From an occult Renaissance manuscript and the history of eyeliner to Salman Rushdie’s new book, our staff and contributors have got you covered.
Happy May! Whether you’ll be lounging on a beach or praying for the arrival of fall, summer is a season for slowing down, leaving books half-finished, and following your curiosity. Our staff and contributors have suggestions for wherever it leads you over the next few months, with recommendations for both old and new titles that entertained, moved, and perplexed us. Read on for the history of eyeliner, Salman Rushdie’s new memoir, and other page-turners and visual delights.
Our reviewers tackled a range of new releases this month, including the poignant photographs of Against Erasure: A Photographic Memory of Palestine Before the Nakba, John Berger’s experience of eyesight loss, and a new Keith Haring biography that misses the mark. We also bring you an excerpt from Hyperallergic contributor Bridget Quinn’s newest book, which explores what we can learn from the overlooked life, rivalries, and artistic practice of 18th-century painter Adélaïde Labille-Guiard. | — Lakshmi Rivera Amin, Associate Editor | |
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| | | From an occult Renaissance manuscript and the history of eyeliner to Salman Rushdie’s new book, our staff and contributors have got you covered. |
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SPONSORED | | | | | Will Barnet, the first monograph on the artist in 40 years, is a testament to Barnet’s legacy and the mutually profound impact he and Native American artists shared during his career. Through scholarly essays and an extensive plate section, this publication celebrates Barnet's iconic imagery and timeless passion for art. | Shop now |
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| | Archival photography in Against Erasure ranges from uprisings to olive tree cultivation and an open-air cinema. | Summer Farah |
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| | | In Border Wisdom, Ahmad Almallah embraces the fissures that language cannot mend. | Mirene Arsanios |
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| | | | After being afflicted with cataracts, the late critic and novelist reflected on the mechanics of sight. | Melissa Holbrook Pierson |
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| | | Radiant is a bountiful source of information about the late queer artist’s life and career, but it says oddly little about his art and its enduring legacy. | David Carrier |
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SPONSORED | | | | Explore 280 pages of interviews, field reports, illustrations, photographs, and fiction from global artists and thought leaders in the 2nd edition of Villa Albertine’s States, which interrogates French culture in the global power-play of arts and ideas. | Shop now |
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| | | Trans Hirstory in 99 Objects serves less as a catalog and more as a continuation of a years-long effort to tell a millennia-long history. | AX Mina |
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| | | Beatriz Nascimento’s groundbreaking research defied dominant White Brazilian academic narratives, instead emphasizing Black political agency. | Ela Bittencourt |
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| | | Much has been written about artists, curators, and art historians. Oskar Bätschmann’s The Art Public: A Short History is dedicated to the spectators on the other side. | David Carrier |
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| | | Myth and Menagerie urges us to view lions as sentient beings and not as timeless, passive objects of representation for 19th-century French artists. | Nageen Shaikh |
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Become a member to support Hyperallergic’s independent arts journalism. | | Become a Member |
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| | | Whenever French 18th-century artist Adélaïde Labille-Guiard is mentioned, it’s almost always as a counterpoint to her better-known “rival,” Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun. | Bridget Quinn |
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