| Happy Juneteenth! As we mark 150 years since enslaved people in Texas claimed their own freedom, artist Damien Davis examines the material afterlives of slavery in the art world, where visibility is often used as a placeholder for reparations and justice. He asks us: “What does it mean to build an artistic practice inside a funding ecosystem that still profits from what it refuses to repair?” Read his answer below. And if you’re in New York City this weekend, mark your calendars for artsy Juneteenth events recommended by Staff Writer Rhea Nayyar and Editorial Intern Mary Ghebremeskal, from Black improv to zine-making sessions. While you’re at it, check out a new book on 30 monuments to Black Americans you can visit around the city, plus Reviews Editor Natalie Haddad on Glenn Ligon and the latest report in our Pride series on the lesbian artist behind Central Park’s iconic Bethesda Fountain. — Lakshmi Rivera Amin, Associate Editor | | |
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| You’re currently a free subscriber to Hyperallergic. To support our independent arts journalism, please consider joining us as a member. | | Become a Member |
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 | | In the art world, as in America at large, spectacle is welcomed more readily than structural change. | Damien Davis |
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SPONSORED |  | | | | Explore the insights, data, and recommendations shaping the future of galleries in 2025. Learn more |
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 | | Workshops inspired by contemporary artists, performances, comedy, food, screenings, and so much more. | Rhea Nayyar and Mary Ghebremeskal |
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|  | | From Harriet Tubman to Duke Ellington, the city boasts a wealth of public art honoring Black individuals, the subject of a timely new book. | Maya Pontone |
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|  | | Artist Emma Stebbins may have modeled her 1873 bronze angel for the popular landmark after her partner, actor Charlotte Cushman. | Isa Farfan |
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|  | | An exhibition of Ligon’s well-known works at the Brant Foundation shows how language fails us and confronts us with silence. | Natalie Haddad |
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FROM THE ARCHIVE |  | | The relationship between Black liberation and photography reveals many things about our notions of freedom and the limitations of image making as a form of common truth. | Hrag Vartanian |
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|  | | John Wilson’s 1952 mural “The Incident,” is a salient meditation on the horrors of lynching and though physically lost, the mural endures in archival images, preliminary sketches, and studies. | Jasmine Weber |
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IN MEMORIAM | | Leonard Lauder (1933–2025)
Art collector and cosmetics heir | Hyperallergic
Joel Shapiro (1941–2025)
Sculptor of emotive figures | Hyperallergic
Arthur Folasa “Afa” Ah Loo (1985–2025)
Samoan-American fashion designer | Associated Press
Gordon Baldwin (1932–2025)
British potter and ceramic sculptor | Guardian
Graham Gund (1940–2025)
Art collector and Boston architect | New York Times
Beuford Smith (1941–2025)
Photographer who chronicled Black life | New York Times |
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| You’re currently a free subscriber to Hyperallergic. To support our independent arts journalism, please consider joining us as a member. | | Become a Member |
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