Weekly
October 30, 2021 • View in browser
Don't miss the 12 endorsements we published in support of Tamara Lanier's quest to retrieve daguerreotypes of her ancestors from Harvard University’s Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology.
Also, get yourself in that Halloween spirit with a history of witches, get tips from Frank Lloyd Wright on office comfort, and read up on Suzanne Valadon's rebellious life as a painter and model.
— Elisa Wouk Almino, Senior Editor
Image of photographer Joseph Zealy's studio, edited by Professor Ariella Aïsha Azoulay (in collaboration with Yonatan Vinitsky) for her amicus brief in the Lanier v. Harvard case.
The Continuing Fight to #FreeRenty
Over the last few years, Hyperallergic has reported on the continuing quest of Tamara Lanier to retrieve daguerreotypes of her ancestors Renty and Delia Taylor from the collection of Harvard University’s Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology. Lanier has appealed the Massachusettes Supreme Court's decision made earlier this year, and further arguments will be heard on Monday, November 1.
We asked staff reporter Valentina Di Liscia to summarize the saga in a useful primer and invited contributor CM Campbell to prepare a graphic essay on the case and the questions around the “legality” of Harvard’s case for retaining the photographs.
12 scholarly endorsements of Ariella Aïsha Azoulay’s amicus brief, which was released in the Boston Review, were also published along with this edition: Aliyyah I. Abdur-Rahman, Kimberly Juanita Brown, Sandrine Colard, Carles Guerra, Marianne Hirsch, Eunsong Kim, Jane’a Johnson-Farnham, Fred Moten, Stephen Sheehi, Brian Wallis, Laura Wexler, and Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa.
SPONSORED
The Environment and Ecology in Islamic Art and Culture
The 9th Biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art
Online November 8 - 15, 2021
Art, architecture, and environmental change from the advent of Islam to the 21st Century. This live event is free and open to the public. Learn more at islamicart.qatar.vcu.edu.
NEWS THIS WEEK
A jaguar alebrije sculpture designed by Ricardo Angeles of Atelier Jacobo and María Angeles in Oaxaca, now at Rockefeller Center. (all photos by Valentina Di Liscia for Hyperallergic)
Sculptures of vibrant, Oaxacan alejibres tower over NYC’s Rockefeller Center ahead of Día de Los Muertos.
Curator Irving Finkel identifies what could be the earliest depiction of a ghost incised on a 3,500-year-old Babylonian tablet.
Tree ring findings put a timestamp on Viking presence in North America — exactly a thousand years ago at the northern tip of Newfoundland.
Melvin Edwards, Maren Hassinger, and Alison Saar are among the 100+ Black artists commissioned for LA’s Destination Crenshaw initiative.
Bay Area artists launch “Organizing Power” — a risograph-printed booklet series on how to unionize for museum workers.
SPONSORED
Bigger Field, Better Questions: What Do Pots Want?*
Warren Wilson College’s low-residency MA in Critical Craft Studies produces researchers who turn the mic in a new direction. Learn more.
LATEST IN ART
Suzanne Valadon, "Self-Portrait" (1927) (Collection of the City of Sannois, Val d’Oise, France, on temporary loan to the Musée de Montmartre, Paris, © 2021 Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Model, Rebel, and Painter, Suzanne Valadon Defied the Odds
Ilene Dube on Suzanne Valadon: Model, Painter, Rebel at the Barnes Foundation.
Her female nudes were extraordinary for the time because she portrayed female sexual desire. Her subjects defied conventional ideals of femininity: they were strong and muscular.
Exhibiting the Afterlives of Looted Art
Chelsea Haines on Afterlives: Recovering the Lost Stories of Looted Art at the Jewish Museum.
The Tricky Role of Humor in Activist Art and Design
Elizabeth S. Hawley on Drawing the Line: Rael San Fratello at the US-Mexican Border at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
SPONSORED
Immerse Yourself in the Promise and Perils of Neuroscience, AI, and the Human-Machine Collaboration at MAXlive 2021
MAX (Media Art Xploration) presents MAXlive 2021: The Neuroverse, a festival of art and technology in New York City, from November 5 through 7. Learn more.
Emily Eveleth, "The Organization" (2020), oil on panel, 26 x 18 inches (courtesy Emily Eveleth/Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY)
How Much Syrup Can a Doughnut Leak?
John Yau on Emily Eveleth at Miles McEnery Gallery.
In an age that prefers the literal, and the display of assets, from material goods to physical appearance, Eveleth asks us to connect the dots through the lowly doughnut, cheap, sweet, and readily available.
Drawing the Intricate Environment of an Indigenous Venezuelan Community
Lauren Moya Ford on Watori at Ana Mas Projects in Barcelona.
Danielle Dean Wades Through Two Hollow Utopias
Hrag Vartanian on Amazon (Proxy) at Amant Foundation, part of this year’s Performa biennial.
SPONSORED
The ICA at VCU Presents Dineo Seshee Bopape: Ile aye, moya, là, ndokh…harmonic conversions…mm
The artist’s newly commissioned work in Richmond, Virginia is made out of soil and water from cities and ports that played important roles in the enslavement of people. Learn more.
ALSO ON HYPERALLERGIC
Psyché Ophiuchus, "Ritual" (France 2019). A ceremonial circle takes place in Fairy Glen on the Isle of Skye at dusk (© Psyché Ophiuchus)
How Witches Have Held Us Under Their Spell for Centuries
Lauren Moya Ford examines a new book that explores the witch’s complex history, current-day iterations, and her lasting hold on our imagination.
Why the Elgin Marbles Should Not be Returned to Greece … Yet
Elizabeth Marlowe: “If it is justice we care about, and acknowledging and making amends for past wrongs, it is not the Elgin Marbles we should be focusing on.”
What Frank Lloyd Wright Can Teach Us About Comfort in the Office
As designers look to incorporate home-like elements into office interiors, Alison Kowalski asks, “who does a homey office really serve?”
Required Reading
This week, how Hollywood tried to suppress a film post-9/11, Walt Whitman’s words for today, Dune director breaks down a pivotal scene, DW documents the environmental scourge of fast fashion, and much more.
SPONSORED
MFA PROGRAMS TO APPLY TO
(image courtesy Cydney Cherepak)
Washington University’s MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture Forges New Terrain
Attend the Virtual Open House on November 8 to learn more about the Sam Fox School MFA-IVC program. Applications are due February 7, 2022.
Bard Graduate Center Announces Fall 2021 Virtual & In-person Open Houses
Applications for the graduate institute’s Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture MA, and Ph.D. programs are due January 7, 2022.
UCLA MFA in Media Arts Is Accepting Applications for Fall 2022
The program provides a rigorous environment for bold experimentation in new modes of critical thinking and art-making in the context of media and technology.
SVA MA Curatorial Practice Opens Fall 2022 Applications
The New York-based program for professional curatorial training has a particular focus on practical experience.
COMICS
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The Dance Socks
One of the Moulin Rouge's first customers, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec immortalized the iconic cabaret in his oil-on-canvas depicting nightclub star Valentin "the Boneless" training new dancers. Slip these on your feet for a lighter step and can-can with the best of them!
