Extraordinary discoveries, rogue tourists, and moments of institutional failure and abuse of power defined a topsy-turvy year in visual culture.
Art
The Impurities of Pure Abstraction
David Diao uses Barnett Newman as a sounding board to explore his own fascination with the artist and the contradictory legacies of modernism.
Required Reading
This week, homeschooling’s seedy underbelly, penguins taking “microsleeps,” the history of hats, and why are TikTokers quitting vaping?
Nani Chacon Finds the Essence of Home
Her exhibition +Home+ is a mediation on notions of home through the lens of her ancestors, lived experience, and the legacies we leave.
Talia Chetrit Treads the Line Between Style and Substance
Her photography presents a compelling statement about the fine line between self-investigation and self-objectification.
The Memes That Carried Us Through 2023
From orcas to Barbie to Girl Dinner, here’s to the viral moments that brought a smile to our faces — or a flash of karmic justice.
Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Time-Traveling Lens
Sugimoto’s photographs remind us of the sacredness of images in a time of image over-saturation.
What Makes a Drawing a Drawing?
What can drawing do that other mediums cannot, and when is it a preliminary sketch and when is it a final product?
Delcy Morelos Embraces Heaven and Earth
In El abrazo, Morelos balances spectacle and substance, offering visitors plenty to touch and to ponder.
What’s With Those Hilarious Medieval Portrayals of Animals?
We asked two scholars about the strange depictions of fauna and why they’ve become a viral phenomenon.
A View From the Easel
This week, artist studios in Buenos Aires, Ohio, Calabasas, and Ojai, California.
Beauty and Danger in the Art of Ambreen Butt
The Pakistan-born, Texas-based artist creates energetic works underpinned by a pervasive sense of threat.