Kara Walker Makes Silhouettes That Cut Like a Blade. This Is How She Does It.
Kara Walker’s cut-paper silhouettes look elegant from across the room. Up close they’re brutal. Here’s what she’s actually doing and why it matters.
Theaster Gates Buys Abandoned Buildings and Turns Them Into Cultural Infrastructure. The Art World Isn’t Sure What to Call It.
Theaster Gates doesn’t just make art objects — he buys abandoned Chicago buildings and rebuilds communities inside them. Here’s why that’s harder to categorize than it looks.
Kerry James Marshall Decided to Paint Black People Into Art History. The Work Sells Like It’s Making Up for Lost Time.
Kerry James Marshall spent decades putting Black figures into the Western painting tradition. Now his work sells for tens of millions. Here’s why it took so long.
What Was Right There: CBGB, the Bowery, and the Three Stores I Never Looked At
Growing up in Brooklyn, I spent my Sundays at CBGB’s hardcore matinee chasing music. I never noticed the leather shop or the kitchen equipment store right beside it.
The Cure’s Disintegration at 35: Why Robert Smith’s Darkest Album Is His Most Hopeful
Everyone calls Disintegration depressing. They’re wrong. Robert Smith’s 1989 masterpiece is about refusing to give up — and 35 years later, it still sounds like nothing else.
Goya and the Industrial Assembly Line of Death
The firing squad in Goya’s Third of May 1808 has no faces. They don’t need them. Here’s what the painting actually says about empires, workers, and who bleeds when states collide.
