All posts tagged: Contemporary

In the Midst of a Crisis: Relational Liberalism and the Contemporary Challenges to Democratic Legitimacy

In the Midst of a Crisis: Relational Liberalism and the Contemporary Challenges to Democratic Legitimacy

Published by Jenni Sidey

Contemporary democratic societies are in the midst of a legitimacy crisis. This crisis relates to different dimensions of democracy: a breakdown in meaningful representation of citizens’ interests; a spreading tendency to resort to an unrestrained use of power that calls into question the liberal-democratic promise to protect individual rights and to cater to a stable system of checks and balances; and extreme and widening asymmetries in the distribution of power, status, and wealth among citizens. It is therefore not surprising that political theorists are called to investigate and possibly propose a way out from the so-called phenomenon of democratic backsliding, that is, a spreading perception that democratic ideals and practices are losing ground in the face of contemporary authoritarian and illiberal challenges and populist waves. As a general diagnosis, we can posit that these phenomena, although different in quality and relating to different aspects of democracy, are fostered by a general and widespread erosion of trust. This erosion of trust concerns both the horizontal relationships between fellow citizens as members of the same polity and …

Can You Still Hack Being a Contemporary Art Curator?

Can You Still Hack Being a Contemporary Art Curator?

Published by Jenni Sidey

With a world in crisis and an art market spinning out of control, ace art-world consultants Chen & Lampert deliver a quiz full of hard choices for Art in America readers from far and wide. You landed a desirable museum job as a contemporary art curator in the mid-2000s and quickly became a power broker on the scene. Back then you sashayed into openings, boogied at afterparties, waltzed through studio visits, and grooved with young artists. A couple decades later, you have two grade-schoolers, a mortgage, and limited energy to discover what is happening in Bushwick. Can you still do your job without going out raging every night? Take this quiz to find out if you are still plugged in or ready for hair plugs. Related Articles 1. You try to reference a contemporary artist in a panel talk but instead blurt out: a) Seth Priceb) Charlie Kirkc) Luigi Mangione 2. A junior curator suggests a survey exhibition of artists born after 2000. You think: a) Maybe my kid can be in itb) Are you familiar with a similar …

Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale Names Artists for 2026 Edition

Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale Names Artists for 2026 Edition

Published by José Betancourt

The Diriyah Biennale Foundation has announced the artists participating in the third edition of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, opening on January 30, in the JAX District, an industrial zone that has been converted into an arts complex in Diriyah, near the capital city of Riyadh. Taking the title “In Interludes and Transitions,” this edition of the Biennale will be curated by Nora Razian and Sabih Ahmed and feature more than 65 artists, alongside over 20 new commissions. Razian, deputy director and head of exhibitions and programs at Art Jameel, and Ahmed, projects director of the Ishara Art Foundation, have positioned the exhibition around the movement of histories, knowledge, and artistic practices across time and place. Related Articles The artist list brings together historic figures, established mid-career artists, and emerging voices working across painting, installation, film, sound, architecture, and publishing. They include Pacita Abad, Etel Adnan, Samia Halaby, Raven Chacon, Dineo Seshee Bopape, Petrit Halilaj, Daniel Lind-Ramos, Guadalupe Maravilla, Nour Mobarak, Gala Porras-Kim, and Raqs Media Collective. The announcement comes amid a surge of cultural and …

Richard Smallwood, contemporary gospel musician known for ‘Total Praise,’ dies at 77

Richard Smallwood, contemporary gospel musician known for ‘Total Praise,’ dies at 77

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — Richard Smallwood, a singer and pianist best known for his contemporary gospel music hit “Total Praise,” died Tuesday (Dec. 30). Smallwood was 77. He died of complications of kidney failure at a rehabilitation and nursing center in Sandy Spring, Maryland, his publicist announced. Nominated eight times for a Grammy Award, the Stellar and Dove awardee was known for combining Black gospel and classical genres of music. His ubiquitous song “Total Praise,” introduced with his group Vision in 1996, was later covered in the group Destiny’s Child’s a capella “Gospel Medley,” performed by a cantor at New York’s Carnegie Hall and sung by a choir when President Barack Obama welcomed Pope Francis to the White House. “When you write a particular piece, you have no idea what’s going to become of it — will people like it, or will people sing it?” he told Religion News Service in a 2024 interview when he was honored at the Kennedy Center. “And so, to see the years of people embracing it really means a lot to …

Somerset’s Unlikely Contemporary Art Scene is a Welcome Departure from the UK’s London-Centric Thinking

Somerset’s Unlikely Contemporary Art Scene is a Welcome Departure from the UK’s London-Centric Thinking

Published by José Betancourt

Knocking back fine wine, fermented potato brioche, and smoked eel in a Michelin-starred restaurant is not a traditional West Country endeavor. Nor is wandering around a mega-gallery. But I was recently at Hauser & Wirth Somerset in Bruton with a bellyful of Osip’s tasting menu, looking at Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely’s joint exhibition, “Myths & Machines.” Tinguely’s scrapyard sculptures were juxtaposed with de Saint Phalle’s bold, colorful visions. In one work from 1988, La Grande Tête, the late couple’s practices fuse into a tangle of iron, wood, an electric motor, bungee cord, and lightbulbs. Had I been standing there just over a decade ago, I’d likely have been confronted by hay bales instead of high art. The gallery occupies an old farm on the edge of town, and its transformation is emblematic of Somerset’s unlikely metamorphosis into a contemporary art hotspot. Manuela and Iwan Wirth, the founders of the powerhouse gallery, owned a home in Somerset before branching out commercially there in 2014. In doing so, they drew the eyes of the …