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THE NEW YORK TIMES Devan Shimoyama’s “Grandmother’s Blessing” (2019). Courtesy of the artist As the country wraps up Pride Month and continues to contend with ongoing violence against queer and BIPOC communities, it’s paramount that voices from those communities are heard. Not all artists are activists, of course, but they are all keen observers, ones who invite the viewer to consider their way of seeing things, whether their chosen subject is as expansive as prison reform or as singular as their own sense of self. Each work tells a story, and here, we’ve asked 15 queer artists of color to elaborate on theirs. (Look for a coming compilation of works by queer Indigenous artists in the weeks ahead.) [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES   Nina Chanel Abney’s “Issa Saturday Study” (2019). Credit...Courtesy of the artist As the country contends with ongoing violence against queer and BIPOC communities, it’s paramount that voices from those communities are heard. Not all artists are activists, of course, but they are all keen observers, ones who invite the viewer to consider their way of seeing things, whether their chosen subject is as expansive as prison reform or as singular as their own sense of self. Each work tells a story, and here, we’ve asked 15 queer artists of color to elaborate on theirs. (Look for a coming compilation of works by queer Indigenous artists in the weeks ahead.) [ More ] 

SWARAJYA EurWEB Reverend Justin Welby , the Archbishop of Canterbury, has suggested that Jesus should not be portrayed as white, CNN reported. The Archbishop of Canterbury is widely regarded as the principal leader of the Church of England and as the de facto head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Participating in BBCRadio 4's Today Programme, Reverend Justin Welby said that the church must not ignore the Black Lives Matter movement and said Christians should rethink how Jesus Christ is portrayed as a white man. When asked whether Jesus' characterisation needs to be looked at , Reverend Justin Welby "Yes of course it does, this sense that God was white. You go into churches around the world and you don't see a white Jesus." [ More ]

GALERIE MAGAZINE By Lucy Rees An installation view of "Parables of Nana" at Almine Rech, London PHOTO: COURTESY OF ALMINE RECH Artists throughout history have channeled divine inspiration to make sense of the universe and one’s place within it. Following in that tradition is the contemporary Brooklyn painter Genesis Tramaine , whose hypnotic paintings explore biblical allegory through the vibrant lens of West African culture. “Each piece is a gospel song,” Tramaine says of the 19 works that were recently featured in her first solo show at  Almine Rech Gallery  in London. With an aesthetic rooted in modernism and a strong connection to the 1980s graffiti scene in New York, her singular portraits emerge from a monochromatic backdrop of cobalt blues, ochers, or deep crimson reds. [ More ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton Jesus in the Wilderness, 2018 Acrylic, Spray Paint, Gouache, Paint Sticks and Oils on Canvas 48 × 30 in Before COVID-19 (long before), we loved Jesus art: Black, white, Asian, and gay , created by artists such as Lucas Cranach the Elder , Warner E. Sallman , Jacob Lawrence , and others . This week's artist of the week, Genesis Tramaine (b. Brooklyn), paints through the blended lens of being Black, Trans, and Christian. Reminiscent of Jean-Michel Basquiat's street style, this self-taught artist seeks to "restore ‘wholeness’ through faith." Represented by Richard Beaver's Gallery , Genesis Tramaine's  religious art, is our collector's tip of the week.

RELIGION NEWS By By Emily McFarlan Painting by Warner Sallman, “Head of Christ,” © 1941 Warner Press Inc., Anderson, Indiana. Used with permission via RNS (Warner Press Inc.) CHICAGO — The first time the Rev. Lettie Moses Carr saw Jesus depicted as black, she was in her 20s. It felt “weird,” Carr said. Until that moment, she had always thought Jesus was white. A copy of Warner E. Sallman’s “Head of Christ” painting hung in her home, depicting a gentle Jesus with blue eyes turned heavenward and dark blond hair cascading over his shoulders in waves. The backlash to Sallman’s work began during the civil rights movement, when his depiction of a Scandinavian savior was criticized for enshrining the image of a white Jesus for generations of Americans. This week, the activist Shaun King called for statues depicting Jesus as European to come down alongside Confederate monuments, calling the depiction a “form of white supremacy.”[ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES  By By Robin Pogrebin “The art world is still segregated,” said Myrtis Bedolla, owner of Galerie Myrtis in Baltimore, shown with Delita Martin’s “Star Children,” which includes drawing, sewing, painting and collage. Michael A. McCoy for The New York Times Art Basel’s online viewing rooms went live on Thursday, presenting 281 of the world’s leading modern and contemporary art galleries. Not one of them is owned by an African-American. Despite the increasing attention being paid to black artists — many of whom have been snatched up by mega dealers and seen the prices for their work surge at auction — the number of black-owned galleries representing artists in the United States remains strikingly, stubbornly low. There is only one African-American gallerist in the 176-member Art Dealers Association of America, a professional group. [ More ]

