Columns & Features

New Kids on the Block

Highway to the Sun: Truth and Fiction in Maureen Drennan’s Photography

New Kids on the Block

Highway to the Sun: Truth and Fiction in Maureen Drennan’s Photography

Although documentary in nature, Maureen Drennan’s photographs take artistic license in order to convey the essence of specific people and places.

On View Now

Tomáš Rafa: New Nationalisms at MoMA PS1

On View Now

Tomáš Rafa: New Nationalisms at MoMA PS1

Slovakian artist Tomáš Rafa’s latest film documents scenes of protests throughout the Balkans and Central Europe, capturing complexities regardless of politics.

Roundup

Art21 News Roundup: Caroline Woolard Unrolls the “@” Symbol

Roundup

Art21 News Roundup: Caroline Woolard Unrolls the “@” Symbol

See what Art21 was up to in July, including four new “Summer of Shorts” films, a new interview, and a new issue of the Art21 Magazine. 

Deep Focus: Inside Art21 Films

Six Tips for Shooting Underwater Video

Deep Focus: Inside Art21 Films

Six Tips for Shooting Underwater Video

Art21’s Director of Production offers helpful tips for shooting video underwater after filming Caroline Woolard’s sculptures on a Rockaway beach for a “New York Close Up” film.

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Inside, Outside, Online: Dissecting social media, escape and identity

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Inside, Outside, Online: Dissecting social media, escape and identity

Educator-in-Residence Stacey Abramson relates the experience of art-making to that of constructing an identity online—both are a means of self-presentation and escape.

Now Playing

Time-Traveling Through Music: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll

Now Playing

Time-Traveling Through Music: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll

John Pirozzi’s documentary “Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten” resurrects Cambodia’s lost popular-music scene of 1950s and ’60s, whose history was wiped out in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge came to power.

Educator Spotlight

Art21 Educator Spotlight: Stacey Abramson

Educator Spotlight

Art21 Educator Spotlight: Stacey Abramson

Meet Art21 Educator Stacey Abramson, and learn how she incorporates contemporary art practices in her classroom in Winnipeg, Canada.

Letter from the Editor

Using Lies to Tell the Truth

Letter from the Editor

Using Lies to Tell the Truth

Co-guest editors and Art21 producers introduce the film-focused issue of Art21 Magazine, “Inspired by a True Story,” uncovering the line between truth and fiction.

Strategies & Resources

Decay: Ecology of a Nurse Log

Strategies & Resources

Decay: Ecology of a Nurse Log

Educator-in-Residence Tricia Fitzpatrick uses the curiosity of a student to prompt a lesson on sustainable ecosystems.

Roundup

Art21 News Roundup: Jordan Casteel Challenges Preconceptions Through Portraiture

Roundup

Art21 News Roundup: Jordan Casteel Challenges Preconceptions Through Portraiture

See what Art21 was up to in June, including four new “Summer of Shorts” films and the selection of ten new Art21 Educators for the program’s seventh year.

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Rust, Decay and Decomposition: Four Artists to Teach With

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Rust, Decay and Decomposition: Four Artists to Teach With

Art21 Senior Education Advisor Joe Fusaro shares four artists who use rust and decay to tell stories, illuminate histories, and prompt us to think about beauty in new ways.

Looking at Los Angeles

All Objects Are Slippery: Excavations in Santa Barbara County

Looking at Los Angeles

All Objects Are Slippery: Excavations in Santa Barbara County

Morgan Green considers the misleading permanence of objects through an artist project that excavated the remains of the 1923 film “The Ten Commandments.”

Roundup

Art21 News Roundup: Theaster Gates Expands the Role of the Artist

Roundup

Art21 News Roundup: Theaster Gates Expands the Role of the Artist

See what Art21 was up to in May, including a new text interview with artist Theaster Gates, and a featured playlist curated around the theme “Take Action.”

Strategies & Resources

Investigation: Where Art Meets Science

Strategies & Resources

Investigation: Where Art Meets Science

In an investigation with her 9th grade applied science class, Tricia Fitzpatrick’s students learn what makes Mars red, and create rust artworks through experimentation.

New Kids on the Block

Mohamad Hafez’s Complex Models of Syrian Devastation

New Kids on the Block

Mohamad Hafez’s Complex Models of Syrian Devastation

Mohamad Hafez creates elaborate models of annihilated streetscapes and ruined buildings, replicating the devastation of the war in Syria, where he was born.

Letter from the Editor

Rust in Detroit: Ingenuity, Process, and Natural Order

Letter from the Editor

Rust in Detroit: Ingenuity, Process, and Natural Order

Art21 Magazine’s first co-guest editors, curators Laura Mott and Taylor Renee Aldridge, introduce the issue’s theme: “Rust,” and its complicated relationship to the city of Detroit.

Educator Spotlight

Art21 Educator Spotlight: Tricia Fitzpatrick

Educator Spotlight

Art21 Educator Spotlight: Tricia Fitzpatrick

Meet Art21 Educator Tricia Fitzpatrick and learn how she incorporates contemporary art practices in her science classroom in Mississauga, Ontario.

