Aqualad: Sánchez & Maroh Reaffirm Queer Identity in You Brought Me the Ocean

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]

Eclectic Trios From the Henry's Collection Confront the Past in 'The Art of the Triptych'

THE DAILY
By Rachael Sage Payne

Abigail Dahl

With over 27,000 pieces in their physical collection, the Henry Art Gallery recently decided to focus on the power of three. “The Art of the Triptych,” the latest in the Henry's Re/frame series, was presented in its temporary online format May 21. The event allowed attendees to view a selection of 12 curated works from the gallery's extensive collection in a slideshow format presented by Ann Poulson, the associate curator of collections at the Henry. Although triptychs are generally thought of as the tri-fold Christian altarpieces of medieval times, the curated collection for this event, which included works by Carrie Mae Weems, Sharon Lockhart, Robert Longo, and Buster Simpson, among others, was anything but traditional. [More]

Houston’s Rothko Chapel Is a Transcendent Artwork—But the Path to Create It Was Long and Difficult

ARTNEWS
Tessa Solomon

In a 1966 letter to the collectors John and Dominique de Menil, Mark Rothko wrote that the chapel commission “is teaching me to extend myself beyond what I thought was possible for me.”

Mark Rothko was known to be a perfectionist, but even by his own standards, creating the iconic abstract murals that now appear in a chapel in Houston, Texas, was a laborious process. Collectors John and Dominique de Menil had commissioned him to do the works in 1964, and according to some accounts, he dedicated a month to half an inch of canvas for the paintings for the chapel. He asserted so much control over the murals that, according to a 2018 biography of the Menils by William Middleton, his patrons never even got to preview Rothko’s work until 1967, when the painter invited them to see his paintings in progress. [More] 

‘Into Her Own’ Review: A Sculptor’s Monumental Achievements

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Glenn Kenny

The artist Ursula von Rydingsvard with her work in “Into Her Own. Daniel Traub/Icarus Films

This documentary portrait of the formidable sculptor Ursula von Rydingsvard is, by dint of its brevity, more tantalizing than satiating. But it’s still a welcome cinematic account of her work. Her sculptures, carved or molded from cedar, are towering, surprising mammoths that seem like organic growths bursting from the ground. They intertwine the abstract with the figurative. Unlike the giant steel statements of Richard Serra, they don’t intimidate; rather, they invite close examination and even physical touch. In “Ursula von Rydingsvard: Into Her Own,” this artist, now in her mid-’70s, lean and filled with a youthful energy and concentration, says she wants the people around her art — which is mostly exhibited in public spaces — to put their mark on it. [More]

Aboriginal Women Artists and Their Visions of Infinity

HYPERALLERGIC
By Bansie Vasvani

Angelina Pwerle, “Bush Plum,” detail

Despite the million-dollar auction price for works by Aboriginal Australian artists in 2007, the controversy about whether or not Australian Aboriginal art should be included in the Western canon hasn’t been entirely resolved. But the new exhibition Marking the Infinite, comprised of several commissioned works by nine Aboriginal women artists from the Denis and Debra Scholl collection at the Newcomb Art Museum of Tulane University, should put these conundrums to rest. Marking the Infinite gives voice and equal footing to Aboriginal artists as artists the world over. [More]

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK -- Artist Patrick Dougher

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Patrick Dougher's “We are funding our own oppression” (Black Disaster Capitalism III)-Collage/Acrylic on paper- 10” x 10”

Before COVID-19 living on Zoom, we were already collecting faces. Not the awkward photos of Olan Mills, but impressionistic portraits that reveal an inner significance. We see it daily in the Heinrich Hofmann print in our Jesus Room, and we saw it this week in the portraits of self-taught artist Patrick Dougher. His Instagram is loaded with portraits, including recent collages of poised subjects masked with halos reflecting both their personal significance and the significance of this moment. Patrick Dougher's masked portraits are our collector tip of the week.

Kent Monkman Auctions One of His Drawings to Support Toronto’s Indigenous Communities

HYPERALLERGIC
By Valentina Di Liscia

Kent Monkman, “kâ wâsihkopayicik (the ones who shine)” (2008), graphite on acid-free paper, 14 x 17 inches (all images courtesy Kent Monkman Studio)

A 2018 study by Toronto Aboriginal Support Services Council (TASSC) found that there are between 45,000 and 60,000 Indigenous adults in Toronto — and 87% of them fall below Canada’s low-income cut-off. Kent Monkman, a Canadian artist of Cree descent, is auctioning an original drawing to benefit the advocacy nonprofit, highlighting the urgent needs of Aboriginal people during the pandemic and beyond. The sale is taking place entirely on Monkman’s Instagram account — no gallery, auction house, or intermediary. Interested potential buyers can place their bids directly on Monkman’s post in increments of at least $10. Since the sale went live on Monday, bids have steadily climbed, with the highest offer currently at $3,000. [More]

‘Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint’ Review: What Did She See, and When?

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By A.O. Scott

Halina Dyrschka’s documentary “Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint” explores the artist’s life and work, which includes paintings like “Group X, No. 1, Altarpiece” (1915).Zeitgeist Films

The career-spanning exhibition of the work of Hilma af Klint that toured the world a few years ago — including a sojourn at the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan — upended the conventional narrative of modern art history. “Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint,” a documentary by Halina Dyrschka, provides a thoughtful survey of its subject. It’s enriched by the dazzling charisma of her art and limited by the scarcity of biographical material.She was drawn to the Theosophy of Helena Blavatsky and to the teachings of the Austrian spiritualist Rudolf Steiner, with whom she corresponded. [More]

'Agnes of the Desert" Joins Modernism's Pantheon

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Roberta Smith

Agnes Pelton, Mother of Silence, 1933. Oil on canvas. Private Collection. Credit: Agnes Pelton, Mother of Silence, 1933. Oil on canvas. Private Collection.

A few years ago, I interrupted a panel discussion at the Guggenheim as it moved toward the dead-horse question of whether painting was still viable. Hindsight arrived one or two years later, when a largely unknown sector of that past was emphatically, unforgettably heard from — at the Guggenheim. This divine noise was the full-rotunda exhibition of the paintings of Hilma af Klint. A similar jolt — if not of that magnitude — can now be felt in “Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist,” an exhibition at the Whitney Museum. This career-spanning survey of 45 paintings offers a reminder that the history of modernist abstraction and women’s contribution to it is still being written. [More]

See Christian Bale As Mephisto For Chris Hemsworth's Thor 4 In New Pic

HEROIC HOLLYWOOD
By Eammon Jacobs

This new concept design of Christian Bale as Mephisto for Chris Hemsworth’s Thor: Love and Thunder proves just how great the star could look as the character.

An awesome new concept design for Chris Hemsworth’s Thor: Love and Thunder shows off what Christian Bale could look like as the iconic Marvel Comics villain Mephisto.With Christian Bale’s Thor: Love and Thunder role being kept under lock and key, a new concept design imagines the former Batman actor as the Marvel villain Mephisto for the highly-anticipated Chris Hemsworth movie. In the comics, Mephisto takes great pleasure in striking up deals with heroes only for them to have some kind of downside that they have to deal with afterwards. [More]

The Art of Caribbean Exchange, in Gold, Stone or Hardwood

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Jason Fargo

Gold figure pendant made by the Tairona people in north Colombia, 10th-16th century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

If you want to make sense of the Caribbean, you had better prepare for some island-hopping: This is a place where not just people but ideas and images are constantly on the move. That’s the premise and the appeal of “Arte del Mar: Art of the Caribbean,” a concentrated showcase at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that plunges visitors into a sea of archipelagic thinking. It is the Met’s first show to reckon with the Caribbean as its own zone of contact, and includes not only art from the West Indies — specifically on the island of Hispaniola — but also from the Caribbean-facing coasts of mainland Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia. [More]

NM Museum of Art Expands Transcendentalist Collection

THE ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL
By Kathleen Roberts

“Beyond Civilization to Texas,” 1950 oil on canvas by Robert Gribboek. (Courtesy of the New Mexico Museum of Art)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Transcendentalist Painters pushed art beyond Modernism into new concepts of space, color, light, and spirituality. These New Mexico artists ignored the stunning Southwestern landscapes and portraits of traditional American Indian life to forge something different by turning their gaze inward. The New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe has announced the irrevocable gift of eight works of art by members of this Taos-based group from the William Dailey Trust and Dr. Nicole Panter Dailey. The pieces are not yet on public view. [More]

Saya Woolfalk's Tube Factory Installation Explores Divination

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

Encyclopedia of Cloud Divination (Plate 2), 2019 Archival inkjet, screenprint, silver leaf, and collage 44 × 34 in 111.8 × 86.4 cm Edition of 14

INDIANAPOLIS---New York-based Saya Woolfalk's "Emphatic Cloud Divination" exhibition explores our understanding of the human condition -- a state of affairs governed by seemingly unavoidable conflicts such as birth, growth, and death. This show explores how technology has allowed us to ease our suffering by making change less difficult and transformation more enjoyable. Woolfalk's exhibit at Tube Factor includes her signature installations, sculpture, prints, video artworks, and the work of artists who influence her practice.

Kyle Breitenbach "When The Leaves Come Down" at SHRINE

ARTNET NEWS

Kyle Breitenbach: When the Leaves Come Down" at SHRINE, August 8 – September 15, 2019

For Kyle Breitenbach’s third solo show at SHRINE, the artist uses alchemical processes to not only visualize, but actualize, the perpetually unsettled state of our world. After being completely hidden by overpainting, compositions drawn from folklore, science fiction, and metaphysics gradually eat their way back to visibility over time, then continue to shift even after their re-emergence as “ghostly likeness[es].” The paintings’ shimmering, iridescent surfaces—another effect of the underlying chemical reaction—ensure that, even in the moment, the works are perceived to be in flux and independent of Breitenbach’s influence, mirroring the reality of both nature and our eternally impoverished attempts to represent it. [More]

