Visual Arts

The Art of Documenting the Undocumented

bart plantenga / Truthdig Aug 9, 2017 Dutch conceptual artist Domenique Himmelsbach de Vries takes the plight of refugees as his latest project. Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )

Living in the Shadows

Paul Von Blum / Truthdig Jun 30, 2017 A new book by writer, photographer and union organizer David Bacon is a bilingual fusion of journalism and documentary photography that reveals the humanity and suffering of marginalized Latino workers. Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )

The Art World Shares Blame for Trump’s Rise to Power

Staff / Truthdig May 15, 2017 Was it because of the economy? No doubt. How about reality TV? That, too. Here's another explanation of how Trump came to enter the White House—and Damien Hirst, you're on notice. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

‘Iconic: Black Panther’ Ties Then With Now

Jordan Riefe / Truthdig Apr 8, 2017 Touring exhibit features works by original members of the revolutionary group and other anti-establishment artists. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Emblems of the Passing World

Ed Schad / Truthdig Feb 20, 2016 Poet Adam Kirsch, inspired by the photographs of August Sander, has created an important book about one of the 20th century’s most devastating eras. He especially illuminates a Germany that would soon be filled with the cancer of Nazism. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

Dickey Chapelle Under Fire

Liesl Bradner / Truthdig Jan 22, 2016 Dickey Chapelle, the first female American war correspondent to be killed in action, is featured in a new pictorial memoir that collects her photos and notebooks from World War II to Vietnam. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

The Restoration of a Mural Is the Resurrection of Lost History

Paul Von Blum / Truthdig Jan 21, 2016 Noni Olabisi’s painting "To Protect and Serve"—perhaps the most controversial mural in Los Angeles in the past 80 years—features a positive depiction of the Black Panther Party and its contributions to the African-American community. Such information about the party's constructive role is nowhere to be found in school textbooks. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

American Artists Against War

Paul Von Blum / Truthdig Jan 8, 2016 Artists of conscience have always responded angrily and passionately to war, genocide and torture. This book examines the work of American visual artists from 1935 to 2010 who believed that governments and humanity must be held to higher moral standards. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

The Painting That Saved My Family From the Holocaust

By Stephen Engelberg / ProPublica Nov 25, 2015 A frightened young woman left her apartment in Munich in November 1938 and returned with the visa that saved her family. A team of German journalists launched an improbable search to find the missing artwork and tell its story. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

Here’s How One German Artist Turned the Tables on the Surveillance State

Natasha Hakimi Zapata / Truthdig Jul 18, 2015 In his project "Cached Landscapes," Florian Freier uses a service we're all familiar with to make an important statement about the ironies of spying in the digital age. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘Profoundly Conservative’ Myths

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Dec 13, 2014 "Both 'The Hobbit' and 'Lord of the Rings' turn on the 'return of the king' to his rightful throne," and in both stories " 'victory' means the reassertion of a feudal social structure which had been disrupted by 'evil,' " fiction author Damien Walter writes of some of the 20th century's most celebrated works of imagination. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Dreams of America: Work in Progress

Lena Herzog / Truthdig Sep 5, 2014 Can the American imaginary be depicted? Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )