September 14, 2021 • View in browser

Good morning. ⛅ Today, two documentaries take on the Salvator Mundi fiasco, Marcel Dzama’s new subway mosaic goes on view in Brooklyn, and the fascinating afterlives of found photographs.

— Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief

There Are Now Not One But Two Documentaries About the Salvator Mundi Saga

Both The Lost Leonardo and Savior for Sale dig into how museums and galleries are not merely complicit with the unregulated art-industrial complex, but are necessary to it. | Bedatri D. Choudhury

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WHAT'S HAPPENING

Strike MoMA initiated “Phase 2” of action with an activist-led teach-in last Friday, leading up to a city-wide protest on September 17.

Criticism grows around the artist chosen to replace Mexico City’s Columbus monument, with hundreds of artists, writers, and curators voicing their opposition in an open letter.

LATEST IN ART

This Brooklyn Subway Station Is a Portal Into Marcel Dzama's Surrealist Universe

The permanent installation in Williamsburg features anthropomorphic moons and suns, watching over wild, celebratory scenes. | Hakim Bishara

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An Exhibition at Krannert Art Museum Delves Into Louise Fishman’s Works on Paper

Remaking the abstract expressionist gesture and minimalist grid, the drawings on view at KAM at the University of Illinois center the artist’s identities as Jewish, feminist, and lesbian. Learn more.

The Indigenous and Female Roots of Harvesting Flax

Christine Borland looks at one of the oldest known forms of fabric in the world. | Anna Souter

A Sculptor Who Helped Us Find Community Among Strangers

His sculpture is what I remember the most from a childhood visit to the hospital. It brought levity and joy to a place that otherwise felt sterile and frightening. | Kevin Ritter

The Silent Lives of Found Photographs

The mind works desperately to fill the gaps in these lost stories. | Kealey Boyd

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COMICS

Art World Subversion Has Its Limits

Depends on who's doing the subverting. | Guy Richards Smit

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