Daily Newsletter
Aruna D’Souza discusses the iconic monument as a tool for political expression, and Ed Simon explores the allure and anxiety of the Hudson River School.
This Fourth of July weekend, the focus is on essentials: water, sunscreen, and art. Amid the U.S. 250th anniversary celebrations, critic Aruna D’Souza provides an insightful art history of the Statue of Liberty. She explains how artists like Faith Ringgold and Claes Oldenburg have used the monument for protest and creative expression—especially relevant as Trump attempts to suppress such expressions.
Today’s edition also features Ed Simon’s examination of the myths and ideals within the works of the Hudson River School painters, who are considered quintessential American artists. Two centuries later, these paintings still offer lessons on settler colonial fantasies and the wonders of the natural world.
Additionally, there’s a look at the newly reinstalled Art of the Americas galleries at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, art fundraisers for Venezuela, and our cherished community columns.
—Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor
What Does the Statue of Liberty Stand For?
Last July, Amy Sherald canceled the National Portrait Gallery stop of her solo exhibition American Sublime over concerns that the Smithsonian Institution attempted to censor her painting of a Black trans woman, Arewà Basit, depicted as the Statue of Liberty.
Artists like Sherald, Marta Minujín, and Faith Ringgold remind us that the monument is far from a neutral representation of so-called American values. | Aruna D’Souza
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News
- A Mohawk artist’s bust of George Washington, a matrilineal home altar, and a Dunkin’ cup are among the 400 items featured in a new major reinstallation in the Art of the Americas Wing at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.
- Art Movements: NYC’s Swiss Institute relocates to the Bowery, Raymond Pettibon and Abdelkader Benchamma collaborate on a massive mural, Seattle Art Museum welcomes a new chief curator, and more.
- Art sales, including paintings, prints, photographs, artist books, and zines, are raising funds for urgent aid efforts in Venezuela.
- After 11 years in operation, the contemporary art gallery Lyles & King has announced its closure.
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Opinion
- Essential Reading: James Turrell in Denmark, a new album by Raven Chacon, a Black radical history of the Declaration of Independence, World Cup songs through the years, and more.
As a newcomer to Steve DiBenedetto’s work, I am very impressed. Mr. Yau’s remarks about “indecipherable, mystical diagrams, maps of forgotten kingdoms” truly resonate.
—Charles Pompilius on “Steve DiBenedetto’s Cosmic Sense of the Absurd”
From the Archive
Opportunities This Month
Explore residencies, fellowships, grants, and open calls from the Paul & Daisy Soros Foundation, Ucross, AICA International, and more in our monthly list of opportunities for artists, writers, and art professionals.
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