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    In Milwaukee, Four Artists Unravel Trauma to Move Toward Collective Wellness

    Swoon, “Medea” (2017), wood, hand cut paper, laser cut paper, linoleum block print on paper, acrylic gouache, cardboard, lighting elements

    In Milwaukee, Four Artists Unravel Trauma to Move Toward Collective Wellness

    August 21, 2025

    ArtColossalSocial Issues

    Grace Ebert

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    In a world riddled with injustice and predicated on privilege for the few at the expense of the many, what does it mean to be well? An exhibition opening Friday at the Haggerty Museum of Art in Milwaukee considers the effects of concealed trauma and the inextricable ties between personal health and collective wellness.

    No One Knows All It Takes invites four artists—Bryana Bibbs, Raoul Deal, Maria Gaspar, and Swoon (previously)—who utilize art-making to grapple with complex emotions, imagine solutions to widespread problems, and share their stories and those of others. The timely exhibition, curated by Colossal, brings forth pressing issues like addiction, incarceration, immigration, and a lack of support for caregivers, conveyed through visually arresting works across media.

    Bryana Bibbs, “1.25.24-1.26.24” (2024), handwoven Papa George hospital blanket, Papa George playing cards, gifted pants, 11.5 x 14.5 inches

    No One Knows All It Takes opens with portraits by Deal, intimate renderings made through hours of conversations with the subjects. Paired with his wooden sculptures, the elaborate carvings explore the central role of immigration in American history and culture. Bibbs’ weavings and monotype prints—created while she cared for her dying grandparents with many of their belongings— follow as a sort of ghostly archive of what remains after death.

    Swoon’s “Medea” fills the fourth gallery space, a deeply personal installation that the artist made, in part, to confront her mother’s lifelong struggle with addiction and mental illness. An exposed tarantula mother, portraits of Swoon’s own family, wooden windows, and audio elements layer personal artifacts with recurring motifs about intergenerational trauma.

    The Wisconsin iteration of Gaspar’s Disappearance Jail series tucks into a smaller, more confined space at the end of the exhibition. Featuring images of 113 prisons, jails, and juvenile and immigrant detention facilities throughout the state, the project invites visitors to use hole punches to literally remove and obscure the carceral spaces. Because incarceration has historically been the only manner in which society addresses harm and trauma, Gaspar’s work tasks each person with the abolitionist exercise of imagining other possibilities.

    Raoul Deal, “Trenzas” (2023), woodcut with deckled edge, 28 x 42 inches

    The title, No One Knows All It Takes, came from a conversation with Bibbs, in which she described the emotional, mental, and physical toll of caring for her grandparents in their final months. Referencing the intersecting and multilayered effects of trauma, the phrase is also multivalent: it invokes the immense amount of energy needed to function while ill, the wide-reaching impacts of trauma on an individual’s life, and the social, political, and cultural costs of unaddressed issues.

    No One Knows All It Takes will be on view from August 22 to December 20. The Haggerty Museum of Art is located at Marquette University in Milwaukee.

    Maria Gaspar, Disappearance Jail series (detail), (2021-ongoing), hundreds of perforated archival Inkjet prints on rice paper, 5 x 7 inches each

    Raoul Deal, “Immigration Series #8” (2013), woodcut, 40 x 26 1/4 inches

    Swoon, “Medea” (2017), wood, hand cut paper, laser cut paper, linoleum block print on paper, acrylic gouache, cardboard, lighting elements

    Bryana Bibbs, “12.27.23” (2023), handwoven Papa George casino playing cards, Papa George hospital blanket, 14 x 9.25 inches

    Bryana Bibbs, “8.26.24” (2024), handwoven Papa George athletic tee, Papa George gifted pajama pants, Mema decor flowers, 25 x 9 inches

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    Xanthe Summers Weaves Themes of Labor and Visibility in Bold Ceramic Vessels

    “The Weary Weaver” (2024), glazed stoneware, 39.4 x 28.4 x 28.4 incjes. Photo by Southern Guild and Hayden Phipps. All images courtesy of Xanthe Summers, shared with permission

    Xanthe Summers Weaves Themes of Labor and Visibility in Bold Ceramic Vessels

    August 7, 2025

    ArtCraftSocial Issues

    Kate Mothes

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    “Clay is an incredible medium to hold narrative,” says Xanthe Summers, who turns to the medium as a way to explore themes around domesticity, craft, and so-called “women’s work” like cleaning, mending, working with textiles, and caregiving. When it comes to clay, she says, “I think mostly I am invigorated by its ability to hold—to hold water, to hold function, to give shape, to carry stories, and to carry meaning.”

    Currently based in London, Summers grew up in Zimbabwe, where she observed inequities within the social structure that mirror many places around the world, especially in terms of gendered labor within the domestic sphere that often goes largely unseen and unacknowledged.

    “Common Threads” (2025), glazed stoneware, 23.6 x 21.7 x 21.7 inches

    She explains that “many homes have cleaners and gardeners who exist within this ‘invisible’ framework: caring for children, cooking their meals, and sometimes traveling for hours—and their work is underpaid, undervalued, and considered unskilled.”

    Summers taps into ceramics, especially the archetypal vessel motif, to join the ever-evolving continuum of the medium. Throughout millennia and across myriad distinct cultures, the earthen material has found endless applications in the home, industry, and art.

    “Clay has the unique ability to cross the boundaries between functionality, art, craft, class, and culture, and because of this, it is a vital medium to hold stories about humankind,” she says. “I understand clay to be an archive for the stories of humans.”

    The vessels often take on figurative proportions, standing tall on plinths and exhibiting saturated hues, bold patterns, and tactile textures. Some of the pieces crumple, especially toward the top, as if hit with something or caving under some invisible weight.

    Installation view at Southern Guild, Cape Town. Photo courtesy of Southern Guild

    The artist’s vessels tread the boundary between form and function and delve into another craft often associated with women’s labor: weaving. She describes how everything from the sheets we sleep on to the carpets we tread across to the clothes on our back can be “extrapolated to speak more broadly about domesticity, women’s work, and racialized spaces in Zimbabwe and the Global South.” She adds:

    Weaving can be used as a wider metaphor for social cohesion—or lack thereof. This predicament is significant in Zimbabwe but is apparent the world over, where women’s work is undervalued.

    Next year, Summers embarks on a trip to Guadalajara, Mexico, for a residency at Ceramica Suro, where she will learn from local ceramic artists, glassblowers, and weavers. And this October, you’ll be able to see her work at London’s 1-54, a fair dedicated to contemporary African art, which runs from October 16 to 19. Explore more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

    “Woven Tales Stand Tall” (2022). Photo by Deniz Guzel

    Detail of “Woven Tales Stand Tall.” Photo by Deniz Guzel

    “By the Pricking of My Thumbs” (2025), glazed stoneware, 39.4 x 27.6 x 27.8 inches. Photo by Southern Guild and Hayden Phipps

    “Working Class Femininity” (2023), glazed stoneware, 41 x 19.8 x 19.8 inches. Photo by Deniz Guzel

    “Weaver’s Woe” (2024,), glazed stoneware, 22.4 x 19.7 x 19.7 inches. Photo by Deniz Guzel

    “Of Woof and Woe” (2024), glazed stoneware, 43.3 x 25.3 x 25.3 inches. Photo by Southern Guild and Hayden Phipps

    Xanthe Summers in her studio

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    Xanthe Somers Weaves Themes of Labor and Visibility in Bold Ceramic Vessels

    “The Weary Weaver” (2024), glazed stoneware, 39.4 x 28.4 x 28.4 incjes. Photo by Southern Guild and Hayden Phipps. All images courtesy of Xanthe Summers, shared with permission

    Xanthe Somers Weaves Themes of Labor and Visibility in Bold Ceramic Vessels

    August 7, 2025

    ArtCraftSocial Issues

    Kate Mothes

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    “Clay is an incredible medium to hold narrative,” says Xanthe Somers, who turns to the medium as a way to explore themes around domesticity, craft, and so-called “women’s work” like cleaning, mending, working with textiles, and caregiving. When it comes to clay, she says, “I think mostly I am invigorated by its ability to hold—to hold water, to hold function, to give shape, to carry stories, and to carry meaning.”

