Going “Black to the Future”
How has Afrofuturism supported the imagining of other worlds in the face of the anthropogenic climate crisis?
The Genius of Georgette Chen
Little known outside of Singapore and Malaysia, Georgette Chen was an iconic artist of the Nanyang Style.
The Art of Renaissance Clothes
While Spanish Catholicism and reformatory Protestantism favored black clothing, much of the Renaissance happened in an explosion of color.
Eileen Gray: Architect In Her Own Right
Without formal training as an architect, Gray created magnificent designs that sensitively blended traditional craft with a modern aesthetic.
Paul Revere Williams: An Architect of Firsts
The first African American architect licensed in the state of California, Williams blazed a trail to the (Hollywood) stars.
Under Hokusai’s Great Wave
Hokusai’s watery woodblock print is such a common sight that most people tend to look past the peril at its center.
The “Refus Global”
Published in 1948 by the artist group Les Automatistes, the Refus Global manifesto challenged Québécois political, religious, and social traditions.
Reading “The Book of Nature”
Beginning in the Middle Ages, the natural world was viewed as a Christian parable, helping humans to give divine meaning to plants, animals, and the heavens.
Why We Love/Hate Brutalist Architecture
Developed in response to the post-World War II housing crisis, the once celebrated Brutalism quickly became an aesthetic only an architect could love.
Picturing Christina of Denmark
Christina of Milan, Duchess of Milan, used an unusual tool to avoid becoming one of Henry VIII's unfortunate wives—the royal portrait.