Listening to Clay sheds light on how Japanese clay workers went from skilled production craftspeople to fine artists, transforming the country’s culture in the process.
Books
London’s History, Washed Up on the Shores of the Thames
Author Malcolm Russell’s novel approach to history — finding it as it washes up on the riverbanks — makes the past seem very much alive.
The German Modernist Who Painted a Multicultural United States
From the Blackfeet reservation to Harlem, Winold Reiss immersed himself in the world of the people he represented, forming close ties with many individuals.
Lynne Tillman Explores How Her Mother Was Transformed by Aging and Illness
Doubt and uncertainty mark her account of family inheritance, photographic portraiture, and eldercare.
Women of Color Who Weave Connections Through Craft
Each voice in This Long Thread intersects to reveal the collective chronicles, struggles, and triumphs of women of color in today’s craft landscape.
The Wisdom and Wonder of India’s Leading Art Historian
The riches of literature, painting, poetry, and mysticism pervade a collection of essays by B.N. Goswamy, which showcase the lyrical fluidity of his prose.
The History of Malls as Sites of Racism and Surveillance
Alexandra Lange’s book Meet Me by the Fountain traces the evolution of shopping malls, environments that were initially designed to serve White women with children.
The Patrons Who Sustained Sophie Taeuber-Arp
The letters between Taeuber-Arp and her patroness, Annie Müller-Widmann, show the usually invisible tending that goes into an artist-patron relationship.
God Just Wants Us to Love Her Back
In a new graphic novel, author and cartoonist Liana Finck recasts the famously vengeful and masculine biblical God as an insecure and emotional female deity.
The Iranian Poet Who Became an American Action Painter
A new book introduces two Manoucher Yektais: the stateless, anti-historical Modernist painter and the poet writing narrative verse exclusively in Farsi.
When a Woman Chooses Art Over All Else
Both Celia Paul and Gwen John oriented their lives around being artists and were diverted by romantic entanglements with famous male artists that reduced them to muses. Was it worth it?
Justine Kurland Cuts the Male Canon to Pieces
In SCUMB Manifesto, Kurland slices up her collection of photo books by men to create collages that subvert the male gaze.