weekend links: Warsan Shire, Lisa Hanawalt, Art City Austin
Mathew Zefeldt, Abundant Still Life 2 (2015). On display at Art City Austin, courtesy Circuit12 Contemporary.
Before you experience Beyoncé thinkpiece fatigue, read Ashely Ray-Harris’s essay on why Lemonade is, above all else, a black album. Ray-Harris writes, “It’s easier to discuss Jay Z’s adultery or the Beyhive’s attempts to find ‘Becky with the good hair’ than it is to discuss the painful realities of the black female experience in America.” Which is why the whole Internet turned into an SNL skit this week. [A.V. Club]
And speaking of Lemonade: let’s learn about Warsan Shire, the Somali-British poet who contributed spoken word interludes to the album. She used to be the Young Poet Laureate of London! [Genius]
Angela Flournoy’s debut novel The Turner House has garnered staggering acclaim since its release. After spending some time with Flournoy in Detroit, Doree Shafrir explains why Flournoy is “a perfect writer for what may prove to be a post-white-male-novelist moment.” [Buzzfeed]
Israeli poet, musician, and artist Shira Erlichman talked mental illness, stigma, and art in an interview with Caitlin Shih. It’s long, but absolutely worth your time. [Nomadic Press]
We at fields love Lisa Hanawalt, the artist behind BoJack Horseman, so we’re delighted by the news of her upcoming food-centric book Hot Dog Taste Test. [The Paris Review]
Some of us also love the Olsen twins (we don’t why), so we were comparably delighted by news of the Brooklyn art exhibit The Olsen Twins Hiding From the Paparazzi. Yes, yes, it’s very “Peak Williamsburg,” but a museum dedicated to celebrity-worship culture actually sounds intriguing. [NYMag]
Why is Moscow being overrun by bad art? We’ll give you one guess. [The New Yorker]
Art City Austin starts today and runs through May 1 at the Palmer Events Center. Local favorites like grayDUCK Gallery, Co-Lab Projects, and Big Medium will be presenting work alongside top galleries from across Texas, including Beef Haus and Circuit12 Contemporary from Dallas and the Devin Borden Gallery from Houston. Don’t miss it! [Art Alliance Austin]
—Alyssa G. Ramirez