African Cosmos: Stellar Arts will be on view at the Newark Museum from February 27 through August 11,  2013. It is the first major exhibition exploring the historical legacy of African cultural astronomy and its intersection with both traditional and contemporary African arts. Presenting more than 70 outstanding works of art from throughout the continent, […]

Goethe describes duende as “a mysterious power that all may feel and no philosophy can explain,” and Lorca calls it “in sum, the spirit of the earth.” It’s that ineffable force between human and art—whether on the canvas, in the rhythm of a guitar, in the motion of a dance, or in the words of […]

By Meakin Armstrong The show trial of 2012: three women are locked in a glass booth like Adolf Eichmann. Prosecution witnesses accuse them of “devilish” dancing. Bearded priests bemoan their “sin against God.” Reporters say “pussy” on national TV. Condemnations ring out around the world. There is a torrent of speeches. And support from Madonna […]

“That’s great!” she said. “What’s a chapbook?” This reaction did not surprise me. Although they’ve been around in various forms since the 16thcentury, chapbooks have always been slightly removed from mainstream literary culture. Originally referring to any small booklet— from political pamphlets to collections of song lyrics— chapbooks were tremendously popular, especially in England, until […]

I don’t accept The Muse, regardless of how hard she tries to convince me of her existence. And I can tell you it ain’t Perseus that dispatches so swiftly of Medusa, as the Greeks would have you believe. It is me, on a midnight weekday usually, not long before the end of the year, when […]

I’m writing this a week after Todd Akin claimed that pregnancy in the case of rape was rare because “if it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” I’m writing days after Arizona wrote into a law that pregnancy begins two weeks before conception in an […]

How about a hand for the hands-off art movement or how it is or was or continues to be done as Tom Wolfe.  Wolfe, who in his new novel, Back to Blood, set in a sun drenched city by the sea ties in an artist whose work is in hot demand; soon to be purchased by track-shoe-wearing billionaires writing […]

Intangible Transportations examines the way digital media moves us beyond our physical world in relation to the common desire for new experiences. James Feraciour‘s QR code inspired pieces anchor the exhibit by serving as a symbol of digital transportation to the homelands of Yukiko Tsushima, Sandra Mack-Valencia and Nurieh Mozaffari. However, what we find upon […]

People are always leaving things in the entryway of my apartment building. Many New York City residents can relate and some of us consider ourselves to be the lucky recipients of a ‘hallway benefactor.’ One day a couple of years ago, I found an unused children’s coloring book, Art Masterpieces, on the radiator. My immediate […]

By Álvaro Luis Lima I have yet to meet anyone who enjoys having ID pictures taken. Should one smile at the camera or go for a serious look at the risk of having your picture compared to a mug shot? In some areas of the world, these pictures are named after their size, a mere […]