With Afghanistan’s “war rugs” a traditional art form was updated in response to the country’s brutal invasions by other nations.
David Carrier
David Carrier’s most recent books are Art Writing Online: The State of the Art World and Philosophical Skepticism as the Subject of Art: Maria Bussmann’s Drawings. His book In Caravaggio’s Shadow: Naples as a Work of Art is forthcoming.
Tomashi Jackson Rediscovers Long Island’s Beleaguered Past
Jackson’s exhibition The Land Claim began an extensive dialogue with local Indigenous, Black, and Latinx families on Long Island’s East End.
In Henry Taylor’s Paintings, the Past Bleeds Into the Present
Taylor’s paintings emphasize that golf and horse racing, though once exclusively activities for privileged white men, depended on the support of men who were almost invariably Black.
A Deep Dive Into Walter Benjamin
The Benjamin Files by Fredric Jameson explains everything by reference to everything else, in a way that often makes the narrative all but impenetrable.
A Tattoo Artist’s History of Tattoos
TATTOO: 1730s-1970s. Henk Schiffmacher’s Private Collection is strong on the presentation of images, but says very little about their meaning.
What a Painter Taught Me
Coming from a secular perspective, it seems strange to speak, in almost mystical terms, of being taken out of oneself.
History According to the Comic Book
Where indelible images restlessly bond with the ambiguity of words.
The Meanings of Minimalist Memorials
Monuments are built only when the political struggle they commemorate has been definitively won.
The End of Art History
Writing a global art history demands that we give up historical thinking.
Where Does a Work of Art Belong?
Like the international financial markets, the art museum is a controlling Western institution.
The Lives of the Art Museum
Like cabinets of curiosities from the old regime, art museums often display plunder.
The Art World We Have Lost
Loren Munk’s “SOHO Map” offers a visual record of a densely peopled art world.