    Currently based in London, Somers grew up in Zimbabwe, where she observed inequities within the social structure that mirror many places around the world, especially in terms of gendered labor within the domestic sphere that often goes largely unseen and unacknowledged.

    “Common Threads” (2025), glazed stoneware, 23.6 x 21.7 x 21.7 inches

    She explains that “many homes have cleaners and gardeners who exist within this ‘invisible’ framework: caring for children, cooking their meals, and sometimes traveling for hours—and their work is underpaid, undervalued, and considered unskilled.”

    Somers taps into ceramics, especially the archetypal vessel motif, to join the ever-evolving continuum of the medium. Throughout millennia and across myriad distinct cultures, the earthen material has found endless applications in the home, industry, and art.

    “Clay has the unique ability to cross the boundaries between functionality, art, craft, class, and culture, and because of this, it is a vital medium to hold stories about humankind,” she says. “I understand clay to be an archive for the stories of humans.”

    The vessels often take on figurative proportions, standing tall on plinths and exhibiting saturated hues, bold patterns, and tactile textures. Some of the pieces crumple, especially toward the top, as if hit with something or caving under some invisible weight.

    Installation view at Southern Guild, Cape Town. Photo courtesy of Southern Guild

    The artist’s vessels tread the boundary between form and function and delve into another craft often associated with women’s labor: weaving. She describes how everything from the sheets we sleep on to the carpets we tread across to the clothes on our back can be “extrapolated to speak more broadly about domesticity, women’s work, and racialized spaces in Zimbabwe and the Global South.” She adds:

    Weaving can be used as a wider metaphor for social cohesion—or lack thereof. This predicament is significant in Zimbabwe but is apparent the world over, where women’s work is undervalued.

    Next year, Somers embarks on a trip to Guadalajara, Mexico, for a residency at Ceramica Suro, where she will learn from local ceramic artists, glassblowers, and weavers. And this October, you’ll be able to see her work at London’s 1-54, a fair dedicated to contemporary African art, which runs from October 16 to 19. Explore more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

    “Woven Tales Stand Tall” (2022). Photo by Deniz Guzel

    Detail of “Woven Tales Stand Tall.” Photo by Deniz Guzel

    “By the Pricking of My Thumbs” (2025), glazed stoneware, 39.4 x 27.6 x 27.8 inches. Photo by Southern Guild and Hayden Phipps

    “Working Class Femininity” (2023), glazed stoneware, 41 x 19.8 x 19.8 inches. Photo by Deniz Guzel

    “Weaver’s Woe” (2024,), glazed stoneware, 22.4 x 19.7 x 19.7 inches. Photo by Deniz Guzel

    “Of Woof and Woe” (2024), glazed stoneware, 43.3 x 25.3 x 25.3 inches. Photo by Southern Guild and Hayden Phipps

    Xanthe Summers in her studio

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    More than 70 Iconic Works by Kerry James Marshall Shape a Major Survey in the U.K.

    “Untitled” (2009), acrylic on PVC panel, 155.3 x 185.1 centimeters. Yale University Art Gallery, Purchased with the Janet and Simeon Braguin Fund and a gift from Jacqueline L. Bradley, B.A. 1979. © Kerry James Marshall. ‘Kerry James Marshall: The Histories’ is organized by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in collaboration with the Kunsthaus Zürich and the Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris. All images courtesy of the Royal Academy of Arts, shared with permission

    More than 70 Iconic Works by Kerry James Marshall Shape a Major Survey in the U.K.

    July 31, 2025

    ArtSocial Issues

    Kate Mothes

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    Drawing upon art historical sources, contemporary culture, and comics, Kerry James Marshall vibrant paintings boldly challenge the past. Through often monumental portraits of Black figures, the Chicago-based artist (previously) delves into themes of race, identity, legacy, and representation to bridge history and the present and imagine a better future.

    In the largest survey of the artist’s work ever presented outside of the U.S., the Royal Academy of Arts hosts Kerry James Marshall: The Histories. Organized in collaboration with Kunsthaus Zurich and the Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris, the exhibition opens next month and features more than 70 works that span the artist’s career thus far. The show also includes a monumental oil painting commissioned for the Chicago Public Library titled “Knowledge and Wonder,” which is on loan for the first time.

