How the Government Seized a Rare Wu-Tang Clan Album (and a DAO Bought It Back)
Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, formerly owned by Martin Shkreli, was auctioned off by the government and bought by the blockchain/art enthusiasts at PleasrDAO.
Art
The French Dispatch Is a Profoundly Great Film About the Nature of Art and Freedom
A twee, fussy, brilliant movie from a pathologically twee and fussy director.
Diversity Seminars Don't Have To Be Maoist Struggle Sessions
Chloe Valdary's Theory of Enchantment program uses Kendrick Lamar, Cheryl Strayed, and The Lion King to ease workplace racial tensions.
Louis Menand: 'Freedom Was the Slogan of the Times'
Why postwar culture from Jack Kerouac to Andy Warhol to James Baldwin to Susan Sontag to Yoko Ono battled boundaries hemming them in.
Great Moments in Unintended Consequences (Vol. 4)
Good intentions, bad results.
Congress Votes To Kick Confederate Statues Out of the Capitol
Plus: Fast approval of Alzheimer's drug draws scrutiny, the value of disagreement, and more...
Propaganda Art Gets Boost in Biden Budget
What else is government-funded art but propaganda for the rulers?
Are NFTs Dumb, a Scam, or Secretly Useful?
Non-fungible tokens for art can seem a lot like Tulipmania. But distinct digital tokens have real use cases for things like online address management.
Lanny Friedlander: The Eccentric Genius Who Created Reason Magazine
Reason was the anti-establishment brainchild of a brilliant but erratic 20-year-old student who lived with his mother and drove a delivery van for a living.
San Francisco Will Pay Artists $1,000 a Month in Universal Basic Income
The pilot program intended to assist the city's arts community during the pandemic is drawing both interest and criticism from proponents of unconditional cash transfers.
Museum Curator Resigns After He Is Accused of Racism for Saying He Would Still Collect Art From White Men
Irate employees of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art said the removal of Gary Garrels was "non-negotiable."
On the Money: Presidential Portraiture and Power in D.C.
Kehinde Wiley's pre-presidential works criticized inequalities and hierarchies of power. His presidential portrait doesn't do the same.
Virginia Is About To Require a Government License for 'Art Therapy,' Because Glue and Scissors Are 'Potentially' Dangerous
The real motive for laws like this has nothing to do with scissors and glue. It's all about protectionism.
Yale Will Eliminate a Beloved Introductory Art Class for Being Too White, Male, and Western
"It's a disservice to undergrads," said one student.
How Bernie Bros and Trumpistas See Their Guys Is Really Weird to the Rest of Us
The editors of the left-wing magazine Jacobin and MAGA-loving artist Jon McNaughton don't let reality intrude on their hero worship.
A German Museum Tried To Hide This Stunning 3D Scan of an Iconic Egyptian Artifact. Today You Can See It for the First Time
After a three-year freedom of information campaign, everyone can finally see the Egyptian Museum of Berlin’s official scan of the Bust of Nefertiti.
Martin Scorsese Is a Grumpy Old Fart—and Wrong About the State of 'Cinema'
As his $159 million new movie, The Irishman, hits theaters, the legendary director avers today is "brutal and inhospitable to art."
Neighbors Claim Los Angeles 'Emoji House' Is 'Bullying,' Demand New Rules Against Murals
Owners painted the house bright pink and added two funny emojis after neighbors complained about illegal Airbnb rentals.
A Mural Quoting Trump at His Most Profane Is Protected Speech, Judge Rules
New Orleans can't use zoning regulations to decide what counts as artistic expression.
New Orleans Mural Ordinance, Which Regulates "Works of Art," Is Unconstitutionally Vague
So a district court held today.
Detroit Police Arrested a City-Commissioned Artist Because He Didn't Have a Permit
A city official even vouched for Sheefy McFly, but police arrested him for resisting.
Activists Want a Problematic Mural of George Washington Destroyed. It Will Cost a High School $600,000.
The artist wanted students to learn about Washington's flaws. How traumatizing.
What the Battle To Publish Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl' Means to Today's Free-Speech Struggles
The People v. Lawrence Ferlinghetti explains how America embraced free speech—and how we're ready to throw it away.
Cancel Culture Comes for Counterculture Comics
Today it's creators, not cops, who want to banish R. Crumb, onetime king of the comics underground.
Nylon Says Please Stop Sharing Those Hilarious Alien Cartoons—the Artist Is Pro-Life
The online fashion magazine warns readers that Strange Planet's Nathan Pyle is maybe pro-life and "we should be more careful with what we're sharing."
Artist's Cheesy Border Wall Troll Will 'Make America Grate Again'
Cosimo Cavallaro tackles a wedge issue.
Modern Art Critic Assumes 1939 Painting Is All About Homophobia. It's About Murderous Union Thugs.
Paul Cadmus's Herrin Massacre is "The Painting Our Art Critic Can't Stop Thinking About." If only he'd thought harder.
Peter Bagge on Underground Comics, Immigration, and Being a Libertarian Artist: Podcast
The cartoonist talks about being libertarian, why Marvel is OK with "serums" but not drugs, and how comic books have evolved over the past 30 years.
Conspiracy Talk at the Art Museum
Jesse Walker's speech at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Vermont Man Barred From Building on His Own Property Flips Off Government With Giant Middle Finger Statue
And there's nothing the town can do to stop him.
New Yorkers: See Jesse Walker Speak at the Met Fifth Avenue Friday Night
The topic: art and conspiracy
Environmentalists Flip Out Over San Diego's Plans To Erect an 80-Foot-Tall, $975,000 Straw Statue
A giant straw would actually pose fewer environmental risks than standard-sized varieties.
A Pearl Jam Poster Sets Off a New Dead President Controversy
Republicans are comparing the band to Kathy Griffin.
The Chinese Government Destroys Ai Weiwei's 'Zuoyou' Studio
"Free speech and free expression have simply never existed in China or in its artist communities."
Florida Couple Gets to Keep Home's 'Starry' Paint Job; Mayor Must Publicly Apologize for $10,000 Fine
In a settlement reached Tuesday night, two residents of Mount Dora, Florida, will receive $15,000 and permission to keep their Van Gogh-inspired paint job.
New Orleans Threatens Man with Jail for Mural Replicating Trump's Crass 'Grab Them by the Pussy' Comments
ACLU steps in to fight zoning regulations that appear to let officials veto art based on content.
Stone Age Statue Was Too Racy for Facebook
How can a company be expected to arbitrate "fake news" when it can't even tell ancient artifacts from porn?
Cutting Federal Funding for the Arts Wouldn't Kill Them; Might Make Them Better
One bright spot in Donald Trump's very bad, very insane budget plan is his willingness to cut taxpayer-funded culture.
Regulations Prevent Some People from Using Google Arts & Culture's Portrait-Matching Feature
Illinois and Texas think biometric identifiers are a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Utah Elementary School Fires Art Teacher for Showing Students Classical Nudes
Parents complained about postcards that were part of an educational set kept in the school library.
Clifford Irving and His Fakes
Friday A/V Club: The con man as artist and the artist as con man