The union prepares for work stoppage ahead of the Lichtenstein show. Plus, Teresa Margolles distills the language of violence at MoMA PS1.
Next up in the art world juggernaut that is September: Teresa Margolles’s solo exhibition at MoMA PS1, where she co-opts the language of minimalism to honor the lives disrupted or destroyed by borders, capitalism, and state brutality. Reviewer Alex Santana was struck in particular by an installation consisting of water collected from sites of violence around New York vented out of humidifiers. “This is a room anyone could walk into and walk right out of, perhaps mistakenly thinking it is an auxiliary maintenance area of the museum,” she notes.
It seems like an encapsulation of so much overlooked humanity, dissipating unseen into the ether. Case in point: Unionized workers at the Whitney Museum — including one holding a “Whitney Workers Build Biennials” sign — are preparing to strike next Monday, October 5, if they don’t reach a fair contract with the museum, ahead of the blockbuster Lichtenstein exhibition.
Also in today’s issue, Staff Writer Rhea Nayyar reports on the 21st edition of the Art in Odd Places festival, a breath of fresh air during the September madness — quite literally, because it was outside on Manhattan’s 14th street (nor’easter notwithstanding).
And I implore you to read Lori Waxman’s review of Kenzi Shiokava’s intricate, exquisite wooden monuments at the MCA Chicago, for which he carved and burned railroad ties, balanced branches, stacked bones, and so much more. It’s a piece that moved even my implacable heart. “Every young artist should see this show,” Waxman writes, because he “lived a life in art that was slow, deliberate, sincere, joyful, and profoundly worthwhile.”
Finally, Hyperallergic members in NYC, please join us for a fun evening of studio visits at the International Studio & Curatorial Program this Wednesday featuring Alicia Grullón, Zoë Pulley, Erick Hernandez, Kara Springer, and others. Not a member yet? Join here.
—Lisa Yin Zhang, associate editor
Teresa Margolles and the Violence We Breathe
Minimalism’s potential lies in compressing a complex idea or feeling into a visually “simple” gesture — distilling its essence into an experience that cuts away the excess. In Teresa Margolles’s work, this unsparing trim attempts to show us something about ourselves: a system of violence so destructive that it reinforces and codifies notions of “us” and “them” across artificial borders, all in the name of capital.
Margolles’s first large-scale museum exhibition in the United States, En el lugar de los hechos (At the Scene), hosted by both MoMA PS1 and the Museum of Modern Art, showcases over 30 years of work by the artist. Born in Culiacán and based in Mexico City, Margolles addresses the heightened violence at sites along the US-Mexico border, specifically Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, Texas, but her examinations also mirror other sites of brutality. | Alex Santana
Read MoreCourse for Non-Curators: New Roles for a Changing Art Field
What comes after traditional curating? Institution School’s advanced program brings together artists, curators, and thinkers to explore new roles and formats for contemporary art. Learn with Hou Hanru, Onome Ekeh, Charles Esche, Chus Martínez, and others, while developing experimental “non-exhibitions” beyond traditional exhibition models.
News
- Unionized staff at the Whitney Museum of American Art are preparing to strike starting Monday, October 5 ahead of the preview week for late Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein's retrospective.
- Minnesotan activists unfurl a 24-foot-long "Stolen Neighbors" quilt representing the individuals disappeared by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Art Reviews
Kenzi Shiokava Did It for the Love of It
He modeled what a life in art can amount to without acclaim, celebrity, money, and all the other trappings we tell artists are required. | Lori Waxman
Read MoreA Broomstick in a Man’s World
In Emily Mae Smith’s surreal paintings, a symbol of women’s work becomes a weapon. | Rebecca Schiffman
Read MoreRuby City Presents “Generative Disruption: Feminist Art from the Collection”
This latest exhibition traces the enduring influence of feminist artistic practice on contemporary art. On view Sept 26 - Aug 29, 2027
Film Review
The Rough-and-Ready Brilliance of Barbara Hammer’s “Nitrate Kisses”
Newly restored in 4K, the film feels prescient as groups are once again being scapegoated for public health crises and financial instability. | Alexis Clements
Read MoreFeatures
Art in Odd Places Participants Seek Utopia Under Dark Clouds
The public art festival’s 21st edition unfolded across 14th Street throughout the nor’easter this past weekend. | Rhea Nayyar
Read MoreMuseum of the City of New York Inaugurates New Activism Center
Two exhibitions at the Puffin Foundation Center chronicle 250 years of organizing, social movements, and civic engagement in the city. | Rhea Nayyar
Read MoreGrounded in Grain, Washed in the Water
Black Southern traditions are not relics to be preserved behind glass, but dynamic systems of knowledge that continue to evolve.
Member Comment
— Blaise Tobia, on "An Unequal Artist Legacy Field Defines Who Gets to Be Remembered"
From the Archive
Where Funhouse Erotics Meet Art History
A volume of Hilary Harkness’s paintings enfolds us into surreal worlds of gender-bending militaries, feminine revenge, and alternative histories. | Alexis Clements
Read MoreISCP Ground Floor Studio Visits
Join Hyperallergic members, contributors, and staff for this exclusive studio event with ISCP’s NYC-based Ground Floor residents. Meet with the seven participating artists in their studios as they discuss their practice and work. There will be refreshments and snacks.
Deadline: September 30, 2026 | ransom.center