New York: Brooklyn Museum Workers Move to Unionize

In the latest museum news, workers at the Brooklyn Museum are moving to unionize. The union vote peti

New York May 26, 2021 • View in browser

In the latest museum news, workers at the Brooklyn Museum are moving to unionize. The union vote petition comes on the heels of allegations of “harm and daily mistreatment” from staff of color at the institution. In Manhattan, contributors Billy Anania and Sinclair Spratley review exhibitions that have stuck with them lately: a winning critique of the old imperial smoke and mirrors act at Carriage Trade, and MoMA’s first exhibition dedicated to Blackness and architecture, respectively. Spratley calls the latter “dense, and rightfully so.”In another exercise in unpacking, artist Robert Visani takes a clever (and recyclable) approach to paternalistic tropes of British anti-slavery campaigns.— Dessane Lopez Cassell, Editor, Reviews

From Humble Materials...

Do-It-Yourself Sculptures That Probe the White Savior Narrative Roberto Visani’s cardboard flat pack statues appropriate and reinterpret famous abolitionist symbols. Valentina Di Liscia

Plywood Obelisks Reflect on a Year of Racial Justice Protests Michael Zelehoski’s sculpture “Miguelito” is crafted with plywood used to board up businesses during last summer’s racial justice protests. Hrag Vartanian

SPONSORED The University of Pennsylvania MFA Satellite Show, "Wants & Needs," Is Now Open The exhibition features 11 MFA graduates from the class of 2020 and is on view through May 30 at the EFA Project Space in Manhattan.

New York News

Workers at the Brooklyn Museum are moving to unionize. Last Friday, Angela Davis, Fred Moten, and more than 250 artists, critics, and scholars signed an open letter condemning the Museum of Modern Art for its ties to violence against Palestinians. Later that day, hundreds of demonstrators attended Strike MoMA’s seventh protest at the museum, which was held in solidarity with Palestinian civilians and other oppressed people around the world.

Latest Reviews

Revealing the Prickly Side of Imperial “Soft Power” A collaboration between Carriage Trade and Rectangle, Hearts and Minds analyzes the deceptive repackaging of Western imperialism. Billy Anania

Don Voisine’s Restless Shapes Voisine’s paintings ask us to consider what we pay attention to and why. John Yau

In "Reconstructions," Black Artists and Architects Move Beyond the Limitations of the Present What would happen if Black people had or were currently given the time, space, energy, and funding to build alternative futures? Sinclair Spratley

Lingering in the Crossroads Between the Human and the Divine In her US debut, Castiel Vitorino Brasileiro charts the boundless potential of the spiritual in-between. Daniella Brito

Guy Goodwin’s Colorful Inelegance With subjects and materials such as diner menus and discarded cardboard, Goodwin resists a view of history as progress in search of ultimate truths. John Yau

Closing Soon

L. Brandon Krall, “Experior” (1989), oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches (courtesy Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects)

L. Brandon Krall: Sui Generis–alphabet paintings and other objects at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects through May 29 Goodnight House at Fort Makers through June 10 Deborah Remington: Five Decades at Bortolami through June 12 Maren Hassinger: We Are All Vessels at Susan Inglett Gallery through June 12 Nan Goldin: Memory Lost at Marian Goodman Gallery through June 12

On View in NY Museums

Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America at the New Museum through June 6 Disturbing the View outside the Whitney Museum (Fridays & Saturdays at 1pm) through June 12 Michael Rakowitz: Nimrud at the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College through June 18 Kenneth Tam: Silent Spikes at the Queens Museum through June 23 Laura Aguilar: Show and Tell at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art through June 27 Lorraine O'Grady: Both/And at the Brooklyn Museum through July 18 Alice Neel: People Come First at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through August 1 Julie Mehretu at the Whitney Museum through August 8 Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures for Life at MoMA PS1 through September 6 Estamos Bien — La Trienal 20/21 at El Museo del Barrio through September 26 Off the Record at the Guggenheim Museum through September 27 Kusama: Cosmic Nature at the New York Botanical Gardens through October 31 Melvin Edwards: Brighter Days at City Hall Park through November 28

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