Before it opened to the general public today, the 2024 Venice Biennale had an eventful press preview, animated by pro-Palestine protests and poetry readings. On her end, the artist representing Israel has partially suspended her exhibition until “a ceasefire and hostage release agreement is reached.” The move, timed to grab headlines a day before the show opens, is performative and opportunistic, argues Forge Project co-founder Zach Feuer in an essay from Venice this week.

Meanwhile, the Whitney Biennial in New York City is entering its second month. Read my short response to those who have the biennial bad habit of calling the show “safe.”

Also this week, members of the feminist collective Guerilla Girls remember Faith Ringgold, who died last week at 93, sharing a Martin Luther King Jr.-inspired letter the artist wrote to them in 1994. It’s a moving missive.

There’s much more, including hidden Renaissance portraits at The Met, the comeback of lesbian bars, and a conversation with our very own John Yau on his decades-long collaborations with artists. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend.

— Hakim Bishara, Senior Editor

Guerrilla Girls share an MLK-inspired letter the artist sent them in 1994.

What Happened showcases Eisenman’s ability to take on contemporary events with a style, vision, and anarchic sense of humor entirely her own.

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• Over 100 artists and art workers at the Venice Biennale called attention to participating nations’ complicity in the attacks on Gaza.

• Dozens of Columbia University students were arrested after NYPD was called in to clear their encampment in solidarity with Gaza.

• Guggenheim Museum workers rally for a fair contract in a lunch break action on Friday, April 19.

• Contested drawings taken from ledger books made by Native people imprisoned in the 19th century resurface at Expo Chicago, drawing scrutiny.

• After a three-year hiatus, the “Vessel” in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards is reopening.

Perfectly timed for maximum press attention, the performative closure of the country’s pavilion is opportunistic and cynical.

Art-world people love lobbing this low-hanging critical fruit at the exhibition. This year especially, the moniker is ill-fitting and glib.

The Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts fuses global residencies with a non-studio PhD in philosophy and art.

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Politics and painting are at the center of shows by Beau Dick, Sam Jablon, Mira Schor, Rose B. Simpson, and Gary Stephan.

Hidden Faces: Covered Portraits of the Renaissance explores the paintings concealed behind mirrors, in folded diptychs, and on the backs of other works.

Artist Giulia Cenci’s new installation in NYC has viewers questioning the impacts of arbitrary hierarchies imposed by the human race.

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Whenever French 18th-century artist Adélaïde Labille-Guiard is mentioned, it’s almost always as a counterpoint to her better-known “rival,” Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun.

Her face has gazed over midtown Manhattan traffic for over a century, but it wasn’t until 2023 that Hettie Anderson received official public recognition in words.

Beatriz Nascimento’s groundbreaking research defied dominant White Brazilian academic narratives, instead emphasizing Black political agency.

The exhibition Disguise the Limit highlights the many different ways Yau has worked with a wide range of visual artists over the past five decades.

The new documentary All We’ve Got shows audiences the range of spaces designed as lesbian community hubs, performance venues, and places for dancing and partying.

More than 120 of Tom Darcy’s political cartoons will go on display at Nunu Fine Art this summer, paired with over 50 contemporary works by his son Brad Darcy.

This week, the return of the “dumbphone,” the future of music criticism, and a primer on how to title an academic paper.

Residencies, grants, open calls, and jobs from Davidson College, the Jonathan and Barbara Silver Foundation, and more in our monthly list of opportunities for artists, writers, and art workers.

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