Jun

24

What “Smoke Signals” Means 20 Years Later

This groundbreaking film was the first movie to be written, directed, co-produced, and acted by Native Americans.

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Jun

19

What About the Art in “Apeshit”?

Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s new music video was filmed entirely at the Louvre museum. What messages hide in the histories of the featured artworks?

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Jun

03

Why David Hockney Makes Both Paintings and Photographs

In a 1991 interview with singer Graham Nash, David Hockney explained how he applied his drawing skills to photography via the computer.

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Apr

28

Did Frida Kahlo Suffer From Fibromyalgia?

Studying the artist’s paintings may reveal more about the her early trauma and subsequent pain than suspected.

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Mar

17

Linda Nochlin on “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists”

Art historian and critic, Linda Nochlin changed the field of art history, shifting both the field and the viewers’ gaze.

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Feb

13

What Amy Sherald Tells Us with Michelle Obama’s Dress

How do the artistic inspirations that portrait artist Amy Sherald cites for Michelle Obama’s dress impact our visual and cultural understanding of the portrait for the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery?

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Feb

01

On Immigration, Liminality, and Ellis Island: Debra Scacco’s “The Narrows”

The interviewees remind us of a history that is necessary, timely, and beyond relevant—of our nation’s immigration laws, policies and prejudices; of the architecture granting obstruction or entry in the U.S.; and more personally of the lives, loves, and locations people gave up to journey to an unknown place, often alone as outsiders, and of course, as dreamers.

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Jan

27

Ken Gonzales-Day’s Bone-Grass Boy: “The Secret Banks of the Conejos River”

Given that this revisited version of Bone-Grass Boy is traversing the U.S. right now, that desire for it to speak to future generations feels particularly prescient in asserting its ongoing relevance and broadcasting its resonating voice.

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Jan

16

Can Art Help People Develop Empathy?

A new Center for Empathy and the Visual Arts has made people wonder whether empathy can be taught? And, if so, how can the arts help with this process?

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Nov

16

The Jewish-American Writer Who Transformed U.S.-Mexico Relations

How did Anita Brenner, a Mexican-born, American Jewish writer and journalist use art to try to bridge the gap between the United States and Mexico?

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