Philip Guston’s Peculiar History Lesson Philip Guston’s Peculiar History Lesson
On the painter’s politics of self-questioning.
Apr 12, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky
Why Do We Believe in Photographs? Why Do We Believe in Photographs?
David Levi Strauss’s new book looks at the ancient roots of photography to understand how the medium became so distorted in the present.
Apr 9, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Will Fenstermaker
The Triumph of ‘Céline and Julie Go Boating’ The Triumph of ‘Céline and Julie Go Boating’
Why Jacques Rivette’s 1974 film of female friendship and surrealism remains a masterpiece.
Apr 7, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Kristen Yoonsoo Kim
Songs of Hope and Isolation Songs of Hope and Isolation
Arlo Parks’s consoling pop music is tailor-made for our fraught and lonely moment.
Apr 7, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Julyssa Lopez
Are We Living in an Age of Strongmen? Are We Living in an Age of Strongmen?
A new book by Ruth Ben-Ghiat discusses the past and present challenges posed by authoritarianism, but misses the social and economic conditions in which it arises.
Apr 6, 2021 / Books & the Arts / David A. Bell
Gogol’s Bullshit Jobs Gogol’s Bullshit Jobs
His biting satires of Russian bureaucracy examined the random cruelty and arbitrary hierarchy of an empire in crisis.
Apr 5, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Jennifer Wilson
The Age of Care The Age of Care
A new history by Gabriel Winant examines how an economy of care—and with it a new working class—emerged out of deindustrialization.
Apr 5, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Nelson Lichtenstein
Leonora Carrington’s Irreverent Dreamscapes Leonora Carrington’s Irreverent Dreamscapes
The surrealist painter’s only novel, The Hearing Trumpet, is a wily, epicurean, and hilariously scattershot exploration of nature, religion, myth, and more.
Apr 1, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Zachary Fine
The Places John Lurie Can Take You The Places John Lurie Can Take You
A cult musician, actor, and director returns with a television show that’s nominally about painting but is in reality a creative and spiritual journey.
Mar 31, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Vikram Murthi
Pharoah Sanders’s Grand Return Pharoah Sanders’s Grand Return
A new collaboration with electronic producer Floating Points has led to a modern-day masterpiece for the jazz master.
Mar 30, 2021 / Books & the Arts / Marcus J. Moore