THE ALGEMEINER by Shiryn Ghermezian / JNS.org Antisemitic graffiti found outside the House of Lancry fashion store in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. Photo: Courtesy. The Jewish founder and owner of a British fashion brand that sells modest attire is hoping to turn recent antisemitic vandalism to her store in Brooklyn, NY, into an art mural. Hannah Lancry Sufrin, the London-based visionary behind House of Lancry, told JNS that on Monday an employee sent her a photo showing that the word “Jew!” was spray-painted on the gate outside of her flagship store in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. The store, which has been in business for a year, was preparing to reopen that day after being closed for three months due to the coronavirus pandemic. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES  By Robin Pogrebin Curators at the Guggenheim Museum sent its leadership a letter Monday in which they urged it to reform a culture that, they said, “enables racism.” Sara Krulwich/The New York Times A letter signed “The Curatorial Department” of the Guggenheim Museum was sent Monday to the institution’s leadership, demanding immediate, wholesale changes to what it described as “an inequitable work environment that enables racism, white supremacy, and other discriminatory practices.” “We write to express collective concern regarding our institution, which is in urgent need of reform,” said the letter addressed to Richard Armstrong, the museum’s director; Elizabeth Duggal, the senior deputy director and chief operating officer; Sarah G. Austrian, the general counsel; and Nancy Spector, the museum’s artistic director and chief curator. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Ezra Marcus The appearance of a state-owned statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va., has been altered dramatically by artists and protesters. Carlos Bernate for The New York Times RICHMOND, Va. — Until three weeks ago, Lee Circle, which is named for the 130-year-old statue of General Robert E. Lee that stands some 60 feet high at its center, attracted few visitors beyond the occasional tourist or weekend sunbather. But as protests over police brutality and racism, ignited by the killing of George Floyd while he was in policy custody, have spread across the country, and Confederate monuments have been torn down in many cities, crowds of people have been showing up to this little park on Monument Avenue every day. At first, it was to protest. Now, the crowd resembles something of a block party. [ More ]

THE YORK TIMES By Elisabetta Povoledo The Volto Santo de Lucca in the Cathedral of San Martino in Lucca, Italy.Credit...Shutterstock ROME — For centuries, in a picturesque Tuscan town near the Mediterranean coast, legions of pilgrims came to venerate one of Christendom’s most treasured relics — an eight-foot-tall wooden crucifix known as the “Volto Santo de Lucca.” According to the legend, “The Holy Face of Lucca” had been sculpted by a divine hand and remained hidden for centuries before an Italian bishop discovered it on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the eighth century. The crucifix was shown to be the oldest surviving wooden carving in Europe. And it remains in remarkable condition, the downcast eyes of Christ on the cross still captured in dramatic detail. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES Calida Rawles’s “Reflecting My Grace” (2019).Credit...Courtesy of the artist and Various Small Fires, Los Angeles/Seoul “If you’re silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it,” wrote Zora Neale Hurston in her 1937 novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Throughout this country’s history, black Americans have been reminded near daily that this remains true — both literally and more obliquely. Today, though, many black artists are actively resisting that idea, creating work that speaks directly to a black audience, a black gaze, in order to reform the often whitewashed realms in which they practice. We talked with nine of them — each a voice of this moment, as the nation reckons with the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others, and beyond — about making work that captures the richness and variety of black life. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Roberta Smith The size of a small billboard, this 1996 quilt pieces together a folkloric dish towel, chunks of the American flag and a mass-produced tapestry of Jesus. UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Eli Leon Bequest; Justin T. Gellerson for The New York Times “I think it’s because I love them so much that God let me see all these different colors,” Tompkins once said of her patchworks. “I hope they spread a lot of love.” This September many more people will have similar moments of their own, and feel the love implicit in her extraordinary achievement, when “Rosie Lee Tompkins: A Retrospective” — the artist’s largest show yet — opens its doors once more at the Berkeley Art Museum for a run through Dec. 20. (It debuted briefly in February before the coronavirus lockdown.) The museum’s website currently offers a robust online display and 70-minute virtual tour. The quilter felt she was an instrument of God and saw her work as an expression of ...