    “School of Beauty, School of Culture” (2012), acrylic and glitter on unstretched canvas, 274.3 x 401.3 centimeters. Collection of the Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama; Museum purchase with funds provided by Elizabeth (Bibby) Smith, the Collectors Circle for Contemporary Art, Jane Comer, the Sankofa Society, and general acquisition funds, 2012.57. Photo by Sean Pathasema. © Kerry James Marshall. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

    The Histories is organized into 11 groups of works made between 1980 and the present, inviting viewers through a thematic and stylistic journey. The exhibition opens with “The Academy,” painted in 2012. A male model in a life drawing class stands in front of a patterned backdrop and looks directly at the viewer, giving the iconic raised fist of the Black Power movement.

    Marshall has long been guided by his early encounters with European art in museums and books, where he recognized a stark lack of Black figures. By the 1980s, he focused on the idea of visibility, creating the seminal piece “A Portrait of the Artist as a Shadow of His Former Self,” which emphasizes his interest in confronting stereotypes.

    Typically working in series or cycles, Marshall often touches upon epochal social and political paradigms of the past, like slavery and the Middle Passage, Black Power and the Civil Rights movement, and the historical omission of people of color from Western painting traditions. His works often highlight daily African American experience and elevate everyday activities and interactions, like gathering at the barber shop, making a painting, relaxing at the park, or hanging out on the porch. Marshall posits that the past can be a tool with which to hew the future.

    Kerry James Marshall: The Histories opens on September 20 and continues through January 18 in London. Plan your visit on the RA’s website.

    “The Academy” (2012), acrylic on PVC, 182.9 x 154.9 centimeters. Collection of Dr. Daniel S. Berger, © Kerry James Marshall. Image courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

    “Knowledge and Wonder” (1995), oil on canvas, 294.6 x 698.5 centimeters. City of Chicago Public Art Program and the Chicago Public Library, Legler Regional Library, © Kerry James Marshall. Photo by Patrick L. Pyszka, City of Chicago

    “Vignette #13” (2008), acrylic on PVC panel, 182.9 x 152.4 centimeters. Susan Manilow Collection. © Kerry James Marshall. Image courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

    “Untitled (Policeman)” (2015), acrylic on PVC panel with plexiglass frame, 152.4 x 152.4 centimeters. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, gift of Mimi Haas in honor of Marie-Josée Kravis, 2016. © Kerry James Marshall. Photo courtesy of The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence

    “Untitled (Porch Deck)” (2014), acrylic on PVC panel, 180.3 x 149.9 centimeters. Kravis Collection, © Kerry James Marshall. Image courtesy of the artist and David Zwirner, London

    “De Style” (1993), acrylic and collage on canvas, 264.2 x 309.9 centimeters. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by Ruth and Jacob Bloom. © Kerry James Marshall. Photo: © Museum Associates/LACMA

    “Untitled (Blanket Couple)” (2014), acrylic on PVC panel, in artist’s frame, 150.2 x 242.5 centimeters. Fredriksen Family Art Collection, © Kerry James Marshall. Image courtesy of the artist and David Zwirner, London

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    Five Latinx Artists Explore Materiality, Identity, and Belonging in ‘Los Encuentros’

    Facade mural by Ozzie Juarez. Photos by Alex Marks. All images courtesy of Ballroom Marfa, shared with permission

    Five Latinx Artists Explore Materiality, Identity, and Belonging in ‘Los Encuentros’

    July 23, 2025

    ArtSocial Issues

    Kate Mothes

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    Marfa sits at the crossroads of US-90 and US-67 in the expansive Chihuahua Desert of far West Texas. About 60 miles from Mexico, U.S. Border Patrol trucks are a common sight along the roads, in addition to an unmissable, otherworldly tethered surveillance blimp that hovers near the highway between the town center and one of its most iconic installations, Elmgreen & Dragset’s “Prada Marfa.”

    As the current administration’s immigration policy has taken effect, the politics of identity and geography have again been thrust front and center—often violently. In this remote borderland, where the one-stoplight-town has been redefined by influential art world personalities for several decades in an idiosyncratic convergence of ideas and lifestyles, there is a unique opportunity to engage with themes of community, narrative, socio-economic realities, and a sense of place.

