Today the exhibition Come Along With Me opens at the OAC Riffe Gallery here in downtown Columbus. I was invited to curate this group exhibition by the Ohio Art League and it includes 18 artists from the state. Central to the thinking behind the exhibition is how the genre of the ancient philosophical handbook – […]
This morning I have been reading Describe the Distance, a short book by poet Quinn Latimer on the work of British artist Sarah Lucas. Early in the book Latimer introduces the topic of shame and with it the Greek concept of aidos. Why does the word “shame” come to me, settle on the edge of […]
The third issue of South as a State of Mind, which has been temporarily transformed into the publication for Documenta 14 and its focus on ‘Learning from Athens’, is devoted to the theme of ‘Hunger and Language’. Artist Moyra Davey begins her contribution to this issue (‘Walking with Nandita’) with her musing on which theme […]
I was leafing through the recent issue of Mousse that comprises a (SMALL) anthology of writings and interviews that have appeared in the magazine’s pages since 2006. In a 2010 piece about the performance artist Stuart Sherman, who died from AIDS in 2001, Johnatan Berger makes reference to a series of book reviews that Sherman […]
That such opposed vices, both the greatest arrogance and the greatest timidity, were to be found in the same person, I have no doubt in attributing to his mental infirmity. For this man, who had so little respect for the gods, would, at the slightest hint of thunder or lightning, close his eyes and over […]
Today, as hundreds of thousands participate in the Women’s March on Washington and around the world, protesting against the misogyny and bigotry ushered in by yesterday’s inauguration of a misogynist bigot, I am reminded of Nancy Spero’s powerful work that unites modern women with women from ancient cultures (e.g. Egypt, Near-East, Greece). While Spero’s work […]
At the beginning of his reign, he would spend hours alone every day doing nothing but catching flies and stabbing them with a needle-sharp pen – Suetonius Domitian – Pablo Ríos, sketch for Presidente Trump: Dios perdone a América
– O troubled humanity! O the emptiness of life! – Who wants to read about that? – Are you asking me? No one, by Hercules! – No one? – No one or two. –That’s wretched, pathetic. You know how to serve up warm tripe, Make a shivering client the gift of a second-hand cloak, Then […]
Dear Adam Pendleton, I want to write about your Black Dada project but I have no idea how to connect it to Classics, the ancient cultures of Greece and Rome. Do you have any suggestions? Black Dada is a way to talk about the future while talking about the past; it is our present moment. […]
