Big Crisis, Small Gestures

Große Krise, kleine Gesten

The article reviews the second edition of the Klima Biennale Wien, which opened in early April in Vienna. It notes that while the biennale aims to address the urgent triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, its execution falls short. The exhibition features symbolic works such as a beached whale, a broken boat, and a compostable SUV sculpture, but these motifs feel repetitive and lack the necessary impact. The author contrasts these with historical precedents like Menashe Kadishman's 1978 Venice Biennale installation and Joseph Beuys' "7000 Eichen" (1982), arguing that the themes of nature and sustainability are not new, only the urgency has intensified.

Jan Staller Photographs the Nuts and Bolts of Manhattan's Urban Symphony

Photographer Jan Staller has released a new book titled "Manhattan Project," featuring photographs of construction materials—pipes, beams, rebar, and drill bits—suspended midair against white skies. The book marks a shift from his earlier moody night photography to a hard-edged focus on utilitarian objects, transforming New York City's construction sites into otherworldly, readymade-like visions. The book includes a foreword by Neil deGrasse Tyson and an essay by curator Brett Littman, with images spanning locations across the Upper West Side.

Alice Tippit’s Mischievous Erotics

Alice Tippit's solo exhibition "Rose Obsolete" at the DePaul Art Museum in Chicago features 23 small oil paintings, three murals, a neon sign, word drawings, and a series of 46 notepad drawings. The works toggle between multiple interpretations—snakes and smiles, blouses and pears, curtains and bodies—inviting viewers to see shifting forms like a psychological test. Tippit, born in 1975 near Kansas City and based in Chicago since 2006, paints each oil work in a single day without tape, achieving sharp edges and subtle layering that reward close looking.

Mark Milroy Sees, Remembers, and Imagines at Once

Artist Mark Milroy, an observational painter in his mid-50s who gained a following during the pandemic through Instagram and online shows at Nancy Margolis Gallery, is now holding his debut New York exhibition, "Jumbo," at JJ Murphy gallery through May 16. The show features 18 oil paintings and 12 colored pencil drawings, with subjects ranging from still lifes and portraits to a titular painting referencing the famous P.T. Barnum elephant killed in Milroy's hometown of St. Thomas, Ontario, in 1885. Milroy's work blends personal memory, art historical insight, and a deliberate gaze, drawing influences from Cedric Morris and 15th-century Florentine painting.

Queer Saints, Big Egos

Queere Heilige, große Egos

Andrew Durbin's new biography examines the intertwined lives of artists Peter Hujar and Paul Thek, focusing on their art, desire, and self-staging. The review notes that while the book covers their creative circles—including figures like David Wojnarowicz, Divine, John Waters, and Susan Sontag—it loses sight of the urgent political and social context that animated their work, particularly the AIDS crisis and Reagan-era repression.

When the story has already been told -- ‘Gordon Parks: The South in Color’ at Jackson Fine Art

Gordon Parks: The South in Color, curated by Dawoud Bey, is on view at Jackson Fine Art in Atlanta through June 13. The exhibition celebrates the 20th anniversary of The Gordon Parks Foundation and the 70th anniversary of Parks’ 1956 Life magazine feature on segregation in the South. The show presents a broader selection of Parks’ photographs than the original magazine spread, including iconic works like In-Home Barbershop, Shady Grove, Alabama, 1956. The article, written by a photographer and writer for ArtsATL, reflects on the experience of seeing Parks’ work in person and contrasts the gallery presentation with the editorial framing of the Life feature.

Art for Our Age of Chaos

The article reviews two major New York exhibitions opening in 2026: the Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, featuring over fifty artists, and "New Humans: Memories of the Future" at the newly expanded New Museum, with over a hundred artists. Both shows are described as enormous and defiant, responding to a distracted public and financial pressures. The reviewer notes that both exhibitions juxtapose large-scale immersive works with tiny, intimate pieces, and finds the Whitney Biennial lacking urgency, while preferring the New Museum's historical narrative about technology and modernity.

Manet Under the Magnifying Glass

Manet à la loupe

A new documentary film titled 'Le Monde dans un tableau : les lampes de Manet' offers a detailed investigation into Édouard Manet's final major painting, 'Un bar aux Folies Bergère'. The film features an eclectic mix of interviewees, from a Folies Bergère lighting technician to a Shintō monk and a Tokyo print editor, weaving together art history and broader historical context around the iconic work.

The Wonderful World that Almost Was by Andrew Durbin review – the queer artists who shaped New York cool

Andrew Durbin's new book, 'The Wonderful World that Almost Was,' is a double biography of painter and sculptor Paul Thek and photographer Peter Hujar. It chronicles their artistic maturation, their open and unapologetic gay relationship, and their central role in defining the 'cool' of the New York creative scene from the 1950s to the mid-1970s, before their deaths from AIDS.

Is Art Good for Your Health?

A new book titled 'Art Cure' by scientist Daisy Fancourt argues that engaging with the arts has significant, measurable benefits for both mental and physical health. The author, a professor of psychobiology and epidemiology, compiles extensive research to claim arts experiences can prevent suicides, help manage epidemics, increase life expectancy, reduce depression, aid trauma recovery, enhance neuroplasticity, and even encourage healthier eating habits.