    Justin Favela

    Ballroom Marfa’s summer exhibition, Los Encuentros, gathers the work of Latinx artists Justin Favela, Ozzie Juarez, Antonio Lechuga, Narsiso Martinez, and Yvette Mayorga. The gallery describes an aim of the show, the title of which translates to “the meetings” or “the gatherings,” as “the representation of Latinx culture to confront the accessibility of art spaces, colonial art histories, the conditions of labor, and lived experience.”

    Amid daily news reports of ICE raids around the nation, the work in Los Encuentros is a timely and provocative exploration of today’s societal complexities along with being a way of “responding to the experiences of the people and places they engage with and depict,” a statement says.

    All the artists employ a wide range of materials and techniques, from Mayorga’s frosting-like, piped paint to Favela’s vibrant ruffled paper installations redolent of piñatas. Lechuga uses Mexican blankets, or cobijas, creating sewn textile collages that explore a wide range of experiences and perspectives amid the current political climate.

    Martinez continues to create intimate, candid portraits of farm workers by using produce boxes, bags, and repurposed plastic as his substrates as a reminder of the often invisible labor that goes into putting food on Americans’ tables. And Juarez has completely transformed Ballroom’s facade in to a giant painting derived from ancient Mesoamerican motifs.

    Narsiso Martinez

    Los Encuentros is curated by Texas-based Maggie Adler, who expressed delight at being able to collaborate “with artists whose practices center on allowing a broad range of community members to see themselves represented in art spaces.”

    The show continues through October 12. Find more on the gallery’s website. And during open hours, keep an eye out for Rachel Hayes’ colorful patchwork flag that flies out front.

    Ozzie Juarez

    Narsiso Martinez

    Justin Favela

    Antonio Lechuga

    Detail of a work by Antonio Lechuga

    Yvette Mayorga

    Detail of a work by Yvette Mayorga

    Antonio Lechuga

    Detail of a work by Antonio Lechuga

    Narsiso Martinez

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    Unity and Resilience Flow Through Taquen’s Gestural Compositions

    Unity and Resilience Flow Through Taquen’s Gestural Compositions

    July 10, 2025

    ArtSocial Issues

    Jackie Andres

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    In large-scale minimalist compositions, street artist Taquen covers the sides of houses, hospitals, and street barriers with reminders of strength and mutual understanding.

    Often depicting animals in motion, kinetic portraits, and expressive hands, Taquen’s expansive works exude momentum. The importance of movement reflects a central tenet of the artist’s practice, as he visits different parts of the world to work on murals.

    One of his recent excursions was made possible by The Jaunt, a residency program that creates opportunities for artists to travel to a new destination to spark inspiration and connection. In February, Taquen made the journey from his hometown of Madrid to Africa to participate in the Sahara Marathon.

    Established in 2001 to advocate for and demonstrate solidarity with the Sahrawi people, the international event takes place in close proximity to Tindouf, Algeria, a region that has been marked by the Western Sahara Conflict and humanitarian crisis for decades.

    In 1975, when Spain relinquished its colonial rule over the Western Sahara region, a power vacuum erupted between neighboring countries, leading to the Madrid Accords. This agreement heavily ignored the voices of Indigenous Sahrawi people who were forced into displacement, eventually settling into refugee camps that still reside in the Algerian desert approximately fifty years later.

    The long-standing conflict has faded in and out of headlines for decades, but the Sahara Marathon has continued to shine a light on the resilience of the Sahrawi people. “It was a project that allowed me to combine my greatest passions—art and sport—and also to contribute as much as possible to this unjust cause,” Taquen shares.

    The artist’s resulting silkscreen print demonstrates his experiences in Tindouf. Featuring two gestural hands with bold line work that subtly nods to henna, Taquen references young Sahrawi women, who play a vital role in the desert’s society. “During the marathon, for example, they were the ones who encouraged us the most,” the artist shares. “In the houses where we lived, they took care of us, their families, and so on. They are an example.”