RELIGIOUS ART | NEWS OF WEEK

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton

Martine Gutierrez's "Demons, Xochiquetzal ‘Flower Quetzal Feather,’ p95," (2018); C-print mounted on Sintra, hand-painted artist frame, 39 x 27 inches, Edition of 8

Do men get glamorous pedicures? What goddess told you that? Martine Gutierrez, a trans-Latinx photographer, is the queen of glamorous creations that subvert conventional boundaries. Inspired by a Guatemalan goddess, her self-portrait, "Demons, Xochiquetzal 'Flower Quetzal Feather,' pg 85" is in an upcoming show "Be Seen: Portrait Photography Since Stonewall" at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. We push boundaries by painting our toenails for Pride Month, but glamour makes Martine Gutierrez our artist of the week.

From Clay Tablets to Smartphones: 5,000 Years of Writing

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Cody Delistraty

he British Library’s exhibition “Writing: Making Your Mark” presents 120 objects representing 44 different systems of writing from the past 5,000 years.

LONDON — The writing’s on the wall, we’re told. Whether it was Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press in the 15th century, the invention of the typewriter 300 years later, or the emoji of today’s smartphones, the act of writing seems to be forever on the precipice of extinction, without quite falling off. “Writing has never been static,” said Adrian Edwards, a curator at the British Library who put together the exhibition “Writing: Making Your Mark,” which runs through Aug. 27. “The marks we make on the page have always changed and developed in ways in tune with our needs,” he added. [More]

Exhibition at Mucem Questions Notions of Identity And Identification Through Different Motif

ARTDAILY

Priest's mask, Galati, Moldovan Romania, 20th century, Ethnology of Europe collection, Musée national d’histoire naturelle, deposited at the Mucem © MNHN, photo Mucem.

MARSEILLE.- The exhibition “Persona. Works by Romanian artists” questions notions of identity and identification through different motifs, such as the mask. It first considers the links between ethnographic heritage and rites of folklore and mythology, before proposing a broad critical examination of national, cultural, and ethnic affiliations. The Latin term “persona” has had an ambiguous development, from its original meaning to its current semantic applications in Latin languages, leaving the field wide open to a broad interpretation of what “person” and “character” can mean today, especially given the virtual avatars of new technologies. [More]

Updating Norman Rockwell’s ‘Four Freedoms’ for a Modern, Diverse America

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Fayemi Shakur

“Freedom of Worship” (2018) by Hank Willis Thomas, Emily Shur, Eric Gottesman and Wyatt Gallery. Image courtesy of For Freedoms

Norman Rockwell’s “Four Freedoms” series presented an image of America intended to bolster patriotic spirit during World War II. It was, however, a selective celebration. Using Rockwell’s paintings as a starting point, Hank Willis Thomas has reimagined the illustrator’s vision by recreating scenes that include faces that reflect this country’s complexity and diversity. Mr. Thomas — whose previous projects have examined race, commerce and advertising — enlisted the photographer Emily Shur, the video artist and activist Eric Gottesman, and the photographer Wyatt Gallery to produce the work exhibited in “For Freedoms: Where Do We Go From Here?” now at the International Center of Photography Museum. [More]

Spanish Art Dealer Returns Carved Stones From a Nabatean Temple to Jordan

THE ART NEWSPAPER
By Maev Kennedy

Vine scroll frieze fragment from Period III Altar platform at Khirbet et-Tannur © Juan Orlandis Habsburgo

Stones carved with foliage which once twined around the altar of an ancient Nabatean goddess have been returned to Jordan, after an Oxford academic helped a Spanish art dealer to identify them as missing fragments from a temple excavated more than 80 years ago. The three stones were instantly recognised by Judith McKenzie, an expert on Nabatean history and culture, as once forming part of Khirbet et-Tannur, a Nabatean temple dating back more than 2,000 years. The site is famous for the altars of two fertility images known as the Fish Goddess, which one of the stones joins, and the Vegetation Goddess which now stands in the entrance of the Jordan Museum in Amman. [More]

Art World Steven Spielberg Is Planning a Film Shoot Six Miles From Stonehenge—But Conservationists Are Worried About Damaging the Site

ARTNET NEWS
By Javier Pes

Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, is the most architecturally sophisticated prehistoric stone circle in the world. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

A World War I epic produced by Steven Spielberg that filmmakers hope to shoot just six miles away from Stonehenge is meeting resistance from conservationists. Producers of the film, titled 1917 and directed by Sam Mendes, have asked to shoot for several weeks on Salisbury Plain, which archaeologists say could damage prehistoric sites that await discovery. Details of the movie are under wraps, but planning documents reveal that the shoot will involve a cast and crew of hundreds and a large-scale set built on land owned by the Ministry of Defence, which has given the production its blessing. Although Stonehenge is miles away, archaeologists say the site must be properly checked before building begins. David Dawson, the director of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, which has raised concerns about the film set, tells artnet News that he was surprised to read a headline in the Daily Mail about a “battle” raging over Stonehenge. [More]