Opinion Why the Columbus Monument Should Be Seen as a Monument to the Construction of Whiteness in the United States From Benjamin Harrison through Richard Nixon and beyond, appeal to the symbolism of Columbus has had cynical motives. By Ben Davis, Jun 12, 2020
Opinion As Its Workers Organize, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Management Turns to an Infamous Anti-Union Law Firm The law firm, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, is known for fighting against a $15 minimum wage. By Ben Davis, Jun 11, 2020
Opinion Trump’s Freakish Church Photo Op and the Widespread Arrests of Journalists Point to the Same Deeper Rot The present media situation marks a shift in the state's balance between consent and force. By Ben Davis, Jun 3, 2020
Politics Monuments Across the United States Re-Emerged as Targets of Rage Over a Weekend of Widespread Protest From Denver to Philadelphia to San Antonio to Washington, DC, public art has been swept up in the protests in spectacular ways. By Ben Davis, Jun 1, 2020
Opinion Why Most Quarantine Art Is Just ‘Empty Heroics’ + Two Other Illuminating Reads From Around the Web A weekly round-up of interesting readings from around the art web. By Ben Davis, May 29, 2020
Art World Understanding Why Nobody Made Great Art About the Previous World-Shaking Pandemic + Two Other Illuminating Reads From Around the Web A weekly round-up of interesting readings from around the art web. By Ben Davis, May 22, 2020
Opinion How Art History Can Help Explain the Stunning Rise of Conspiracy Theories That Is Defining Our Time This is the second half of a two-part series on art theory and conspiracy theory. By Ben Davis, May 20, 2020
Opinion Why Conspiracy Theories Have Become the Most Influential Art Form of Our Time Part 1 of a 2-part essay on art theory and conspiracy. By Ben Davis, May 11, 2020
Opinion The Surprising Lesson Hidden in an Important New History of Political Strikes in the Art World + Two Other Illuminating Reads From Around the Web A weekly round-up of interesting readings from around the art web. By Ben Davis, May 9, 2020
Opinion An Art-World Philosopher Explains Why the Playboy Mansion Is a Cautionary Tale for the Work-From-Home Era + Two Other Interesting Reads A weekly round-up of ideas from around the art web. By Ben Davis, May 2, 2020
Art World The Remarkable True Story of Raúl Giansante, Uber Driver, Master Frame-Maker, Comrade of Dalí, and Zelig of the Art World The NYT interviewed him in his taxi about New York's shutdown. He has many other stories to tell. By Ben Davis, Apr 24, 2020
Opinion Some Believe Marina Abramovic Is the Satanic Ringleader of a Global Political Conspiracy. That’s Ludicrous. But Here’s What They Get Right We go down the rabbit hole of YouTube videos to find that a recent controversy points to much bigger issues about American culture. By Ben Davis, Apr 20, 2020
Art World To Mark the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 150th Birthday, Here Are 15 Artworks Symbolizing the Ups and Downs of Each Decade of Its Storied Existence From the Robber Baron era to the Global Tourism era. By Ben Davis, Apr 16, 2020
Opinion The Art World Needs to Rally Behind the #CancelRent Movement to Save Itself—and Everyone Else, Too Extraordinary measures aren't just just right now. They are necessary. By Ben Davis, Apr 8, 2020
Opinion Why the Centers for Disease Control’s Creepy Illustration of the Coronavirus Is Such an Effective Work of Biomedical Art That image you are seeing everywhere is actually the work of Alissa Eckert and Dan Higgins. By Ben Davis, Apr 1, 2020