    Arabic text lies below, alluding to a phrase that resonated with Taquen along the way. “The Sahrawi people living in the refugee camps call this place ‘the desert in the desert,’ which is meant both geographically and metaphorically. I knew I wanted to reference that in my artwork,” he says.

    Beyond the limited-edition print, Taquen also created a four-color risograph portrait combining line drawings and analog photography. And before leaving the refugee camps, the artist hosted two art workshops for children, sharing, “at the end of the day, these are boys and girls who do not speak my language, but through drawing we were able to express ourselves. It taught me a lot about their ideas and their hopes for the future.”

    The artist is currently in Sicily completing the Graniti Murales residency and has a busy year coming up including an art festival this summer and a solo exhibition in the fall. Keep up with his work on Instagram, and learn more on his website.

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    Roméo Mivekannin’s Cage-Like Sculptures of Museums Reframe the Colonial Past

    Photos by Gerret Schultz. All images courtesy of the artist and Galerie Barbara Thumm, shared with permission

    Roméo Mivekannin’s Cage-Like Sculptures of Museums Reframe the Colonial Past

    June 24, 2025

    ArtHistorySocial Issues

    Kate Mothes

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    Known for bold, chiaroscuro paintings that reimagine European art historical masterworks in his own likeness, Roméo Mivekannin is interested in the Western, colonial gaze on Africa and the power of archives to reveal underrepresented or untold stories. Born on the Ivory Coast, Mivekannin splits his time between Toulouse, France, and Cotonou, Benin. His practice interrogates visibility, appropriation, and power dynamics through direct and unflinching pieces spanning acrylic painting, installation, and sculpture.

    At Art Basel last weekend, in collaboration with Galerie Barbara Thumm and Cécile Fakhoury, Mivekannin presented a large-scale installation titled Atlas, comprising a series of metal buildings suspended from the ceiling. Modeled after institutional buildings—in this case, museums that house enthographic collections—the artist draws attention to the colonialist practices and ethical gray areas that permeate these spaces and their histories.

    Often founded upon controversial or dubiously-acquired personal collections of European urban elites, larger museums historically emphasized what was seen as “primitive” or “exotic,” exhibiting a skewed view of world cultures framed by a colonialist mindset. The British Museum, for example, was established in 1753 upon the death of Sir Hans Sloane, whose collection of more than 80,000 “natural and artificial rarities” provided the institution’s foundation. His wealth—and his collection—was amassed in part through enslaved labor on his sugar plantations in Jamaica.

    Another well-known example of problematic collections include thousands of Benin Bronzes, housed in European institutions like the British Museum and others. British forces acquired many of these elaborately decorated plaques through pillage and looting in the late 19th century. Today, some museums have agreed to repatriate the bronzes to redress this historical indignity (the British Museum is still in discussions).

    As a student of both art and architecture, Mivekannin taps into the way certain structures and built environments are designed to convey prestige and dominance. He is also currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the National Superior School of Architecture of Montpellier (ENSAM).

    In Atlas, the structures take on the form of bird cages suspended from chains. Both elements symbolize captivity, likening ethnographic collections that often include human remains to what the Atlas exhibition statement describes as “human zoos.” In this context, the cages “serve as a reminder of the historical practices that sought to control and exploit ‘the Other.’”

    Mivekannin bridges past and present in this installation, inviting viewers to walk around the museums within a space that shifts the power dynamic. The work encourages viewers “to confront uncomfortable truths about colonial legacies and their ongoing impact on our contemporary society.”

    The artist scales down the museums’ palatial details to a diminutive size, displayed low, taking into consideration a kind of meta experience of the exhibition itself. In Mivekannin’s portrayal, the structures are both the cages and the caged.

    A show of the artist’s paintings, Black Mirror, is currently on view at Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia, Italy, through July 27. See more on the artist’s Instagram.

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    ‘The War of Art’ Charts the Catalyzing History of Artists’ Protests in the U.S.

    Agnes Denes, “Wheatfield—a Confrontation” (1982). Image courtesy of the Public Art Fund, New York. Photo by John McGrail. All images courtesy of Lauren O’Neill Butler, shared with permission

    ‘The War of Art’ Charts the Catalyzing History of Artists’ Protests in the U.S.

