Artists have been plumbing New York for political messaging for hundreds of years now. Check out Ed Simon’s piece on the prescient apocalyptic visions of Hudson River School artists like Thomas Cole, whose Course of Empire series (1833–36) is on long-term view at the New York Historical. Meanwhile, artist Akira Ikezoe — whose work is currently in both MoMA PS1’s Greater New York and the Whitney Biennial — is a contemporary messenger: His painted bears and frogs croak out an urgent ecological message for today’s age.
I took the ferry home from Jersey amid the heat wave this Independence Day weekend, and saw the Statue of Liberty shimmering in the distance like a mirage. Seemed an apt-enough symbol. Indeed, in a must-read piece this week, Aruna D’Souza rounds up contemporary artists who have appropriated Lady Liberty in their work as the nation convulses under the Trump administration’s crackdowns on basic rights.
This week, ton of fun things to do to escape the weather. Top pick: Brooklyn Art Book Fair is at Recess this weekend — fingers crossed its tagline, “hotter than ever,” is just metaphorical.
—Lisa Yin Zhang, associate editor
The Hudson River School’s American Apocalypse
One of the United States’s first major art movements registered anxieties about industrialization, empire, and environmental ruin. | Ed Simon
From Our Critics
John Yau
Life With P. – Philip Guston: Paintings and Drawings 1964–1978 at Hauser and Wirth
“Guston’s things are the opposite of Minimalism’s shiny objects. They are old, used, homely survivors, evidence of a life whose history we will never know — the ‘riddle’ of things.”
John Yau
Charles Seliger: The Structure of Matter, A Centennial Exhibition at Hollis Taggart
“Charles Seliger: The Structure of Matter, A Centennial Exhibition brings overdue attention to this wonderful artist, who saw beauty in the invisible structures and patterns governing the visual world.”
Interview
The Ballroom Icon Who Paved a New Way
Amid all of the kitty-kat meow of today’s Vogue Fem performers, Andre Mizrahi Clark has the stern, calm energy of a lion tipping on its toes. | Ridikkuluz
Carmelita Tropicana Was Born Out of the Closet
Hyperallergic spoke with artist Alina Troyano about lesbian performance in 1980s Lower East Side, satirizing stereotypes, and embodying her iconic alter ego. | Natalie Haddad
Feature
Akira Ikezoe’s Frogs and Bears Have Something Urgent to Tell Us
The cartoonish earnestness of both artist and artwork belies a sharp attentiveness to the catastrophes unfolding around us. |
Sofia Thiệu D’Amico
What Does the Statue of Liberty Stand For?
As artists like Amy Sherald, Marta Minujín, and Faith Ringgold remind us, the monument is far from a neutral symbol of so-called American values. | Aruna D’Souza
Books
The Met Museum’s Staff Have Some Thoughts About the Art
A new book gathers essays by the museum’s curators, researchers, librarians, and conservators on everything from Renaissance portraiture to the work of Wendy Red Star. | Anna Lee
What Else Is Happening?
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the City Council will provide the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) with its highest-ever yearly appropriation as part of the city’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget.
- Union negotiations for a second contract with the Guggenheim Museum are entering their sixth month, with an emphasis on job security after abrupt layoffs last year. Staff across several departments have voted to authorize a strike if necessary.
- Following the recent seizure of several objects from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection in June, the total valuation of looted artifacts surrendered by the museum now stands at a whopping $95 million.
- After 11 years in business, the contemporary art gallery Lyles & King announced its closure in a social media post thanking its artists and supporters.
- Visit Wave Hill for their Sunset Wednesdays, this week featuring Jenn Jade 5tet. Pack a picnic and enjoy the live jazz. (Wed July 8) [wavehill.org]
- Join in an evening at the Morgan Library & Museum and hear from poet, art critic, and author John Yau in celebration of an exhibition devoted to poet John Ashbery and his artist friends. (Thurs July 9) [themorgan.org]
- Metrograph is collaborating with McNally Editions to celebrate the release of the first English translation of Éric Rohmer’s Élisabeth. They’re screening all of Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales Cycle for the occasion. (Fri July 10) [metrograph.com]
- Join Brooklyn-based print shop The Arm for a poster-making workshop at Poster House, which combines letterpress, block printing, and bold design. (Fri July 10) [posterhouse.org]
- Attend the Opening Reception of Still Here: Harlem Eternal, an exhibition presented by Defend Harlem and Children’s Art Carnival. The exhibition honors the people, histories, and cultural legacy of Harlem through photography, poetry, visual art, and film. (Fri July 10) [childrensartcarnival.org]
- The Brooklyn Art Book Fair, chock full of books by artist-run presses and other independent organizations, is at Recess this weekend! (Fri July 10–Sun July 12) [bkabf.info]
