Barry Schwabsky

Art Critic

Barry Schwabsky is the art critic of The Nation.

When Downtown Was Up

When Downtown Was Up When Downtown Was Up

A new exhibition on New York’s artist-run galleries reminds us of a vibrant but now distant past.

Mar 16, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Picabia’s Monsters

Picabia’s Monsters Picabia’s Monsters

Even at his most iconoclastic, the French avant-gardist sought to paint life.

Feb 23, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Kerry James Marshall’s Enigmatic Authority

Kerry James Marshall’s Enigmatic Authority Kerry James Marshall’s Enigmatic Authority

It seems a mistake to call him a realist in any but the loosest sense.

Jan 18, 2017 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Ellen Cantor’s Perpetual Revisions

Ellen Cantor’s Perpetual Revisions Ellen Cantor’s Perpetual Revisions

The artist’s final film tested her belief that love could be stronger than the will to power.

Dec 20, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

The Brilliance of Lines

The Brilliance of Lines The Brilliance of Lines

Agnes Martin at the Guggenheim and Carmen Herrera at the Whitney.

Oct 26, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Seeing David Hammons

Seeing David Hammons Seeing David Hammons

Given that the artist is such a spectral presence, how can his multifarious oeuvre be summed up in a single retrospective survey?

Sep 21, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Thomas Struth’s Post-Internet Art

Thomas Struth’s Post-Internet Art Thomas Struth’s Post-Internet Art

His pictures generate a perceptual confusion that might best represent where we stand with technology today.

Aug 23, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Nicole Eisenman’s Path to Genius

Nicole Eisenman’s Path to Genius Nicole Eisenman’s Path to Genius

In the early 2000s, the painter rediscovered a strain of modernism that doesn’t aspire to purity or certainty, but rather is willing to remain, as de Kooning once put it, “wrapped ...

Jul 14, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

The Chameleon Painter

The Chameleon Painter The Chameleon Painter

Even in his most pared-down paintings, Philip Guston was digging for something new.

Jun 1, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Letters Icon

Letters From the June 6-13, 2016, Issue Letters From the June 6-13, 2016, Issue

The article, unfinished…

May 19, 2016 / Our Readers and Barry Schwabsky

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