Latest
The Logbooks
Oct 4, 2014 Journalist Anne Farrow has written a profoundly personal reflection on historical memory, based on her discovery of Atlantic slave trade logbooks, and on her mother’s painful descent into dementia.
Stokely: A Life
May 23, 2014 For too long, this country has relegated its militant black figures to the margins of the historical record. A new biography of Stokely Carmichael is a major antidote to that problem.For too long, the U.S. has relegated its militant black figures to the margins of historical record. A new biography of Stokely Carmichael is a major antidote to the problem.
Paul Robeson: A Life
Apr 11, 2014 A new biography of Paul Robeson delves into his remarkable political activism, while revealing a pernicious social order determined to destroy its most effective and outspoken critics.
Another Casualty of L.A.’s Cultural Indifference?
Dec 10, 2013 The artistic record in a region that aspires to world-class status has been problematic when it comes to censorship and preservation.
Saving Paul Conrad’s ‘Chain Reaction’
Aug 27, 2013 For the past 22 years, the city of Santa Monica has had one of the most significant public political artworks in the nation, installed adjacent to the Santa Monica Civic Center in the tourism hub of this beachside town.For the past 22 years, the city of Santa Monica has had one of the most significant public political artworks in the nation.
Rethinking Black History Month
Mar 1, 2013 The modern civil rights movement occurred long before millions of Americans were born, but many participants and observers are still available to recount their stories.
Portraits of His People: A Tribute to Willie Middlebrook
May 22, 2012 Willie Middlebrook's untimely death at the age of 54 on May 4 brought an end to the work of one of the finest and most socially conscious artists of our times.
Elizabeth Catlett: An Appreciation
Apr 17, 2012 The impact of her sculpture Target extends to the thousands of anonymous people of color, mostly but not exclusively younger males, who are routinely subjected to racist harassment and attacks by police and others throughout the United States.Dignified portrayals of African-Americans, especially of women, were a major feature of her sculpture and prints.
On the Big Rock
Mar 13, 2012 My largest problem with "Levitated Mass" is not with its artistic quality (or lack of quality), but rather with the excessive cost of the process.If LACMA wants to call Heizer's "creation" art, let that appellation stand, but art can and should be subject to critical judgment.