It’s been a big week, but it’s finally the weekend. That means it’s time to see some art, but before you head to the major Diane Arbus retrospective at the Park Avenue Armory, Hyperallergic’s Managing Editor Hakim Bishara has some thoughts you should consider. He writes: “with all the cruelty of the world right in our faces, we don’t need Arbus’s bleak style of confrontational art.” Another must-read this weekend is by writer and curator Laura Raicovich. In her essay, the former Queens Museum director describes the intimidation and smear campaign leading up to her 2018 resignation from the position. In uplifting news, New York State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani’s victory in Tuesday’s mayoral primary race has led to some pretty clever memes. Hyperallergic Staff Writer Isa Farfan gathers the best ones. Meanwhile, climate activists aren’t taking Jeff Bezos’s extravagant Venice wedding lightly. Greenpeace unfurled a giant banner in Venice’s Piazza San Marco criticizing the billionaire (seen in the banner, and probably somewhere in the world, laughing maniacally). This is the last weekend of Pride Month so make the most of it. Get out to some events and catch up on some LGBTQ+ history with stories from our staff writers on Harlem’s drag balls, the gay culture of New York City’s piers, and the city’s first Pride March. And, as always, there’s plenty of art to read about, from AX Mina’s glittering take on sculptor Young Joon Kwak to Anthony Majanlahti’s intense look at Caravaggio to Anne Anlin Cheng on what The Met got right about Asian femininity. Enjoy! — Natalie Haddad, Reviews Editor |