Politics Cambridge University’s Jesus College Has Become One of the First U.K. Institutions to Actually Return a Benin Bronze to Nigeria Officials hope more institutions will follow suit. By Caroline Goldstein, Oct 15, 2021
Curiosities What’s With All the Hitler NFTs? Will Robots Put Street Artists Out of Work? + Other Questions I Have About The Week’s Art News Thoughts on some dumb NFTs, IP dilemmas in the art world and out, and a weird way to sell cashmere sweaters. By Ben Davis, Oct 13, 2021
Art Criticism Roxane Gay on How Artist Calida Rawles Shows Us a New, and More Humane, Way of Bearing Witness The writer explores the significance Rawles's painting "High Tide, Heavy Armor." By Roxane Gay, Oct 12, 2021
Politics In a Reversal, London Will Keep Two Statues of Slaveowners on View (But With Explanatory Texts) Plaques will now be installed alongside the memorials of William Beckford and Sir John Cass. By Taylor Dafoe, Oct 12, 2021
Art Criticism If You Don’t Think Jasper Johns Can Still Surprise You, Wait Until You Get to the End of This Review The Whitney and the Philadelphia museums' vast Johns survey is a chance to figure out why he works the way he does, and what it means now. By Ben Davis, Oct 12, 2021
Op-Ed Hans Ulrich Obrist on a Radically Utopian Museum Model That Has Yet to Be Realized—and Why It’s Worth Pursuing Obrist reflects on the legacy of the philosopher Édouard Glissant, whose unrealized ideas offer a path for the future. By Hans Ulrich Obrist, Oct 10, 2021
Politics Danish Artist Condemns Hong Kong University’s Removal of His Tiananmen Monument After Over 20 Years: ‘I Think They Will Destroy It’ Sculptor Jens Galschiøt says the attack on his work is an attempt to erase history. By Vivienne Chow, Oct 8, 2021
Politics Three Heads of State Backed a Blockbuster Art Show About Democratic Values. Critics Say Its Organizers Don’t Practice What They Preach A high-profile show in Berlin Airport has drawn criticism for its questionable sponsors and nonpayment of artists. By Quynh Tran, Oct 6, 2021
Politics President Biden Names His Picks to Lead the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities Maria Rosario Jackson and Shelly C. Lowe are President Biden's picks to lead the NEA and the NEH, respectively. By Artnet News, Oct 5, 2021
Politics The U.K. Has Rejected UNESCO’s Call on British Authorities to Reassess Their Position on the Contested Parthenon Marbles The statement marks a major step forward in Greece's claim to the 2500-year-old marbles. By Vivienne Chow, Oct 5, 2021
Curiosities Is There Anything Mr and Mrs Doodle Can’t Do? Is the Guy Who Stole $84K as Art a Hero? + Other Questions I Have About the Week’s Art News Plus, remember that time the Met turned away Brian De Palma? By Ben Davis, Oct 4, 2021
Art Criticism The 34th São Paulo Biennial Has Spread Out, Slowed Down, and Opened Itself Up—But Some Old Barriers Remain “Though It’s Dark, Still I Sing” has been rethought to respond to the pandemic and the political moment. By Tiago Gualberto, Sep 30, 2021
Politics Afghan Artists Watch, and Worry, as Taliban Promises a Framework Rooted in Islamic Law to Evaluate Cultural Production Per international reports, artists are hiding, and even destroying, their work for fear that they might be raided by enforcers. By Artnet News, Sep 30, 2021
Politics Now in Exile, Political Cuban Artist Hamlet Lavastida Describes Three Trying Months in State Detention: ‘My Work Became My Life’ The artist was recently released and sent to Poland with a warning: security forces would be waiting for him if he returned. By Coco Fusco, Sep 29, 2021
Politics Half of the Top 50 Most Memorialized Figures in the United States Owned Slaves, According to a New Survey of the Country’s Monuments Published by Philadelphia-based non-profit Monument Lab, the report was funded by a $4 million grant from the Mellon Foundation. By Taylor Dafoe, Sep 29, 2021