The world loves few things better than a controversy involving an artist. Such brouhahas are nothing new; Caravaggio’s Death of the Virgin (c. 1605–06), for instance, was rejected by the Church fathers who commissioned it for the chapel of Santa Maria Della Scala in Rome because of its brutally realistic depiction of Mary—for whom a …
The Most Controversial Artworks of the 21st Century So Far Read More »
Warburg Institute, London. From Renaissance Milanese court painter Bonifacio Bembo to the Surrealists and even contemporary artist Claire Tabouret (who painted her home’s ceiling with images from an early-20th-century tarot deck), tarot—a centuries-old set of 78 cards—wafts in and out of art history. Between 1979 and 1998, French avant-garde artist Niki de Saint Phalle built …
It’s in the Cards: An Exhibition at London’s Warburg Institute Offers a History of Tarot Read More »
Karyn Olivier in front of her work, Revelation, at Brochstein Pavilion, commissioned by the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University. Photo Frank Hernandez Karyn Olivier’s work can often read as elusive. An expansive artist whose practice floats across various mediums, her works take many forms: a white column that rests on a historical …
Karyn Olivier’s Elusive Art Bears Witness to Hidden Histories Read More »
L’Enfant Promenade in Washington, D.C., 2011. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons Work at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in Washington, D.C., came to a screeching halt yesterday afternoon after the entire staff was placed on administrative leave, effective immediately, by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Between 55 and 70 employees received a …
The Smithsonian Institution. Photo Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images During the 1990s, artist Consuelo Jimenez Underwood was driving along the 405 Freeway in San Diego when she spotted a yellow sign showing a man, a woman, and a little girl running in fear from an unseen threat. Above these people was a menacing word: “CAUTION.” The sign, …
Trump’s Executive Order on the Smithsonian Will Send Art History Backwards Read More »
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas. Photo Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge/Getty Images A Texas lawmaker has proposed a bill that could be used to keep certain kinds of art off view, the Fort Worth Report reports. On March 6, representative David Lowe filed House Bill 3958, which outlines a proposed civil penalty against any …
Texas Politician Proposes Plan to Fine Museums for Displaying ‘Obscene’ Content Read More »
Patti Smith performing at Elizabeth Street Garden rally, 2025. Courtesy Rolling Stone Patti Smith performed at a New York City rally Tuesday as part of an effort to prevent a downtown park from being converted into affordable housing. The Elizabeth Street Garden, located between between Spring and Prince streets, has long been a community gathering place …
Patti Smith to Perform at Rally to Save New York’s Elizabeth Street Garden Park Read More »
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Photo Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images Since retaking office in January, President Donald Trump has issued a flood of executive orders taking up topics such as the importation of Chinese goods, Venezuelan immigrants, union protections, and electoral politics. But one executive order has the art world particularly worried, and that …
Portrait of Ti Pelen. Courtesy Leah Gordon/Pioneer Works. Haitian sculptor Ti Pèlen, whose birth name is Jean Salomon Horace, died last month at the age of 66. His cause of death remains undisclosed. His family will preserve the remaining artworks in his possession, according to a spokesperson for Pioneer Works, which featured his work in …
Sculptor Ti Pèlen, Known Figure in Haitian Arts Collective, Dies at 66 Read More »
Britta Marakatt-Labba with her 2003–07 work Historjá. Photo Ina Wesenberg/©Britta Marakatt-Labba/BONO In most textbooks, history typically only moves forward, from past to present. But in Britta Marakatt-Labba’s 75-foot-long embroidery Historjá (2003–07), a piece that aspires to sum up the entirety of the Sámi experience, history is a continuum that starts and finishes in the same …
Britta Marakatt-Labba Is Bringing Sámi Culture to the Rest of the World Read More »
