Zoe Sperling on Nairy Baghramian’s ‘Side Leaps_Spatial Compositions’
Zoe Sperling examines Nairy Baghramian’s installation “Side Leaps, Spatial Compositions,” a work deliberately left undated to underscore its precarious, stateless character. The piece consists of blue, limb‑like structures hanging from a metal plank on hooks reminiscent of an abattoir. By exposing backs, angles, screws and fixtures, Baghramian foregrounds the materiality of sculpture and invites viewers to interrogate the relationships between form and function. Sperling points out explicit references to Isamu Noguchi, Katarzyna Kobro, Jean Arp and Kurt Schwitters, noting that the work re‑appropriates their avant‑garde vocabularies while maintaining a distinct formalism. She quotes, “Everything is exposed… those relationships are the work itself,” emphasizing the self‑referential nature of the installation. Positioned as a microcosm of Baghramian’s own language, the work argues for art that can exist independently of historical or institutional anchors, signaling a broader shift toward autonomous, temporally fluid practices in contemporary sculpture.
Max Beckmann: Theater of Dislocation
The video “Max Beckmann: Theater of Dislocation” examines how the German painter constructs his canvases as staged scenes that reveal hidden psychological and social tensions. Beckmann’s work sits between Expressionism and New Objectivity, using bold arcs, dislocated figures, and dense allegory...
Sarah Allen on Picasso’s ‘Le Peintre Et Son Modèle Dans Un Paysage’
The video examines Pablo Picasso’s 1963 oil, “Le peintre et son modèle dans un paysage,” a monumental work that places the classic artist‑model theme within a lush, Manet‑inspired setting. Created during his residence in the south of France, the painting...
Musa Mayer on ‘Life with P.: Journals, 1966–1976’
Musa Mayer’s new project, "Life with P," assembles and interprets her mother’s journals from 1966‑1976, a decade that marked both artistic breakthroughs for her father and a turbulent period in their marriage. The collection, digitized by the Gustin Foundation, uncovers...
The Art That Made Me: Thelma Golden
The video features an in‑depth conversation with Thelma Golden, the longtime director and chief curator of New York’s Studio Museum, tracing her trajectory from early curatorial work at the Studio Museum and a decade at the Whitney to her current...
William Kentridge on Max Beckmann’s 1938 Painting ‘Death (Tod)’
William Kentridge examines Max Beckmann’s 1938 canvas “Death (Tod)”, painted as the German artist fled Nazi persecution and after the death of fellow expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. He notes Beckmann’s interest in Gnosticism but focuses on the painting’s visual puzzles. Kentridge...
Artist & Curator Walkthrough: Allison Katz & Cecilia Alemani on ‘Allison Katz. Outta the Bag’
The video records a walkthrough of Allison Katz’s first major New York solo show, “Outta the Bag,” at Hauser & Wirth, hosted by senior director Zoe Sprling and curated in dialogue with High Line chief curator Cecilia Alemani. The conversation frames the exhibition...
Firelei Báez: Feet Squelching on Wet Grass, Nourished by Uncertainty
The video documents artist Firelei Báez’s latest interdisciplinary piece, “Feet Squelching on Wet Grass, Nourished by Uncertainty,” presented at a university commencement ceremony. The work blends sculpture, sound, and live movement to interrogate how uncertainty can become fertile ground for...
Jarrett Earnest on Vilhelm Hammershøi
Jarrett Earnest explores the singular atmosphere of Vilhelm Hammershøi’s interior paintings, describing how they slow the viewer’s perception and create a meditative space. He emphasizes that Hammershøi translates light into a near‑audible quiet, noting the “almost perfect silence” and the way...
Lights, Piano, Action: Oddur Roth and Davíð Þór Jónsson Perform in Braemar Kirk
The video showcases a live piano duet by Icelandic musicians Oddur Roth and Davíð Þór Jónsson performed in Braemar Kirk, a 19th‑century church known for its acoustics. The duo presented a program mixing traditional Icelandic folk tunes with modern classical works,...
Angel Otero Introduces ‘Agua Salada’ in Somerset
The video documents Angel Otero’s debut of “Agua Salada,” an outdoor installation unveiled in Somerset after he relocated his studio from Puerto Rico. Otero explains that the move altered his mental and emotional approach, allowing the Somerset landscape and community...
Briony Fer and Cécile Bargues on Sophie Taeuber-Arp’s Work
The new exhibition of Swiss artist Sophie Taeuber‑Arp, curated by Briony Fer and Cécile Bargues, marks the first major Parisian showcase since the 1989 retrospective, bringing together works that have rarely, if ever, been displayed publicly. The curators deliberately avoid a conventional...
Reading & Book Launch: Musa Mayer Reads From ‘Life with P.: Journals, 1966–1976’
The event centered on the launch of Life with P: Journals, 1966–1976, an illustrated volume of Musa McKim Guston’s previously unpublished diaries, edited by her daughter Musa Mayer. The book debuted alongside Hauser & Wirth’s new exhibition “Life with P Philip Guston, Paintings and Drawings 1964–1978,” which...
In Conversation: Lena Fritsch, Jason Waite, Nancy Lupo & Sam Thorne on Takesada Matsutani & Tetsumi
The Houseworth conversation brought together curators Lena Fritz, Jason Waite, artist Nancy Lupo and Japan House director Sam Thorne to discuss the newly mounted London exhibition of Takesada Matsutani and Tetsumi Kudo. Both artists, born in Osaka in the 1930s,...
Cosima Spender, Saskia Spender, Valerio Bonelli & D.W. Moffett on ‘Arshile Gorky. Horizon West’
The evening event at Howard & Worth introduced “Horizon West,” a new documentary directed by Cosima Spender that pairs never‑before‑shown Arshile Gorky pieces with paintings from his 1941 solo show at the San Francisco Museum of Art. Hosted by the...