Art Movements

September has become the #MeToo movement’s defining month. Bill Cosby recently received a sentence of 3 to 10 years in prison for the drugging and sexual assault of Andrea Constand. And as I write this, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee about her allegations of sexual misconduct and attempted rape against the Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Under intense public scrutiny, survivors of sexual assault are often asked to revisit painful, traumatic memories with crystal clear recollection and foolproof evidence about a violent act that, by its very nature, is manipulative and deceitful. As in Congress, so too in the arts: the scales of justice are weighed against survivors of sexual assault. That’s why American Theatre magazine’s thorough investigation of sexual assault allegations in the performing arts is so important. In a field where intense recreations of violence and intimacy are often part of the job description, victims of sexual misconduct are ofte

Faced with the ubiquity of white supremacy in US culture, some are seeking new, radical ways to shift the conversation to center Black consciousness as a way to combat the poison of White supremacy. Two artists and educators, Shanti Peters and Joseph Cullier, founded The Black School to confront such realities. Hyperallergic editor Jasmine Weber spoke to the pair about the role of radical Black education and the "Black art world," in a special interview that comes on the heels of their residency and exhibition at the New Museum in New York. One of the things they discuss are is the group's tarot cards, which can be purchased in the group's online shop. Then Jasmine and I were joined by editor and critic Seph Rodney and contributor Shirine Saad to talk about the new Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power exhibition that opened at the Brooklyn Museum last weekend. And finally, we have our last segment. Earlier this week, LA-based writer Matt Stromberg reported on the "pause" artist lauren woods pressed

McMansions are the houses many of us love to hate. They're big, gaudy, and often they're accumulations of traditionally mismatched architectural elements. Whatever they are, they're everywhere in suburbia. We invited Kate Wagner, aka McMansion Hell, to talk oversized buildings of wealth and status, including the McMansion that is US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos's house in Holland, Michigan. As Hyperallergic editor and critic Seph Rodney returns from Brazil, I invited him to talk about the São Paulo Biennial (Sep 7–Dec 9_)_, which opened a few days after the Natural Museum of Brazil burned down in Rio de Janiero. He picks some favorites and discusses what he saw at the second-oldest art biennial in the world. A special thanks to Althea SullyCole for the music to this week’s episode. You can visit her website, altheasullycole.com, for more information. She is also performing on September 21 at Postcrypt Coffeehouse in New York City, and September 22 at the Rhythmic Integration Center in New Milford, CT. 

The stories of trailblazing women continue to inspire but many of these figures, who occur throughout history, have been written out of the history books or relegated to accounts of their time and ignored by historians. Now, curator Marcela Micucci talks to use about these figures who had a big impact on all aspects of city life, including the so-called "Witch of Wall Street," Hetty Green. It's an exhibition full of colorful stories. And then I talk to critic Paddy Johnson and artist William Powhida, co-hosts of the Explain Me podcast, about the fall season, New York museums, and what they've been up to. A special thanks to Twig Twig for the music to this week’s episode. You can listen to that and more at twigtwig.bandcamp.com and other streaming services.

This week's we talk to Abou Farman, artist and anthropologist at the New School, and Raquel de Anda, director of public engagement at No Longer Empty, about their recent efforts to educate New York City cultural leaders about the needs of immigrant communities. Then I invite Hyperallergic staff writer Zachary Small to tell us about the latest news in the #MeToo movement, particularly in light of the case of NYU professor Avital Ronell, who was found responsible for sexual harassment and suspended her for the 2018–19 academic year. He interviews Emma Sulkowicz, who many people suggest helped kick off the movement with their widely publicized "Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight)" (2014–2015) performance. A special thanks to Newborn Huskies for the music to this week’s episode. You can listen to that and more at newbornhuskies.bandcamp.com and other streaming services.

Last month, a dozen activists gathered at the Whitney Museum of Art to condemn the institution's lack of modern context about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in relation to Wojnarowicz's artwork. Their action was noticed by the art world and the museum, which is continuing to talk to the protesters after changing some of the labels to reflect on the fact that the AIDS crisis is not over. In this episode we talk to Wojnarowicz biographer Cynthia Carr, author of Fire in the Belly: The Life and Times of David Wojnarowicz, who helps narrate the complicated story of an artist who has become one of the luminaries of New York's East Village scene in the 1980s. I also invited two artists, Jean Foos and Frank Holliday, who knew Wojnarowicz during his lifetime, to help paint a picture of a scene that burned bright, but was eventually snuffed out by a commercial art world obsessed with novelty, and the looming disaster that was AIDS. A special thanks to Twig Twig for the music to this week's episode. You can listen to that and mo

