George Morrison, German Grotesque, a Medici Nemesis

February 11, 2023

The world watched as millions of people across southern Turkey and northern Syria dug themselves out of the rubble of one of the 21st century's biggest earthquakes. Already 21,000 are confirmed dead and tens of thousands remain missing. Soon after the news broke, reporter Elaine Velie looked at the impact on cultural heritage in a region already impacted by more than a decade of civil war.

This week, we also looked carefully at the "Dignity of Earth and Sky" sculpture that was unveiled in 2016 in South Dakota. It raises questions about representations of Native women in the state and why Native American tribes were not more involved in the selection process.

I returned from Europe this week and I can report that everyone in Berlin is complaining about rising prices, while most everyone else appears to be moving to Athens, which continues to be relatively affordable for most Western culturati. Ok, I may be exaggerating a bit, but the contrast was stark.

And thanks to all of you who have already filled out ArtTable's survey on working in the arts. To get a more accurate sampling, we need your help to encourage more arts professionals, artists, and arts workers of all types, especially men, to take the survey. Please share and encourage others to complete the survey so the data more accurately reflects the reality of pay equity in the field.

— Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief

Who Gets to Honor Native Women in the US?

“Dignity of Earth and Sky,” unveiled in 2016, raises questions about who should depict Native people and how they should be portrayed. | Taylor Michael

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NEWS THIS WEEK

George Morrison’s “Untitled” (1961) is the first work by a Native American artist in the National Gallery of Art’s Abstract Expressionist collection.

A deadly earthquake kills at least 2,600 people and destroyed thousands of historic sites and cultural landmarks across Turkey and Syria.

Critical race theory and contemporary Black artists are among the topics absent from College Board’s AP African American Studies course.

SPONSORED

Call for Applications: Inspiration Lab Artists-in-Residence at University of the Arts

Ten artists will receive studio space and access to faculty, staff, students, workshops, and programming at an arts institution in the heart of Philadelphia. Learn more.

A CLOSER LOOK

History Is Not an Open Book

The 1969 exhibition 5 + 1, and now Revisiting 5 + 1, are reminders that the history of Black Art in the United States is diverse rather than monolithic. | John Yau

War, Bloodshed, and the German Grotesque

The works that best exemplify a uniquely German grotesque in Reexamining the Grotesque are those that reflect the war and Weimar years. | Natalie Haddad

Hans Hartung, No Matter What They Say

Hartung’s work most likely didn’t go over well in the heyday of conceptualism, earth art, and the literal use of materials. | Joe Fyfe

FORM & IDENTITY

Omar Ba Paints the Pride and Pain of the Colonized

The artist’s solo US museum debut at the Baltimore Museum of Art is a contemptuous, at times satirical, take on oppression that gives way to a new history. | Farah Abdessamad

Graham Nickson’s Empathic Formalism

Nickson’s interests lie in the individual’s place in a world shaped by immensities of land and water, sky and cloud. | Carter Ratcliff

The Turner Prize Wrestles With an Identity Crisis

How does a selective competition fit with the contemporary art world’s aspirations toward greater inclusivity? | Naomi Polonsky

MORE ON HYPERALLERGIC

Maurice Sendak’s Life Among the Wild Things

Sendak’s illustrations carry weight all on their own for children and adults alike, and this book beautifully captures his prolific career. | AX Mina

Is Making Art a Way of Telling People to Go Away Forever?

In her novel Tell Me I’m an Artist, Chelsea Martin questions whether art offers a refuge from the world. | Nicole Miller

The Women Who Dominated This Year’s Sundance

At this year’s Sundance International Film Festival, more than half the feature-length movies were made by directors who identify as women. | Eileen G'Sell

Sky Hopinka Is Tired of Explaining Everything to Non-Natives

The filmmaker and visual artist tells stories that speak directly to Native audiences while not over-explaining meaning for non-Native viewers. | Erin Joyce

Required Reading

This week, feline cinematography, two writers on Salman Rushdie, your guide to Valentine’s Day cards, and what happened to the documentary industry? | Hrag Vartanian and Lakshmi Rivera Amin

IN OUR STORE

Persian Garden Scarf

This elegant wool scarf is inspired by a carpet in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The rug, made in Kurdistan in the late 1700s, bears the traditional “Charbagh” pattern of a four-part garden, representing the architectural layout of Paradise.

Check out more art-inspired scarves!