October 26, 2021 • View in browser
Good morning. 🌧️Today, the world’s earliest depiction of a ghost, an Indigenous Venezuelan artist draws his surrounding ecosystem, and an interview with the director of We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, Jane Schoenbrun.
— Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief
Curator Discovers What May Be the World's Earliest Depiction of a Ghost
"Everybody in Mesopotamia, as far as I understand it, believed in ghosts," said Irving Finkel, a curator of the British Museum's Middle Eastern department. | Hakim Bishara
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THROUGH THE LENS
Photographers "Reframe History" at Photo Vogue Festival
David Uzochukwu, Kennedi Carter, and Kiki Xue are among the 35 artists whose work will be displayed online and at the festival in Milan, Italy. | Sarah Rose Sharp
Reframing History underscores “projects that have reclaimed an alternative, different way of telling a tale, from projects that reframes omitted, forgotten, and overlooked historical figures to the ones that reclaim an idea of beauty that has been diminished, stereotyped or exoticized.”
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Learn From Legendary Digital Artist at Voice's NFT.NYC Panel & Gallery
A masterclass by Chad Knight, keynote interview with Emonee LaRussa, and more: Voice’s NFT.NYC kickoff event is one you don’t want to miss. Plus, see a gallery of NFTs created by global artists. A limited number of tickets are on sale now — get yours here.
LATEST IN ART
The Tricky Role of Humor in Activist Art and Design
An SFMOMA exhibition raises questions about what it means when museum board members have ties to politicians who support border wall policies. | Elizabeth S. Hawley
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Tyler School of Art and Architecture Opens Fall 2021 MFA Thesis Exhibitions
In Philadelphia, a series of solo shows delves into the interdisciplinary practices of graduates whose work explores identity, familial bonds, political constructs, and nature’s fragility. Learn more.
Drawing the Intricate Environment of an Indigenous Venezuelan Community
Despite his work’s apparent abstraction, Sheroanawe Hakihiiwe insists that “I don’t invent anything, everything I do is my jungle and what is there.” | Lauren Moya Ford
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Columbia University Is Accepting Applications for Visual Arts and Sound Art MFA Programs
On November 14, join Columbia University School of the Arts for virtual information sessions with the program chair, faculty, and staff. Learn more.
Exhibiting the Afterlives of Looted Art
The exhibition at the Jewish Museum delves into "degenerate" art and art made under duress as part of a thought-provoking yet diffuse exhibition. | Chelsea Haines
ALSO ON HYPERALLERGIC
Do You Dare Take the ‘World’s Fair Challenge’?
Jane Schoenbrun talks to Hyperallergic about We’re All Going to the World’s Fair and making the internet cinematic. | Dan Schindel
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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.
Why the Elgin Marbles Should Not be Returned to Greece ... Yet
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. | Elizabeth Marlowe
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MassArt x SoWa Gallery Presents Protest and Power, an Alumni-curated Exhibition
The first year of programming at Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s graduate programs satellite gallery continues with this show, on view through October 24. Learn more.
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FROM THE ARCHIVE
From 15th century European illustrations of the danse macabre to Day of the Dead imagery from 18th century Mexico, here are some eerie depictions of Death from past centuries.
The Dance of Death Across Six Centuries of Art
The Blanton Museum of Art in Texas is exhibiting works on paper from the 15th to 20th centuries, all representing the danse macabre, or dance of death. | Allison Meier
A 1792 Mexican Novel Shows Early Day of the Dead Iconography
Engravings by Francisco Agüera Bustamante in The Astounding Life of Death show the bony figure in a variety of roles, from a baby to a king. | Claire Voon
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A Psychedelic History of Mushrooms as Medicine
Artist Sam Francis Gets His First Comprehensive Biography