    June 17, 2025

    ArtBooksSocial Issues

    Grace Ebert

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    In May of 1982, Budapest-born artist Agnes Denes congregated with a small group of volunteers at Lower Manhattan’s Battery Park Landfill. They planted wheat berries onto the plot of land, which, once grown, created a lush field of wispy stalks juxtaposed against the city’s skyline. Visually striking, the ecological artwork was in part a protest against exploitation, greed, and the destruction of people and the environment. The paltry $158 spent on seeds stood in stark contrast to the $4.5 billion evaluation of the land itself.

    Denes’ “Wheatfield—a Confrontation” is one of ten case studies presented in Lauren O’Neill-Butler’s timely new book. Released on the heels of this weekend’s mass mobilization against the Trump administration, The War of Art: A History of Artists’ Protest in America comes at a moment when many of us are considering what tools we have to create the world we want to live in. Artists have long grappled with this question, O’Neill Butler reminds us, as many have even fused their aesthetic inclinations with their desires for justice.

    “Lie-in” protest of the Vietnam War in Central Park (November 14, 1969). Photo by J. Spencer Jones

    The War of Art is in the lineage of books like Nicolas Lampert’s A People’s Art History of the United States, which chronicles grassroots approaches to art and social change across 250 years. For her text, O’Neill-Butler shortens the timeline and begins with the 1960s. Early projects include Benny Andrews’ co-founding of the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition, or BECC, and the creation of a prison arts program at the Manhattan House of Detention following the Attica riot.

    O’Neill-Butler is wary of dictating exactly what activist art is, instead leaving the genre open-ended. The defining characteristics she does offer are that these types of projects are “always a means to an end” and tend to collapse the already frail boundary between politics and art. Many of her case studies utilize art to gain attention from the media and, therefore, the public, a combination that often proves more efficacious than either protest or artistic presentation alone.

    For example, David Wojnarowicz’s work to end the AIDS pandemic with ACT UP and Nan Goldin’s Prescription Addiction Intervention Now (P.A.I.N.) were both movements that utilized spectacular tactics like the “die-in,” a public performance that originated during the Vietnam War. These actions involve protestors lying on the ground or floor, and in the case of Goldin’s work, took place in institutions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in objection to the Sackler family’s wing.

    Wojnarowicz is also famous for his now-iconic jean jacket saying, “If I die of AIDS—forget burial—just drop my body on the steps of the F.D.A.,” an image of which has widely circulated and come to symbolize the movement. These projects aren’t simply art created with activist concerns but rather inextricable from the positions they argue for.

    Still from Chris McKim’s documentary ‘Wojnarowicz’ (2020)

    Of course, it’s important to acknowledge that the problems these artists rail against—a lack of affordable housing, public health crises, discrimination in the art world, to name a few—are ongoing, and like most socially engaged projects, the examples the book includes are not without criticism.

    In 1993, seven African-American artists established Project Row Houses in Houston’s historic Third Ward by renovating a block of derelict shotgun houses and creating a welcoming gathering space in an underinvested neighborhood. Although Project Row Houses did revitalize the area through various artist-driven efforts like the Drive-By exhibition shown below, today, gentrification and the effects of the climate crisis continue to displace the residents whom organizers sought to serve.

    O’Neill-Butler doesn’t suggest that artists should be tasked with identifying and implementing solutions to the world’s ills and notes that Houston’s Third Ward would likely have gentrified even without artist intervention and subsequent attention. She does, however, offer a nuanced consideration of each project’s successes and struggles and acknowledges the limits of endeavors like those she outlines. Art provides what the book refers to as “a crack in the wall,” a rupture in the flimsy veneer of power and oppression that, once exposed, threatens their foundational structures.

    The War of Art is out today from Verso. Find your copy in the Colossal Shop.

    Benny Andrews giving a drawing demonstration to students at Alabama State University in Montgomery (October 10, 1975). Image courtesy of the Andrews-Humphrey Family Foundation

    Installing “Home Free” by Israel McCloud for the ‘Drive-By’ exhibition at Project Row Houses (1994). Image courtesy of Project Row Houses

    Aerial view of Project Row Houses (2015). Photo by Peter Molick, courtesy of Project Row Houses

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