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Farah Nayeri "Visitors will be able to stand in line securely at the entrance, and masks will be mandatory for visitors aged 11 and over,” said Jean-Luc Martinez, the Louvre’s president.Credit...Julien Mignot for The New York Times The Musée du Louvre in Paris is set to reopen on July 6 after a 16-week shutdown that has taken a 40-million-euro toll on its bottom line. In a normal year, the world’s largest museum hosts 10 million visitors in 925,000 square feet of space open to the public. When the museum reopens, 70 percent will be accessible, including the large galleries of French and Italian paintings, the sculpture courtyards and the Egyptian antiquities section. But with France’s borders still closed to travelers from outside the European Union, visitor numbers will be a fraction of what they usually are in the peak summer season. [ More ]

BOOS KNOWS Jacob Lawrence Nativity, 1954 Egg tempera on board 9 x 12 inches Signed and dated lower right Art can express love, understanding, pain, joy, anger, frustration; it can change minds, hearts, bodies and move souls! We launched Boos Knows to that end in March 2019. Since then, we published over 60 essays and interviews, accessible to all, and featuring some of the leading voices of our field. But more importantly, we heard from you. From all corners of the country, you shared your thoughts, feedback, and all the interesting connections you were drawing from the works the Gallery presented. Encouraged by your response, we’re now pleased to offer our first online exhibition, exploring the work of two of America’s great 20th century modernists, Jacob Lawrence and Charles Sheeler , and featuring two masterpieces available through our Gallery. Please join us for this virtual dialogue, available below from June 22 to July 15, 2020. [ More ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS "Christ Weeps Over Lazarus" by Michael Cook. Charcoal on paper. In the collection of The Community of the Resurrection. Cook's journal of his residency is available at his gallery in Derbyshire. Michael Cook's The Manger Gallery, in Derbyshire, England is now open again on an appointment only basis (as before) and with some new ways of doing things to keep visitors safe. Please see the 'Visit' page of the website for details at  www.mangergallery.co.uk .  The current exhibition, "Reaching Towards" is the result of his residency at The Community of the Resurrection, Mirfield, an Anglican monastery, and it will now continue until the end of the summer.  The works include charcoal, pencil and ink drawings, and acrylic and oil pastel paintings, mainly on the theme of the raising of Lazarus, plus extracts from a journal kept during the residency. .

IRISH TIMES By Ruth Sheehy THE FISH (CHRIST) (1969-70) STAINED GLASS WINDOW, (DETAIL) IN THE CHAPEL OF NAZARETH HOUSE, DUBLIN. REPRODUCED COURTESY OF THE NAZARETH SISTERS, DUBLIN, AND WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE KING ESTATE. PHOTOGRAPH: JOZEF VRTIEL The Life and Work of Richard King: Religion, Nationalism and Modernism was published in January as part of Peter Lang’s Reimagining Ireland series, the culmination of my research on the artist over 30 years. My first encounter with King’s art came when I was invited by the Capuchin community in Church Street, Dublin, in September 1989, to provide a catalogue raisonné of the artist’s religious paintings from 1946 to 1972. These works, originally reproduced as illustrations for The Capuchin Annual, located at the time in the Capuchin Friary, Church Street, are now in the Irish Capuchin Provincial Archives, Church Street, Dublin. I completed this two-volume catalogue entitled The Paintings of Richard King for The Capuchin Annual in July...

ARTSY By Daria Harper Birth of a Nation, 2018 Richard Beavers Gallery Genesis Tramaine’s paintings invite viewers on a journey far beyond the walls of a gallery. Tramaine, best known for her complex depictions of Black people’s faces, describes her intricate portraits as portals. Each painting is imbued with undeniable spirit, reflected in the intricate dance of her brushstrokes. One painting, Joy Comes In The Morning (2020), shows an oval-shaped face layered with various expressions against an ominous blue background that mimics the night sky. The word “amen” is etched along the bottom corner of the canvas. In a recent interview, Tramaine said that it took her a while to confidently and openly discuss how her faith shows up in her artwork. But now, after much reflection, prayer, and praise, she has no problem claiming the divinity that is so integral to her practice. In fact, she celebrates it. [ More ]

INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER By Kelli Morgan “You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.” — Angela Davis, 2014.  I feel like I’ve started and stopped this piece at least a hundred times over the last three months. 2020 has been a tumultuous year for the majority of us. Forget a ton of bricks: COVID-19 hit like a fleet of cement trucks. And as history has always shown, Black communities are again being disproportionately affected. Since the onset of the pandemic, we surged into civil unrest around the globe regarding the blatant disregard of all Black lives. If white folks and governments will not do what it takes to dismantle white supremacy once and for all, we will tear it all down. Like clockwork, racist monuments have been dropping like flies ever since. And though I hate to say it, museums need to be next up on the list. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Robin Pogrebin Keith Christiansen, the chairman of the European paintings department at the Met, wrote that “great works of art have been lost to the desire to rid ourselves of a past of which we don’t approve.” He later apologized for any pain his post had caused “on a very important day.” Vincent Tullo for The New York Times The turmoil coursing through cultural institutions around the country on the subject of race has made its way to the biggest museum of them all: the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Now, Met Museum employees are sounding their own alarm, prompted by a personal Instagram posting on Friday by the museum’s powerful chairman of European paintings, Keith Christiansen, who has worked at the Met since 1977. [This] top curator’s Instagram post that seemed critical of protests over monuments and the Black Lives Matters movement — shared on Juneteenth — has ignited objections by staff members, and a larger internal critique. [ More ]

ARTDAILY The School of Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Lamentation of Christ. Photo: Nationalmuseum. STOCKHOLM.- Following a request for restitution from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in Warsaw, Nationalmuseum has written a letter to the Swedish Government recommending that a painting in the museum’s collections should be returned to Poland. Documentation that has been presented shows that the painting is almost certainly identical to the one being requested and is therefore stolen.The return of the painting to Muzeum Narodowe we Wrocławiu in Poland is therefore in keeping with the international conventions in this area. Nationalmuseum has recommended to the Swedish Government that the painting The Lamentation of Christ by the School of Lucas Cranach the Elder , should be returned to Muzeum Narodowe we Wrocławiu in Poland. [ More ]

THE BUDDHIST DOOR By Joseph Houseal Noh mask, Zo Onna, 19th century. Sculptor unknown. Zo Onna signifies a beautiful, slightly older woman who has experienced tragedy and gained wisdom. It expresses a more composed and elegant figure than a younger woman. From Core of Culture. If you ever have the chance to see a real Japanese Noh performance, seize the day. Noh is among mankind’s greatest artistic achievements. The metaphysical and practical aspects of Buddhism transform the art of Noh into something immediate and spiritual. But it is art, not religion. Zeami (c.1363 – c.1443), the 14th century founder, playwright, and theorist of Noh, made sure of this as he transformed street theater ghost-possession tales into an elaborate, minimalist, multi-art theater form. Trance artists possessed by the ghosts of historical figures were replaced with actors depicting legendary historical characters as spirit beings who cannot escape the Wheel of Life and Death, and so cannot attain enl...

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS Kamazotz (2020) oil on canvas, 40 x 60 Camazotz was a prominent figure in Maya mythology. In Guatemalan K'iche' language it means "death bat". This god appears in the Popol Vuh and is associated with sacrifice, death and the night.  Patrick McGrath Muñíz  is an artist from Puerto Rico now living in Houston, Texas. His work consists primarily of oil painting on canvas and retablo panels inspired by work of the Old Masters. This series of COVID-19 inspired work is currently available at Evoke Contemporary in Santa Fe, NM. While the crow stands as a reminder of our reliance on nature to derive signs, meaning and prophetic visions to guide us. A small card on the upper right shows an image of St. Lazarus, the leper, known in Santeria as Babalu Aye , the deity in charge of healing over epidemic diseases.

By Julia Jacobs The Metropolitan Museum of Art in early May. The New York institution closed in mid-March in response to the coronavirus. Angela Weiss/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images The Metropolitan Museum of Art plans to open its doors on Aug. 29, after more than five months of pandemic shutdown, a museum spokesman said. If everything goes smoothly with New York’s phased reopening, museums would be allowed to open on July 20 — in the fourth and final phase of the plan. The Met has set its date for about a month after that, with some staff members returning to work a few weeks earlier to prepare, the spokesman said. “The safety of our staff and visitors remains our greatest concern,” said Daniel H. Weiss, the museum president, in a statement. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Ben Hubbard and Declan Walsh A handful of worshipers circumambulating the Kaaba in Mecca’s Grand Mosque in April. Agence France-Presse — Getty Images BEIRUT, Lebanon — For much of his life, Abdul-Halim al-Akoum stashed away cash in hopes of one day traveling from his Lebanese mountain village to perform the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca that all Muslims who can are obliged to make once in their lives. He was all set to go this year until the coronavirus pandemic forced Saudi Arabia to effectively cancel the hajj for what some scholars say may be the first time in history. “It is the dream of every Muslim believer to visit Mecca and do the hajj,” said Mr. al-Akoum, 61, a village official. “But the pandemic came with no warning and took away that dream.” The Saudi announcement sent shock waves of sadness and disappointment across the Muslim world, upending the plans of millions of believers to make a trip that many look forward to their whole lives and whic...

