There are no words to describe how much I adored Adrian Piper’s retrospective at MoMA, but not for the reasons that seemed to preoccupy everyone else’s mind. Like with many art shows featuring Black artists at the moment, the white institution obsesses over artists of color who can “teach us” about gender, racism, and xenophobia. … Continue reading
How do we find reprieve within today’s predictable, cyclical nature of outrage, however warranted, and the battle of the wokest? The other day, I encountered a social justice warrior tweet that wondered in all seriousness, “You ever think about how if robots ever rise up the word ‘robot’ itself will be a slur”…and lost it. … Continue reading
Who can evade an inevitable reference to Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror while speaking about technology and dystopic future? It is tempting to compare American Artist’s exhibition Black Gooey Universe at HOUSING gallery to Black Mirror, even though the connection risks limiting the vastness of the former’s critical engagement with technology to a Netflix series. But … Continue reading
Juliana Huxtable just gets it. It’s the last day to view Huxtable’s solo exhibition A Split During Laughter at the Rally at Reena Spaulings Fine Art. The utter contemporaneity of the works is owed to how well she captures the humorously chaotic contradictions in today’s political climate, where the urgency to outwardly appear activist has … Continue reading
There is something comforting about seeing proof that someone else feels the same way you do, a tactile representation of emotional exhaustion and bleak pessimism given everything *gestures* going on. Amy Feldman, I feel you. Feldman’s Nerve Reserve at James Cohan Gallery touches upon the artist’s own personal history with anxiety, and the inner turmoil … Continue reading
Betty Tompkins’s solo exhibition Virgins at P.P.O.W. Gallery arrives at an apt time of increasing mainstream attention to whiteness as a distinctive ethnicity. Currently, there lacks critical attention to the whiteness of imagery that Tompkins depicts, instead framing Tompkins’s represented sexual liberation in the context of all women. Continue reading
The first thing that hits you upon entering the cavernous space of Greene Naftali is the droning white noise of a dozen industrial grade fans — a noise that, while seemingly neutral and indifferent, could just as easily not register as a consequential sound at all. This mechanically hummed nonsense, which blows hot air into … Continue reading
Park Chanwook’s latest masterpiece The Handmaiden is a wonderfully claustrophobic, seductive thriller set in 1930s Korea, without any white persons appearing to save the day or infiltrating the plot. The film has received resounding praise from critics and audiences alike, proving once and for all that despite having no literal projection of themselves within the storyline, white audiences can find an all-Asian movie both entertaining and valuable. The film’s lucrative success condemns any excuses for whitewashing in order to appeal to Western audiences, which was most recently used by Chinese director Zhang Yimou in his film The Great Wall. Continue reading
The Metrograph just wrapped up a two-week-long film series that showcased over three decades of films starring Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung (張曼玉, Zhang Manyu). When asked why highlight this actress in particular, Aliza Ma, Head of Programming at the Metrograph, explained, “Not many people understand how well Maggie Cheung curated her own career.” Cheung’s … Continue reading
Like Smoke, on view now through December 4, 2016 at Equity Gallery, is a response to the perceived lack of institutional visibility for art about the queer experience without explicitly focusing on queer bodies and their erotic potential. Curated by Filthy Dreams’ contributor Osman Can Yerebakan, the exhibition is a sensitive and nuanced take on LGBTQ identity … Continue reading