Artblog | Essays

June 11, 2020 by Kinaya Hassane

The times are not unprecedented, thoughts on Lorna Simpson, the archive, double consciousness

At this traumatic time art can feel frivolous, but these two exhibitions spark a necessary conversation about Black fragmentation and subverting the archive.

June 6, 2020 by Jessica Rizzo

‘Too much history harms the living,’ Frank Rizzo statue removed at last

Jessica Rizzo writes that art is no match for men wielding baseball bats or militarized police, but the removal of this statue is well worth celebrating.

June 3, 2020 by Ilana Napoli

Artists of ‘Yes In My Front Yard’ (YIMFY) on future of the arts post-COVID-19

In part two of this two-part essay on ‘Yes in My Front Yard” (YIMFY), a public installation in West Philly, Ilana Napoli speaks with curators and artists Daniel Tucker, Emily Bunker, Li Sumpter and Lucia Thomé about the flaws of the current arts infrastructure and reimagining the future post-COVID-19.

April 29, 2020 by Dereck Stafford Mangus

On Dwelling, Anatomy and Architecture during Coronavirus

Dereck Mangus muses on the many different ways through time that the language of bodies and architecture have mirrored each other, and asks us to consider how our COVID-19 confinement has suddenly made us “strangers in a familiar land.”

April 24, 2020 by Mandy Palasik

What feminist artist Natalia LL’s introspective work can teach us about social distancing

In this time of social distancing, Artblog’s Mandy Palasik reflects on the importance of feminist art pioneer Natalia LL’s controversial work.

April 22, 2020 by guest writer

Artful humanism, a critical and personal tribute to Judy Gelles

Artblog guest writer Martin Rosenberg pays tribute to the late Judy Gelles, accomplished and beloved Philadelphia photographer and creator of “The Fourth Grade Project.”

April 20, 2020 by Blaise Tobia and Virginia Maksymowicz

What’s next? Visual Arts on the downside of the Covid-19 curve

Blaise Tobia and Virginia Maksymowicz co-author an essay about the aftermath of the Covid-19 closures on the arts community, and speculate on possible alternative models.

April 13, 2020 by Natalie Sandstrom

A view from inside the closed museum system

Natalie Sandstrom shares her thoughts on the current state of being an arts administrator as institutions shutter their brick-and-mortar locations due to COVID-19.