The biggest retrospective of works by American artist Diane Arbus, who began her career as a fashion photographer but is perhaps best known for her uncanny images of people on the fringes of society, is currently on view in New York City.
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June 24, 2025

Good morning. The biggest retrospective of works by American artist Diane Arbus, who began her career as a fashion photographer but is perhaps best known for her uncanny images of people on the fringes of society, is currently on view in New York City. For Hyperallergic’s Managing Editor Hakim Bishara, it was a chance to address problems that have long plagued Arbus’s pictures. But the show, he writes today, is “riddled with questionable curatorial choices that seem intended to prevent critical discussion of Arbus’s legacy.”

In the news, art and artists give us hope as the geopolitical landscape looks increasingly catastrophic. Here in New York City, local advocates managed to salvage the beloved Elizabeth Street Garden from demolition after years of activism, proving that it’s worth staying in the fight, even when times get tough. And across the pond, in Venice, climate activists minced no words in a massive missive to tech billionaire Jeff Bezos, who’s infamously shelled out millions for a lavish wedding in the already overwhelmed city.

Also today, Associate Editor Lakshmi Rivera Amin reviews Chloë Bass's latest show, another selfie-seeking museumgoer damages a priceless artwork, and more.

— Valentina Di Liscia, News Editor

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A Massive Diane Arbus Exhibition Does So Little

Questionable curatorial choices seem intended to prevent critical discussion in a major survey at Manhattan’s Park Avenue Armory. | Hakim Bishara

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San Francisco Art Book Fair Returns With More Programming Than Ever

Presented by Minnesota Street Project Foundation, SFABF25 spans two city blocks and welcomes more than 150 exhibitors from around the world this July.

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THE LATEST

Venice Climate Activists Have a Blunt Message for Jeff Bezos

A massive banner unfurled by Greenpeace takes aim at the Amazon billionaire’s lavish wedding plans in the historic city.| Maya Pontone

Visitor Tears Hole in 17th-Century Painting at Uffizi Galleries

A man damaged the portrait of Fernando de’ Medici while posing for a picture in the latest instance of a museum selfie gone wrong. | Rhea Nayyar

New York’s Elizabeth Street Garden Saved From Demolition

After fighting for years against a proposal to flatten the garden to build affordable housing, advocates welcome a new deal with the city that spares the beloved green space. | Isa Farfan

ON VIEW IN NYC

Chloë Bass Eschews the Clichés of Mixed-Race Art

The artist’s Twice Seen explores visibility and perception, challenging us to refuse to turn one another into novelties. | Lakshmi Rivera Amin

Love Pulses Through Elle Pérez’s Photography

Pérez’s impulse as a photographer is to hold a feeling still — which is, really, a means of honoring the living, witnessing them. | Monica Uszerowicz

Four New York City Art Shows to See Right Now

From Glenn Ligon’s critique of society’s ills to Diane Arbus’s complicity in them, the solo shows below provide plenty of food for thought. | Natalie Haddad, Hakim Bishara, Lakshmi Rivera Amin, and Monica Uszerowicz

FROM THE ARCHIVE

Enough With the Selfies; Look at the Art

Museum guard Dereck Stafford Mangus urges museumgoers to put their phones down, just for a minute. 

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