In the current sociopolitical climate, I’ve been engaging with art that explicitly functions as psychological release or as a social or political agent. Art can take a stand, art can unite and art can heal. But is there still room to think about art that is simply for looking at? Can art be cosmetic instead […]Read Post ›
Rebecca Bedell is an Associate Professor of the Art of the United States, Art Department, Wellesley College. Professor Bedell is author of The Anatomy of Nature: Geology and American Landscape Painting, 1825-1875 and the soon to be published Moved to Tears: Rethinking the Art of the Sentimental in the United States. She is also much beloved […]Read Post ›
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” If you asked me what I remember most fondly from […]Read Post ›
A Nazi officer, upon seeing an image of the iconic painting (supposedly) asked “Did you do that?” “No,” Picasso replied. “You did.” In the days since the new administration took office (and indeed the months before it), the rampant xenophobia and aggressive patriotism have led many to speculate that the current socio-political climate uncannily matches […]Read Post ›
In a recent graduate school interview – after the inauguration – a professor asked me, “what socio-cultural or political situation are you most concerned about in our time?” Immediately after posing the question, he paused, then quipped, “Oh…this question was written before last Friday. I think I know what we’re all most concerned about.” I […]Read Post ›
For the past ten or so months, I have been in a panic. A sort of existential crisis, filled with questions about what the hell to do next. Which, to be entirely honest, was a very privileged and stupid problem. I’ve wanted to do basically the same thing since I was 16: work in a […]Read Post ›
“Modern” is a word that gets thrown around in our everyday conversations but in the Art World, it means something very specific. A movement that arose at the dawn of the 20th century in Europe, Modernism has complex aesthetic, historical and philosophical implications. Anyone who has taken a class with me knows that I have […]Read Post ›
Believe it or not, the holiday season is upon us. It is at this time of year that without fail, we look back towards to older pieces of art that act as what I think of as visual equivalents of hugs. Collectively, these works comprise the Cult of the Holidays that urges us to remember […]Read Post ›
We, like many people who pull to the left, are stunned by the election. We are stunned by the systems that have created a path for a man who does not respect anyone but himself. We are scared for the sector we love, the arts. We are scared to be young and female bodied with […]Read Post ›
As I rode the Santiago metro to the National Museum of Fine Arts, more than a couple men bumped into me. No matter how much it irritates me, it is something I’ve grown used to from living in cities. Though people talk about Latin American machismo, I haven’t noticed much of a difference in […]Read Post ›
