Hyperallergic editor-in-chief Hakim Bishara reflects on skipping the New York art fairs and a record-breaking $181 million Jackson Pollock sale at Christie's, instead focusing on a profile of pioneering performance artist Linda Montano (now 84) who welcomed a contributor in a chicken costume, and Gabrielle Goliath's exhibition "Elegy" which was banned from South Africa's Venice pavilion by the culture minister but is now on view in a church. The newsletter also announces Hyperallergic's New York Press Club journalism award for Noah Fischer's comic "A Prospect Heights Ghost Story," supported by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, and rounds up other art news including a $1 billion Christie's sale, a Billie Holiday monument commission, and public sculptures by Sarah Lucas, Roberto Lugo, and Kyle Goen.
The piece matters because it offers an editor's personal perspective on art-world priorities, questioning the hype around blockbuster auctions and fairs while elevating lesser-known but culturally significant artists and exhibitions. It also highlights ongoing tensions between art and politics—such as the censorship of Goliath's work in Venice—and underscores the role of independent journalism in covering housing justice and community-based art, as recognized by the New York Press Club award.