April 4, 2022 • View in browser
Good morning. ⛅ Happy Monday! In this edition, scholar and critic Erin Thompson recently went to Nepal to investigate the repatriation of historical art (her article from December) and found herself drawn into the country’s vibrant contemporary art scene. She has a report on the work she encountered in Nepalese artist studios.
We also look at street art around the world that is in support of Ukraine, the Warhol copyright dispute going to the Supreme Court, the incomplete provenance of a major gift of Tibetan Thangkas to three US colleges, and much more.
— Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief
The Surprising Mix of Tradition and Innovation in Nepal’s Contemporary Art Scene
The work of many of Nepal's contemporary artists suggests that the distinctions between labels like ancient and modern, or foreign and Nepali, will blur if you shift your point of view. | Erin L. Thompson
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LATEST NEWS
French street artist Big Ben's "L'ogre" (2022) in Lyon, France (courtesy the artist)
From Norway to Mexico, street artists paint murals calling to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Supreme Court agrees to hear a copyright infringement case over Warhol’s appropriation of Lynn Goldsmith’s photograph of Prince.
Questions loom over the gifting of 60 Tibetan Thangkas to Skidmore, Vassar, and Williams colleges.
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Fred Sandback
Now on View at David Zwirner
David Zwirner is pleased to present a selection of works by American artist Fred Sandback that together highlight his wide-ranging formal vocabulary and treatment of space. On view at the gallery’s 34 East 69th Street location in New York.
VIEWS & REVIEWS
Why We Need to Care for and Maintain Public Art
Does public artwork left in ruin impact community mental health? | Meghan Pursell
Freedom in Body and Water
Sama Alshaibi’s Four Series draws on historical sources, contexts, and techniques to articulate the definitions and exploitations of freedom. | Coco Picard
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Enjoy Summer Marathons in Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture at New York Studio School
Join us in-person or virtually to immerse yourself in essential art-making strategies, experiences, and discussions that will infuse your work with new direction and vivacity. Learn more.
The Films of Jonas Mekas Are More Often Discussed Than Seen
A vigorous advocate for the avant-garde, the filmmaker often neglected to promote himself. | Nolan Kelly
Mungo Thomson's Elegies to an Analogue World
Thomson's videos conjure up the weird sublimity of internet wormholes, the familiar, swaddling mindlessness of allowing oneself to be swept up in a deluge of content and carried — where? | Cassie Packard
Delicately Balancing Psychoanalysis and Art History in a Van Gogh Exhibition
Popular perceptions of van Gogh are often preoccupied with heart-wrenching accounts of mental illness, but Van Gogh: Self Portraits avoids speculative psychoanalytic readings of one tortured face after another. | Olivia McEwan
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