The Art World today is in poor shape. It depends on a group of people who are willing to sacrifice themselves, give away their labor, and be nearly constantly rejected. In the interest of the United States gaining power in STEM and conservative politics in cutting funding, it has become increasingly difficult to have the […]Read Post ›
This past week, on a vacation to the Midwest, I found myself at the Art Institute of Chicago, one of Chicago, Illinois’ most iconic art museums. After clumsily navigating the El and getting lost on State Street – which is almost impossible to get lost on – I happened upon the grand facade of the museum, […]Read Post ›
Broad City, a Comedy Central critical darling, took a deeply serious turn from its usual witty surrealism in the recent season three episode “Burning Bridges.” Best friends Abbi and Ilana have spent the series navigating their twenties in New York and getting into increasingly silly and consequence-free hijinks, but season three has been a slow […]Read Post ›
The architecture world has recently lost a transformative female star, in the form of Zaha Hadid. She will be remembered not only for her breathtaking contributions to the built environment, but also as a force for equality in a field that is still very much a man’s world.
Reading both professional and amateur critics’ scathing reviews of the astoundingly terrible film Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice has been great fun; but sadly, many of them also demonstrate how we are all so accustomed to misogyny in superhero movies it can seem pointless to keep discussing it. All the think pieces on the […]Read Post ›
Ghosts are not the stuff of fairytales. Vibrant personalities leave their impressions on the places they inhabit. Many of these spaces suffer destruction, alteration, redecoration—look at any number of “home museums” and you’ll find period furniture, recreating the ambiance of a place and time. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum looks a bit like a haunted […]Read Post ›
In all my travels, I’ve seen her at least three times.Each time, we end up being in an odd spot where I feel bad for her, but also impressed by her beauty. I stare at her face, the smooth marble finished so perfectly and her expression so intense. I could spend few true minutes uninterrupted […]Read Post ›
(This was originally written as a justification of a purchase for an object collected by the Davis Museum. The full text may be found by viewing the object file. This is part of a Monthly Series of focusing on Female Artists by Claire Milldrum.) In the 18th century, women faced particularly difficult challenges to build […]Read Post ›
(This is an edited version of a justification of an acquisition at the Davis Museum. The original can be found in the object file for 2014.127.1-.7. The works were on display at the Davis from Sept 16 to Dec 13 2015 and are part of a book edited by Dr. Claire Whitner.) Käthe Kollwitz (born 1867 in […]Read Post ›
It’s that time of year again, when ‘Let It Go‘ blasts from every loudspeaker across every mall across America. But there’s more to Frozen, and its queen, than meets the eye.
The Female Gaze 