THE HINDU By Shankar Bennur Speaking to ‘Star of Mysore,’ Art designer Dwarakanath said, “We are displaying these art works in an effort to create awareness about this pandemic among the general public. The Coronavirus in the form of venomous serpent Kaliya.” A 60-foot wide artwork that chronicles the origin of COVID-19 and its global spread besides paying tribute to the frontline workers for successfully combating the pandemic has come up at Rangayana Mysuru, the State’s premier theatre repertory. Senior Rangayana artiste Dwarakanath, with support from artist Ranganath, has narrated the mayhem caused by the pandemic with paint and brush. They took a week’s time to finish the wall painting that is now drawing attention. A dragon represents the invisible virus’s incidence in China, spreading to other countries and becoming a global pandemic. The illustration portrays the dragon’s havoc with images of places such as tourist places for which the COVID-19 affected countries are well...

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS Barnaby Barford Truth & Lies (Pink), 2019 Giclée print, stained black lime wood frame, with anti-reflective and UV acrylic glaze H206 x L292 cm / H81.1 x L114.9 in David Gill presents TRUTHLIESFEARLOVE an online exhibition of Barnaby Barford’s latest body of work. Encompassing 10 unique works on paper, TRUTHLIESFEARLOVE is the outcome of the artist’s further exploration of his word drawings, Barford’s signature technique consists of repeating the same words over and over, allowing his practise to develop both on a formal and conceptual level. These works on paper highlight the prevalence of contemporary debates on the evolving notion of concepts such as “truth” and “lie” in an era characterised by technology and connectivity. Reflecting on recent historical and political events, Barford’s latest works are testimony to a changing world in which everything is susceptible to being questioned, an oscillation between the power of love and the limits of fear. [ M...

THE JEWISH JOURNAL By Esther D. Kustanowitz Adi Liraz in a durational performance, part of the work: "Textured (Hi)Stories" Photo by Eva Giannakopoulo In a time when so many causes and issues are vying for both attention and Jewish community funding, a new funding collaborative, CANVAS , will strengthen arts and culture through grants to five national nonprofit Jewish arts and culture networks, and distribute emergency funds for individual artists. The five grantee networks are Asylum Arts, the Council of American Jewish Museums (CAJM), the Jewish Book Council, LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture and Reboot, which collectively represent nearly 2,000 artists and creatives and more than 100 Jewish museums. The partnership — incubated by the Jewish Funders Network (JFN) — will provide a total of $736,000 for operating support. [ More ]

THE WASHINGTON POST By Lori Rozsa, Chelsea Janes, Rachel Weiner and Joel Achenbach Daniel Milian, from right, Miguel Martinez and Laura De Armas relax at the seaside in South Beach in the city of Miami Beach on June 19. Their group showed a variable approach to wearing masks. (Scott McIntyre/For The Washington Post) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In this sprawling, heterogeneous country, the pandemic has become yet another thing on which Americans are divided. Mask-wearing for some people is an identifier of broader beliefs and political leanings. Like so many issues rooted in science and medicine, the pandemic is now fully entangled with ideological tribalism. This has played out before: helmets for motorcyclists, seat belts in cars, smoking bans in restaurants. All of those measures provoked battles over personal liberty. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has not made mask-wearing mandatory here in Florida. That’s in sharp contrast with what’s happening more than 2,000 miles away in California, w...

