Also, Coco Fusco asks: Where is Cuban artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara?
Peter Hujar never intended for his contact sheets to go on public view. But at the Morgan Library and Museum in Manhattan, an exhibition compels us to take a closer look at what was left on the photographer’s darkroom floor — magnifying glass included. Julia Curl considers the implications of approaching Hujar’s contact sheets as “excerpts of a conversation,” one that defined his approach to portraiture and photography.
Meanwhile, in our opinion section, Coco Fusco sounds the alarm about jailed Cuban performance artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, whose whereabouts are unknown after his unjust five-year sentence ended on Thursday.
The Louvre heist returns to the news, how album covers shape the way we experience music, and more in today’s edition.
—Lakshmi Rivera Amin, associate editor
Should We See Peter Hujar’s Contact Sheets?
The Morgan Library & Museum might be milking its Peter Hujar collection, but I’m not complaining. Hujar:Contact is the Morgan’s second solo exhibition of the photographer’s work, coming on the heels of its 2013 acquisition of his archive and a sweeping 2018 retrospective, Peter Hujar: Speed of Life. That exhibition was always going to be a tough act to follow, given the scale of the show, the impact of its reception, and Hujar’s importance as a key portraitist of New York City’s before-they-were-famous queer art scene. Nevertheless, it’s an unusual choice to mount an exhibition entirely dedicated to a photographer’s contact sheets, which by nature are not made for public consumption. | Julia Curl
Read MoreThrough powerful interviews and archival insight, Black Curators Matter chronicles the voices and visionaries who reshaped American museums from the 1970s to today.
News
- After months of near radio silence, two suspects held in pre-trial detention have revealed more information about their role in facilitating the Louvre Museum jewelry heist that shocked the world last October.
- Days after police arrested a man who had scaled and tagged a prominent Melbourne bridge with a cartoon bird dubbed “Pam the Bird,” thousands have called upon the city to preserve the graffiti artwork.
Features
How the Children’s Art Carnival in Harlem Nurtured Generations
Nearly six decades since its founding, the legacy of the beloved program is explored in an exhibition at Columbia University’s Wallach Art Gallery. | Jerry Elengical
Read MoreOpinions
Where Is Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara?
The Cuban artist’s whereabouts remain unknown, as do his fate and that of more than 800 political prisoners on the island. | Coco Fusco
Read MoreFrom Our Critics
The Album Art Music Left Behind
Two projects examine the visual art and design that shape our perception of music, from Raymond Pettibon’s Foo Fighters record covers to the ephemera of bygone bands. | Divya Mehra
Read MoreIndie Film From the Global Majority: BlackStar Celebrates 15 Years of Cinema for Liberation
The world’s most significant and groundbreaking filmmakers of color will gather to showcase their work in Philadelphia August 6-9.
From the Archive
The Cuban Artists Who Turned Havana’s May Day Parade Into a Protest
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Raychel Carrión used state-orchestrated political theater as a backdrop for their critiques of institutional power and mindless consent. | Coco Fusco
Read More