New York: Bringing Back Color to Ancient Sculptures

New York

July 13, 2022 • View in browser

Met Exhibition Brings Back the Color to Ancient Sculptures

Chroma: Ancient Sculpture in Color reminds us, once again, that our view of the ancient world is whitewashed. | Elaine Velie

With extensive scientific explanation and lifelike replicas, Chroma leaves no doubt in visitors’ minds that ancient statues were painted. And maybe this major museum show will finally change the way we think about ancient sculpture — not as pristine and white, but as colorful, vibrant artistic expressions.

LATEST NEWS

NYC Mayor Eric Adams slashes school funding by over $200 million, jeopardizing art departments across the city.

Controversial figure Richard Armstrong will step down as Guggenheim’s museum director after 14 years.

Sotheby’s is bringing the first Gorgosaurus to auction, which could sell for up to $8 million.

WHAT TO SEE THIS WEEK

Aarati Akkapeddi, still from “I knew that if I walked in your footsteps, it would become a ritual” (2020-2022) (image courtesy the Center for Book Arts)

Performing Documents: Modes of Assembling
Center for Book Arts, opening July 15

With internet ephemera disappearing by the day, the Center for Book Arts celebrates modern-day archivists of print and digital media working with online data scraping, machine learning, interview recording, and video techniques.

Stacey Davidson: Boatloadand Tuçe Yasak: Light Is Generous
FiveMyles through July 17

Stacey Davidson’s “Boatload” will likely be a familiar scene for many viewers. Made with dolls, red Solo cups, and miniature American flags, the hanging installation depicts the bizarre camp of white nationalism in the United States.

In the main gallery, Tuçe Yasak’s summer residency Light Is Generous creates space for silent introspection

Francheska Alcántara: Secure the Bag, Mint the Soaps, and Throw the Bones
Recess, opening July 21

Through an examination of “loaded objects,” such as brown paper bags and Hispano Cuaba soap, the artist unpacks histories of racial coding and governance over queer bodies.

ALSO ON HYPERALLERGIC

In Pursuit of Belonging

Mining the elusive nature of memory, Joeun Kim Aatchim reveals the urgent, universal desire to cling to the past despite its transience. | Catherine Yang

Comprising past and more recent works superimposed on top of one another to create new forms, Aatchim’s dreamlike drawings evoke a sense of synchronicity. The scenes depict memories across multiple perspectives and timelines.

As fragmented and disconnected as the act of remembering itself, the layered imagery demands double-takes from the viewer — faces and limbs overlap, disparate objects intersect, and different vignettes from the artist’s past collide with poetic happenstance.

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CLOSING SOON

Wu Jian’an, "Nirvana of the White Ape" (2014) (image courtesy Chambers Fine Art)

From Confucius to Christ
Yeh Art Gallery through July 14

Zulu Padilla: Everything Is Migrating
The Compound Cowork through July 23

Woomin Kim: The Shijang Project
Susan Inglett Gallery through July 29

From Student to Master: Tokuko Ushioda and Her Teachers
Alison Bradley Projects through July 29

Lee Lozano: All Verbs & Cindy Sherman 1977–1982
Hauser & Wirth through July 29

Ani Liu: Ecologies of Care
Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space through July 30

Between Worlds
Kentler International Drawing Space through July 31