JEWISH EXPONENT By Jesse Bernstein A typical morning class at Rabbi Rebecca Richman’s house, pre-pandemic | Courtesy of Rabbi Rebecca Richman Some of Rabbi Rebecca Richman’s West Philadelphia Art Beit Midrash students call her Rabbi Richman. Some go with Rabbi Bec. Others, just Bec. Differences aside, the one thing her students agree on is that Richman’s class, which began with in-person instruction a year ago and has since been adapted for Zoom, has become an important part of their daily spiritual practice. The combination of a weekly class with singing, textual study, art-making and open discussion has become a balm in troubling times. Prior to the pandemic, classes were held weekly at Richman’s house and at Germantown Jewish Centre, where she is a part-time rabbi. Now, her Zoom classes have drawn almost 80 students from across the country. [ More ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton "Jesus Wept" by Terry Wilson, Indianapolis Before COVID-19 , we occasionally saw a white artist painting a mural, or watched our neighbor Terry Wilson packing his truck to sell his Black art prints in other cities. There's now a gold mine of Black art right in downtown Indianapolis ! Since the Black Lives Matter civil unrest, Black artists like Terry Wilson , Matthew Cooper , Gary Gee , Ess McKee , Mechi Shakur, Israel Solomon , and others are being paid to paint murals in their hometown. We pray this moment to become a movement. Black art in downtown Indianapolis is an act of God, and that's our tip of the week .

THE GUARDIAN Interview by Diane Smyth ‘Part of being British is being able to celebrate who we are’ … from the photobook Sunday Best by Katie Waggett. Photograph: Katie Waggett Her name is Joy and I photographed her outside one of the many African churches in south-east London. I had just finished photographing a mosque on the same bland industrial estate when I found the blue wall, then spotted Joy dancing in the church with her children. Her dress speaks to her sense of cultural pride. She’s in her element, in church, in a place where she can showcase her Nigerian clothes. Joy’s church is Christ’s Chosen Church of God. I photographed Joy in August 2019, towards the end of a three-year project I called Sunday Best , which celebrates London’s religious diversity through portraits and stories of Londoners dressed for worship. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Deborah Willis Ozier Muhammad Harlem, N.Y. As I write this essay, two events are changing our country — the Covid-19 pandemic, in which more than 100,000 Americans have died (including a disproportionately large number of people of color), and the brutal killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Tony McDade, which gained nationwide attention at a time when images serve as evidence. Against this backdrop of black death, is it even possible to tell a story about identity through photographic self-portraits? The self-portraits in this collection, serving as a visual response to these unthinkable experiences, show that it is. As I look at these images, I can envision how the photographers shifted their focus to construct new works or culled their own archives to revisit ideas — seeking answers to their own questions about one’s sense of self and responsibility during this unspeakable time. [ More ]

THE ART NEWSPAPER By JOSÉ DA SILVA Takashi Murakami's Untitled 1, one of six designs to raise money for Black Lives Matter and other related causes © TMKK Artists and galleries have been raising money to help charities and funds in the wake of the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests. Following the death of George Floyd last month at the hands of police and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests throughout the US and beyond, artists and galleries have been organising online exhibitions and selling works to raise money for social justice and anti-racism charities and projects, as well as bail funds to help protestors detained by law enforcement. [ More ]

THE ART NEWSPAPER By Dorian Batycha Jewish Museum, New York Photo: Ajay Suresh, Wikimedia Commons In an open letter addressed to the Jewish Museum director Claudia Gould, dozens of employees are calling for greater diversity within the museum citing the fact that the staff remains overly white and upper-middle-class. The issue came to a head during a Zoom meeting two weeks ago, between museum staff and upper management, during which the issue of diversity was brought up by some staff members. According to several current employees who wish to remain anonymous, the Jewish Museum has only one person of colour on staff, and none in influential positions such as curatorial. [ More ] 

ARTNEWS By Maximilíano Durón, Angelica Villa Cecilia Vicuña, Camilo Torres, 1978, which depicts the Colombian socialist and Roman Catholic priest who was killed in 1966 and became a martyr for the country’s guerrilla movement, sold within the first hour to a Korean collector for $375,000. In early February, when the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancelation of Art Basel Hong Kong, it still seemed likely that the fair would be able to mount its 50th-anniversary Swiss edition, which was due to open this month. Then, as the severity of the pandemic became clear, Art Basel postponed the Swiss fair to September and ultimately canceled it altogether. Its replacement was a digital fair, which opened this morning for the first of two VIP preview days. Following the virtual iterations staged with Art Basel Hong Kong and Frieze New York, the art market has largely acclimated to the swift move online, especially when it comes to offering high-value works to remote buyers. During the f...

