegos. | Nageen Shaikh

The Divine Message That Made Bispo do Rosario Into an Artist

The Afro-Brazilian artist created over 1,000 works from the confines of a mental institution. Dozens of them are on view in New York City for the first time. | Irini Zervas

Maia Ruth Lee Transforms the Materials of Migration 

The artist draws inspiration from her own migration to consider both the confinement and freedom associated with a life in motion. | Annabel Keenan

MONDAY'S "MEH" GALA

Why Is The Met Gala Honoring an Islamophobe With Nazi Roots?

The Costume Institute is willfully ignoring Karl Lagerfeld’s bigoted views and his family’s concealed Nazi past. | Gürsoy Doğtaş 

Artist Says Met Gala “Ripped Off” His Plastic Bottle Chandeliers

Willie Cole and others on social media saw similarities between his designs and the light fixtures lining the Met Gala entrance. | Maya Pontone

Met Gala Memes for a Meh Gala Theme

If honoring Karl Lagerfeld wasn’t awful enough, this year’s theme was also painfully boring. | Rhea Nayyar

MORE ON HYPERALLERGIC

10 Art Shows to See in LA This May

This month: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Vaginal Davis, Carlos Rosales-Silva, collaborations with AI, and more. | Matt Stromberg 

Apichatpong Weerasethakul on Human Suffering, VR, and the Long Take

The Thai director discusses his dreamlike films in a conversation with Hyperallergic ahead of his career retrospective in New York City. | Dan Schindel

Arts Grantmakers Must Change Their Ways

The nonprofit industrial complex in the US has failed artists. Rocío Aranda-Alvarado and Lane Harwell of the Ford Foundation’s Creativity and Free Expression team suggest nine ways to change that.

Opportunities in May 2023

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

Required Reading

This week, AI news anchors, LA’s sushi revolution, a welcome interruption to King Charles’s coronation, lots of viral posts, and why did Austrian newspapers leave their front pages blank? | Hrag Vartanian and Lakshmi Rivera Amin

IN OUR STORE

No. 7, Adulthood Socks

An all-time customer favorite, these pretty-in-pink socks feature details from Hilma af Klint’s “No. 7, Adulthood” (1907). The work is part of her Paintings for the Temple series, which represents the different stages of life.

Shop more art-inspired socks!