Roundup

Art21 News Roundup: Sarah Sze Transforms Your Commute

Roundup

Art21 News Roundup: Sarah Sze Transforms Your Commute

See what Art21 was up to in April, including a new film release on artist Sarah Sze, and a featured playlist curated by Season 7 artist Arlene Shechet.

Staff Pick

Staff Picks: Springtime Edition

Staff Pick

Staff Picks: Springtime Edition

The Art21 staff presents a selection of our favorite films and exhibitions in New York.

Artist Introspectives

The Practice of Walking: Somewhere Near Zabar’s

Artist Introspectives

The Practice of Walking: Somewhere Near Zabar’s

Erin Sweeny recounts her performative action of walking the length of Manhattan on Good Friday, and relates the project to other artists who incorporate walking in their practice.

Artist Introspectives

Touch/Don’t Touch

Artist Introspectives

Touch/Don’t Touch

Artist Gabrielle Civil shares the freedom her performance practice has brought her, and the frustration of dealing with oblivious racism in 2017.

On View Now

Tracing the Out-of-Sight: Cristina Camacho’s Symmetrical Tensions

On View Now

Tracing the Out-of-Sight: Cristina Camacho’s Symmetrical Tensions

Anna Burckhardt explores the process and motivations behind the anthropomorphic symmetry in Cristina Camacho’s painting series, “Bilateral Dissections.”

Roundup

Art21 News Roundup: Minerva Cuevas Bridges the Border

Roundup

Art21 News Roundup: Minerva Cuevas Bridges the Border

See what Art21 was up to in March in our inaugural monthly roundup post of new film releases and upcoming programs and events.

The New Situationists

Implicit Politics: August Sander and the Fallacy of Objectivity

The New Situationists

Implicit Politics: August Sander and the Fallacy of Objectivity

Erin Sweeny uncovers the complexities of accepting photography as an objective representation of reality, through the work of twentieth century German photographer August Sander.

Writer-in-Residence

Beverly Fishman: Color-Coding Big Pharma

Writer-in-Residence

Beverly Fishman: Color-Coding Big Pharma

Writer-in-Residence Zachary Small uncovers the psychological implications of Beverly Fishman’s brightly colored pill-paintings that explore the consequences of an unchecked medical industry.

Looking at Los Angeles

Kathleen Ryan: Weightless Again at Ghebaly Gallery

Looking at Los Angeles

Kathleen Ryan: Weightless Again at Ghebaly Gallery

Lindsay Preston Zappas reviews Kathleen Ryan’s recent sculpture exhibition at Ghebaly Gallery, “Weightless Again” —a reclamation of feminine modernism.

Letter from the Editor

What if balance was about process, rather than outcome?

Letter from the Editor

What if balance was about process, rather than outcome?

“Balance” guest editor Lewis Wallace introduces the issue with an investigation into the challenges of obtaining journalistic balance.

Booked

Flickering Memoirs and Surveys: An Interview with Bill Burns

Booked

Flickering Memoirs and Surveys: An Interview with Bill Burns

Caroline Picard interviews artist Bill Burns about his new book, “Hans Ulrich Obrist Hear Us,” both a memoir and an artistic survey that questions notions of cultural capital.

On View Now

Meriem Bennani’s Holiday Headscarf

On View Now

Meriem Bennani’s Holiday Headscarf

Playing on the Barclays Center’s “Oculus” screen through March 5 as part of the Public Art Fund’s “Commercial Break” series, Meriem Bennani’s 30-second video piece “Your Year by Fardaous Funjab,” features an ‘advertisement’ for the artist’s fictional hijab design.

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Teaching with Nick Cave’s Until, Until Conversations Emerge

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Teaching with Nick Cave’s Until, Until Conversations Emerge

Art21 Senior Education Advisor Joe Fusaro discusses how Nick Cave’s immersive installation “Until” can serve as a conversation starter for difficult subjects like racism and violence.

On View Now

ICP’s Momentous and Magnificent Perpetual Revolution: The Image and Social Change

On View Now

ICP’s Momentous and Magnificent Perpetual Revolution: The Image and Social Change

Rachel Heidenry reviews the exhibition “Perpetual Revolution: The Image and Social Change” at the International Center of Photography, on view through May 7, 2017.

Staff Pick

Staff Picks: January 2017

Staff Pick

Staff Picks: January 2017

The Art21 staff shares a selection of their favorite films and exhibitions, on view now in New York City and Massachusetts.

Art 2.1: Creating on the Social Web

The Role of Online Archives in Contemporary Art and Activism

Art 2.1: Creating on the Social Web

The Role of Online Archives in Contemporary Art and Activism

Rachel Heidenry shares the significance and recent resurgence of utilizing online archives as a method for activism and engagement.

Writer-in-Residence

“The Visible Hand”

Writer-in-Residence

“The Visible Hand”

Writer-in-Residence Rachel Valinsky uncovers the diversification of artistic production explored in the exhibition “The Visible Hand,” on view through February 15, 2017 at CUE Art Foundation.

Letter from the Editor

On the Power of Art and Challenging Cultural Inequity

Letter from the Editor

On the Power of Art and Challenging Cultural Inequity

Artist and activist Favianna Rodriguez introduces the “Momentum” issue with a call to action: end cultural inequity by challenging the art world’s existing power structures.