BLUE MOUNTAIN EAGLE NEW YORK, June 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The online gallery Russian Icon Collection is pleased to announce that we buy high-quality antique Russian icons from collectors and the general public looking to sell these precious pieces of religious art. We can buy a portion or an entire collection of Russian icons dated to the 16th-19th century or earlier. Russian Icon Collection also provides professional icon appraisal and icon restoration services performed by the leading experts in the field. Our services are flexible, convenient, and customized to meet the specific needs of collectors and connoisseurs of religious art. [ More ]

THE ART NEWSPAPER By Aimee Dawson A still from Shirin Neshat's film Looking for Oum Kulthum Courtesy of the artist and Goodman Gallery. © Razor Film Did you know that Shirin Neshat is the only person to have won both a Golden Lion at the Venice Art Biennale (1999) and a Silver Lion at the Venice International Film Festival (2009)? Now, online viewers will have the opportunity to watch some of the US-Iranian artist's most important works in film—including the prizewinning videos Turbulent (1998) and Women Without Men (2009). The five-day-long program (20-24 June), organized by Goodman Gallery to coincide with Art Basel Online, will make the films available for only 24 hours through the gallery's website. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Jericho Brown, Carmen Maria Machado and Thomas Page McBee Marcos Chin With protests in the streets and a pandemic ravaging the country, three prominent L.G.B.T.Q. authors consider Pride in 2020. Jericho Brown is the author of “The Tradition,” winner of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Carmen Maria Machado is the author of “In the Dream House” and “Her Body and Other Parties.” She was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2017. Thomas Page McBee is the author of “Amateur: A Reckoning with Gender, Identity, and Masculinity” and “Man Alive: A True Story of Violence, Forgiveness, and Becoming a Man.” [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Zachary Small A 16th-century cloth painting of the Buddha meditating, one of many artworks suitable for self-contemplation at the Rubin Museum of Art.  Rubin Museum of Art, Gift of Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation When the instructor asked him to describe his life in two words, Walter Enriquez chose carefully: fear and violence. He had spent decades as a policeman in Peru during the bloodiest days of armed conflict between government forces and guerrilla fighters that killed nearly 70,000 people. But he said that nothing could have prepared him for the extreme isolation and loneliness that come with quarantine. Having lost a handful of his friends and neighbors to the coronavirus pandemic, the 75-year-old retiree has turned toward art therapy programs offered by the Queens Museum to improve his mental health. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES Photographs and Text by Michael Benanav A man dressed as Vasudeva — the father of the god Krishna — carries the baby deity to safety in a re-enactment celebrating Krishna’s birth in a Janmashtami parade. With around 10,000 cases reported daily, India ranks third in the world in new coronavirus infections, behind the United States and Brazil. The city of Ahmedabad — the largest metropolis in Gujarat, one of the country’s hardest-hit states — lags only Mumbai in the total number of Covid-related deaths. Though my first glimpses of India were in Delhi and Rajasthan, my experiences of the country were largely superficial until I got to Gujarat — the country’s westernmost state, which sticks like an elbow into the Arabian Sea. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Graham Bowley Robert Indiana and one of his famous LOVE sculptures in Central Park, New York, in the early 1970s. Jack Mitchell/Getty Images When Robert Indiana died, the man who had directed his affairs was supposed to help run the artist’s foundation and its new museum. Those plans have changed. One person was conspicuously absent from an event at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine, last year, a gathering as close to a memorial for Robert Indiana as has been held since his death two years ago. But missing from the celebration was Jamie L. Thomas, the artist’s caretaker in his final years and the man Mr. Indiana — whose bold rendering of the word “love” became one of the most recognizable artworks of the 20th century — had picked to help guide his artistic legacy. [ More ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton "Christ with Wound" (2020) by Israel Solomon; 24x24 inches. Collection of Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts Before COVID-19 , Black artists had 28-days in February, but prayed for 365 days where Black art matters . That prayer is beginning to be answered in Indianapolis, as artists, like Israel Solomon , paint murals over boarded-up storefronts damaged after peaceful protests. Solomon's work is an inspiring fusion of cubism and pop art, and reminded us of Saint Paul's letter to young Timothy, "...do not neglect your gift, which was given to you...". ( 1 Timothy 4:12-14a ). We purchased his "Christ with Wound," and that makes Israel Solomon , our collector's tip of the week.

