ROUND-UP NOVEMBER 16-20, 2017

Hello! For this next batch of pieces, I present reviews for The Young Folks, Whitehot, and the Humble Arts Foundation. Enjoy!

• "A View of One's Own: Three Eras of Women Photograph Rome." Humble Arts Foundation blog, November 16, 2017.

"Viewed alongside the photograph of the contemporary family, who is very much alive, we can think of this dialogue as hinting at a change in how Van Deman came to conceptualize her work: the image of the family reminds us—and her—of the very real human lives being studied and sought after in the excavation depicted in the previous photograph."

• "'The Square' Satirizes and Condemns the Art World, and Us." Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art, November 20, 2017.

"The video assumes a sympathy for the homeless that does not exist in practice, allowing the film to point out the hypocrisy of society at large. There are many, many shots in The Square of homeless people begging, whether leaning on crutches or merely holding out a cup, and many, many shots of commuters ignoring them as they go on their way. But once the museum’s video for The Square goes viral, suddenly the media and public are aghast at the abuse the video implies, creating a well-deserved image fiasco. The question remains: can a museum be truly for the public, and fulfill its role in the public square, if it serves only the privileged and disregards those who are not?"

• "The City of Brass is a Promising #OwnVoices Debut." The Young Folks, November 20, 2017.

"One of the highlights of The City of Brass is Nahri’s and Dara’s fire-and-ice combativeness at the beginning of their journey; naturally, they develop feelings for one another even as Nahri snarks at Dara and Dara rolls his eyes at Nahri. Yet as entertaining as Nahri’s and Dara’s increasingly romantically-charged interactions are, the most complex and notable character is Ali, son of the ruler of the City of Brass and true second protagonist of the novel."