The Making of a Maintenance Artist

A new documentary titled "Maintenance Artist" (2025) traces the decades-long practice of Mierle Laderman Ukeles, a pioneering artist who focused on marginal, unpaid, and feminine labor. The film covers her career from her 1969 "CARE" manifesto, through her role as artist-in-residence at the New York City Department of Sanitation, to her first retrospective at the Queens Museum in 2017. It highlights her critique of art-world gender biases and her efforts to recognize discounted labor in all fields.

In Venice, famous street artist JR completely wraps a historic palazzo with an installation

A Venezia il famoso street artist JR avvolge completamente un palazzo storico con un’installazione

Street artist JR has wrapped the historic Palazzo Ca' da Mosto in Venice—now the Venice Venice Hotel—with a large-scale installation timed to the 61st Venice Biennale. The project, titled "Il Gesto," reinterprets Paolo Veronese's 1563 masterpiece "The Wedding at Cana" as a contemporary fresco featuring 176 people from the Refettorio Paris community kitchen. Inside the palazzo, an immersive installation combines photographic portraits, reflective surfaces, and audio recordings to create a layered narrative. A monumental tapestry woven by Giovanni Bonotto and the Fondazione Bonotto, made from recycled plastic, wool, cotton, and washi paper, extends the work into a durable, contemplative form.

"Dispossessions in the Americas" Confronts the Colonialism That Invades All Territory

The article reviews "Dispossessions in the Americas," a group exhibition at Wrightwood 659 in Chicago curated by Jonathan D. Katz and Eduardo Carrera. Featuring works from 1960 to 2025, the show examines colonial legacies in the Americas, focusing on the forced dispossession of land, culture, and language from indigenous, Afro-descendant, queer, and trans communities. The review critically questions how a polished, architecturally prestigious venue can coherently display art about socially voiceless communities without falling into voyeurism or fetishization of pain.