CBR.COM By Samantha Puc Writer Alex Sánchez and artist Jul' Maroh tell CBR about exploring an Aqualad origin story in You Brought Me the Ocean, the new graphic novel from DC Comics. DC's new original graphic novel, You Brought Me the Ocean , introduces a new -- but also very familiar -- take on Aqualad . Written by Lambda Literary Award-winning author Alex Sánchez, illustrated by New York Times -bestselling cartoonist Jul' Maroh and lettered by Eisner and Harvey Awards nominee Deron Bennett, the book follows Jake Hyde as he discovers his ocean-based powers while simultaneously coming to terms with his sexuality. [ More ]

THE BOSTON GLOBE  By Cate McQuaid "Rock Bottom," 2008DAVID HILLIARD David Hilliard last photographed his father in March, a week before the nursing homes locked down. “He was holding his old dentures from 1955, which he got in the Navy, in one hand and the new choppers in the other, with my hand on top of his head,” said the photographer. “I didn’t want that to be the last picture.” His father, Raymond William Hilliard, died on April 10 of COVID-19. His passing marks the end of a decades-long body of work for Hilliard. Raymond has been a favorite subject since the artist’s days as an undergrad at Massachusetts College of Art in the 1980s: reading Playboy in bed; puffing a cigar over lunch; sitting on a doctor’s examination table. [ More ]

ARTNEWS By Sarah Douglas NILS JORGENSEN/SHUTTERSTOCK At the beginning of coronavirus lockdown, Bloomberg and other outlets ran articles on an uptick in business in the art finance sector. The major auctions are set to happen in the forthcoming weeks, and they will act as the first major benchmark for the market since the coronavirus crises began. But the growth of art finance is a sign that business is still going strong. During the coronavirus crisis, rather than sell their art in an uncertain market, many collectors are turning to art for liquidity, using it as collateral for a loan. Barbara Chu has been a partner at Emigrant Bank Fine Art Finance for 25 years, serving as an advisor to major private and public investors and developing new lending categories. “We’re very busy providing solutions,” Chu said. [ More ]

THE NEW TIMES By Jillian Steinhauer Brian Cox as the media mogul Logan Roy in the HBO series “Succession.” The artwork is Frank Thiel's “Spegazzini #01,” a chromogenic print from 2012/2013. “I create art collections for people who don’t exist,” Fanny Pereire likes to say. She dreams up what Midwestern housewives or New York City billionaires might hang on their walls and then clears the rights to use either real, existing works or, more often, to recreate them on set. Ms. Pereire, who has spent more than a decade placing art in television and film productions, was indispensable to the making of that scene. "I have 57,128 photos and 810 videos on my computer. Plus I have Dropbox and other things — those are just photos that I’ve taken." [ More ]

THE GUARDIAN By Hisham Matar ‘No thought is born in me which has not “Death” engraved upon it’ ... the ‘La Creazione’ fresco by Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. Photograph: Plinio Lepri/Associated Press Before Italy became a nation, it was made up of a collection of city-states governed by un’autorità superior, in the form of a powerful noble family or a bishop. They took the Black Death as proof of their guilt. The speed of the Black Death was so staggering that in just over a year it had conquered the known medieval world, reducing the population of each country by an average of 45%. The religious fervour the Black Death inspired in Siena instilled a powerful commitment to the church. Barely seven years had passed when, in 1355, the city’s civic rule ended. The clergy now were the principal clients. They had a great deal of money and influence. They determined what was painted. [ More ]

ART AND OBJECT By Chandra Noyes Andrea del Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci, The Baptism of Christ, detail, c. 1475. Oil on panel. Originally commissioned by the Church of Saint Salvi, now housed at the Uffizi Gallery. As museums grapple with if and how to reopen with new social distancing measures in place, they are getting more creative in their approaches to reaching a greater audience. Nearly all major museums and galleries have done this by going online, be it through online viewing rooms, virtual reality tours, social media promotions, or increased educational opportunities. Even before the COVID-19 crisis kept us all in our homes, you could tour the Uffizi virtually and see many of its works online. But the Uffizi may be the first to suggest taking precious works out of the galleries and into other venues to expand beyond their own four walls. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Bob Morris Faith Ringgold at her dining table in Englewood, N.J., surrounded by her work “California Dah #3, 1983,” envisioning what her mother experienced when she died. “I always have to feel something to paint it,” Ms. Ringgold says. The doll is Cassie, from her children’s book, “Tar Beach.” Meron Tekie Menghistab for The New York Times ENGLEWOOD, N.J. — Faith Ringgold has seen plenty of shake-ups and strange moments in her 89 well-traveled years. But the provocative Harlem-born artist — who has confronted race relations in this country from every angle, led protests to diversify museums decades ago, and even went to jail for an exhibition she organized — has had no reference point for the pandemic keeping her in lockdown and creatively paralyzed in her home in this leafy suburb for much of the spring. “I’m just keeping my eyes wide open so I can find a point of view on all this,” she said with a sigh. “I’ve been waiting for the inspiration that can help ...