In the art world, we don’t talk often enough about the ways in which class defines museums—in particular, art museums—in that their contents are largely formed by the tastes and investments of the rich. There is no other conceivable explanation for the way institutions continue to represent the nation’s art largely as the work of individuals who are White and male. It is in this[…..]

In A Matter of Fact at San Francisco’s Museum of the African Diaspora, Toyin Ojih Odutola presents an elaborately conceived and completely imaginary history of the UmuEze Amara clan, as chronicled in a series of portrait drawings in pastel, charcoal, and pencil. A wall text in the main gallery states that these works were selected from the family’s extensive holdings of art and antiquities by[…..]

What does it mean to transcribe a work from one medium to another? Is the result a kind of translation, a form of documentation, a new piece of art, or all three? In a fascinating range of media—painting, video, found objects, weaving, and sound—Manila-based artist Gerardo Tan investigates these questions through three different projects presented in his solo exhibition Hablon Redux and Other Transcriptions at[…..]