This past Monday, over a hundred members of UAW Local 2110, the largest of the Museum of Modern Art’s five unions, staged a walkout just days before negotiations were set to resume. The union members, who are employed in almost every department at MoMA, have been working over 80 days without a contract. I invited two members of UAW Local 2110 to talk to Hyperallergic and tell us what the state of negotiations is with one of the world’s leading museums of modern and contemporary art. I asked them about the sticking points and challenges of the negotiations this time around. And then I talk with Apsara DiQuinzio, curator of modern and contemporary art at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archives (BAMPFA) in Berkeley, California, about the Bay Area’s evolving art scene, her current exhibition featuring two artists associated with the Mission School (Alicia McCarthy and Ruby Neri), and I ask her, how truly liberal is the art world? A special thanks to Hellrazor for the music to this week’s episode, which

We talk to Susan Unterberg, the person behind the mysterious Anonymous Was a Woman foundation that gives $25,000 — no strings attached — to female artists over 40. And then we talk about a boxing exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum that’s worth a look. A special thanks to Miserable Chillers & Sun Kin for the music to this week’s episode, which features their latest album, Adoration Room. You can listen to that and more at https://miserablechillers.bandcamp.com and other streaming services.

Curator Monika Fabijanska talks about her The Un-Heroic Act: Representations of Rape in Contemporary Women's Art in the US exhibition, and arts journalist Barbara Pollack chats about her new book on an emerging generation of Chinese contemporary artists.

In our inaugural episode, we discuss the top art news headlines from the week, including how New Yorkers can use their library cards to visit 33 of the city’s museums, an unlikely museum in Thailand, how a Stolen Arab Art exhibition is exactly as advertised, and I talk to emoji activist Jennifer 8 Lee and journalist Zachary Small. Our guest this week is renowned journalist Jennifer 8 Lee. Not only is she a successful author (Fortune Cookie Chronicles) and film producer (The Search for General Tso), but Lee is a driving force behind Emojination, the people’s voice of the Emoji Consortium. We talk to her about how she helped bring the dumpling emoji

Hyperallergic's editor-in-chief Hrag Vartanian talks to Ford Foundation President Darren Walker about the public's interest in scrutinizing institutional authority, Walker's own love of art, and the renovations at the Foundation's building, and also discussed Agnes Gund's new Art for Justice fund, the role of the arts for marginalized communities, and the importance of public education. The music featured in this episode was “Give it Your Choir” by Mark Pritchard from Warp Records. You can hear more from his latest release “Under the Sun” at http://markprtchrd.com and find more great music from Warp Records at http://warp.net.

Hyperallergic travels to Cairo to see one of the new wave of exhibitions that are reintroducing Egyptian modern art, particularly related to the Art and Liberty group (often referred to as Egyptian Surrealism), to a wider audience.

Artists Marilyn Minter and Xaviera Simmons both have solo shows up in New York this month. We invited them to chat with Hyperallergic's editor-in-chief Hrag Vartanian about sex, art, gender inequality, Planned Parenthood, and the election.

Hyperallergic's Editor-in-chief Hrag Vartanian speaks to mega-collector Don Rubell of the Rubell Family Collection about decades of collecting and establishing one of the biggest collections of contemporary art in the world.

In the Oceti Sakowin Camp at Stadning Rock, North Dakota, there is a prominent art tent area. Dozens of artists and volunteers are silkscreening and producing work among the thousands of waterprotectors and their allies, which have arrived to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline from crossing the Missouri River. Among those artists is Standing Rock native Cannupa Hanska Luger and three of his friends, Jesse Hazelit, Raven Chacon, and Dylan McLaughlin. Hyperallergic spoke to the friends to discuss what is going on at Standing Rock and what role art plays.

Native American women grapple with the highest rates of sexual violence in the United States and two Native American artists, Rebecca Nagle and Graci Horne, have traveled to Standing Rock to create a Healing Tent and to work on their Monument Quilt project, which addresses sexual violence.

Hyperallergic traveled to Oceti Sekowin Camp at Standing Rock, where thousands of water protectors and their allies are trying to stop the multi-billionaire dollar Dakota Access Pipeline, which is being pushed by the government and major oil companies. We talk to artists about why they’re there and what they are doing to listen, learn, inspire, and heal.

Curator and art historian Kellie Jones is the guest for our latest episode. A 2016 McArthur Fellow, Jones is a lifelong New Yorker and an associate professor at Columbia University. She spoke to Hyperallergic about her work, life, and the evolving world of contemporary art. Photo: John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

The impeachment of Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff and the current economic crisis will have a long-lasting impact on the country, including on one of the largest open-air contemporary art collections in the world.

Why were women excluded from the art movement that has come to represent some of the best of 20th century American art? The answer may be rather complicated and Hyperallergic’s editor-in-chief Hrag Vartanian interviews “Women Of Abstract Expressionism” exhibition curator Gwen Chanzit, Abstract Expressionism artist Judith Godwin, feminist art historian Linda Nochlin, and critic/curator Karen Wilkin to understand the issue.