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
Know Your Rights Can I Be Sued for Making an NFT of a Painting in My Collection? + Other Artists’-Rights Questions, Answered Plus, does the Nirvana baby really have a shot in his lawsuit against the band? And can an artist remake a film shot for shot? By Katarina Feder, Sep 28, 2021
Curiosities Is Jeff Koons as Passionate About Uniqlo as He Sounds? Why Is This Unicorn Named After Picasso? + Other Questions I Have About the Week’s Art News More importantly: What was Michael Crichton doing on a road trip with Jasper Johns? By Ben Davis, Sep 27, 2021
Crime A Serial Art Thief Has Been Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison for Stealing a Van Gogh and Frans Hals Worth a Combined $20 Million Neither painting has been recovered, a factor that played into judges' decision to give the maximum sentence. By Taylor Dafoe, Sep 27, 2021
Crime Robert ‘Bobby’ Gentile, Long Fingered by the FBI as a Suspect in the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist, Dies at 85 "His passing might make people less inhibited about talking," says the museum's chief investigator. By Sarah Cascone, Sep 23, 2021
