Was Jacques-Louis David Really That Radical?

March 11, 2022 • View in browser

Good morning. 🌤️ Today, 40,000 of Mali’s cherished manuscripts are now online, the looting of Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage, and reviews of Jacques-Louis David, Rackstraw Downes, Elizabeth Glaessner, and more.

— Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief

Was Jacques-Louis David Really That Radical?

Rather than accentuating his radicalism, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new exhibition makes Jacques-Louis David a compelling case study in opportunism and survival. | Billy Anania

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LATEST NEWS

Impacted cultural heritage in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka (photos by and courtesy Emiline Smith)

Artifacts stolen from Sri Lanka’s Kotawehera Rajamaha temple are the latest victims of longstanding looting and trafficking.

Google Arts & Culture unveils a massive digitization project of 40,000 ancient manuscripts and other cultural artifacts from Mali.

Archeologists find evidence of a “lost” continent linking Europe and Asia that served as a passage for animal migration.

The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council awards $1.3M to 255 artists and art organizations and announces the artists-in-residence at its new Arts Center.

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ART & MORE

Elizabeth Glaessner's Wonderfully Weird Menagerie

The notion of stories, bodies, and selves that change incrementally and radically as they repeat pervades the mesmerizing world of Glaessner's Phantom Tail. | Cassie Packard

Redefining Anthropology as a Site of Creativity

Artist Maya Stovall questions the altruistic intentions of anthropology while also attempting to redefine the discipline as a site of creativity and community empowerment. | Rosa Boshier

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The ICA at VCU Presents Gideon Appah: Forgotten, Nudes, Landscapes

Gideon Appah’s paintings merge his interest in Ghanaian popular culture with his own imagination, dreams, and fantasies. Now on view in Richmond, Virginia. Learn more.

Alone in the Dying of the Light

One thing that comes across in the drawings of Rackstraw Downes is the austere, almost monastic life he has lived in order to make art. | John Yau

Required Reading

This week, the oldest mummies in the world, whitewashing an autocrat, a useful reading list about Ukraine, SPLC released their new report on hate, seeking a new language around race, and more. | Hrag Vartanian

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"Virtues Théologales" Tea Towel x Louise Bourgeois

If you’ve ever wondered how to play “Loves me, loves me not” in French, this embroidered linen tea towel may prove instructional. Not your average dishrag, this fabric reproduction can be stretched and framed as an affordable artwork for your home.
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TRANSITIONS

Carolina Alvarez Mathies was appointed executive director of Dallas Contemporary.

Liza Lacroix is now represented by Magenta Plains.

Lesley Ma was named the Ming Chu Hsu and Daniel Xu Associate Curator of Asian Art at the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Manuel Borja-Villel, Grada Kilomba, Diane Lima, and Hélio Menezes will co-curate the 35th São Paulo Bienal.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

Katharina Fritsch and Cecilia Vicuña were awarded the 59th Venice Biennale’s Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement.

Dayanita Singh is the recipient of the Hasselblad Foundation’s 2022 Hasselblad Prize.

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