The Modern Art Notes Podcast

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Summer clips: Sofonisba's Lesson (new edition) Aug 13, 2026

Show notes

Episode No. 771 of The Modern Art Notes Podcast is a summer clips episode featuring art historian Michael W. Cole.

Princeton University Press has just published Cole's Sofonisba's Lesson, New Edition: A Renaissance Artist and Her Work. The book updates Cole's 2020 edition of the book, an assessment of Sofonisba Anguissola (1532–1625), a pathbreaking painter who substantially made it possible for women to be students of art. Bookshop and Amazon offers Sofonisba's Lesson for $63-68.

Cole's book considers Sofonisba Anguissola's art, how her background, teaching and learning were important to her career and art, and how her relationships with her father Amilcare, her teacher Bernardino Campi, Michelangelo and a series of royals and royal courts resulted in her work — and in work attributed to her.

This new, expanded volume offers new considerations of paintings whose status has been uncertain, and provides an up-to-date illustrated catalogue of over 200 known paintings and drawings that have been associated with Sofonisba. Cole is a professor of art history and archaeology at Columbia University.

This episode was taped in 2020, when Princeton published the first edition of the book. For images, see Episode No. 457.

Air date: August 13, 2026.

Museum responses to fascism (or not) Aug 06, 2026

Show notes

Episode No. 770 features former museum director, former Association of Art Museum Directors president, and Souls Grown Deep president Maxwell L. Anderson, and Oakland Museum of California director Lori Fogarty.

With the Trump administration and its Congressional allies having threatened, diminished, or attacked national cultural institutions such as the National Gallery of Art, the Kennedy Center, and increasingly the Smithsonian Institution, Anderson discusses whether the sector's response to government hostility has been appropriate. The first, and perhaps only museum to speak out after the most recent Trump administration attacks on Smithsonian museums and the directors was the Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles. (JANM will be hosting National Museum of American History director Anthea Hartig, the director the administration has most recently attacked, for a live program on August 22.) The Association of Art Museum Directors has not spoken about administration attacks on federal museum institutions since this December 2025 statement. The American Alliance of Museums "condemned" the Trump administrations attacks nearly two weeks after JANM issued its statement.

Read and/or subscribe to Anderson's Art Scoping Substack.

Museums also do internal work to meet our moment. Fogarty joins the program to discuss how museums and their staffs best work within their community and in ways that advance their communities values, especially in ways that go beyond narrow, essentializing approaches to administration, exhibitions, and more.

Read Fogarty's recent The Art Newspaper op-ed, "Museums are civic institutions. It's time we acted like it."

Air date: August 6, 2026.

Remembering Betye Saar Jul 30, 2026

Show notes

Episode No. 769 features a conversation with Betye Saar recorded in 2016. Saar died on Sunday a few days short of her one hundredth birthday.

Saar, known especially for her use of assemblage and her often pioneering address of complicated and often troubling US, and diasporic African and Caribbean histories, was one of the most influential artists of the last 60 years. Generations of artists, including Saar's artist-daughters Lezley and Alison, have found Saar's work foundational.

Even though Saar was recognized around the world as among the most influential artists of late-twentieth and early twenty-first century United States, remarkably, shamefully, and revealingly, none of Saar's hometown art museums ever launched a retrospective of her work.

Saar was a guest on The Modern Art Notes Podcast in 2016 on the occasion of a survey of her work organized by De Domijnen (which was formerly known as Museum Het Domein) in Sittard, the Netherlands in partnership with Scottsdale (Ariz.) Museum of Contemporary Art. For images of artworks discussed in this conversation, see Episode No. 222.

Air date: July 30, 2026.

Derrick Adams Jul 23, 2026

Show notes

Episode No. 768 features artist Derrick Adams.

The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston is presenting "Derrick Adams: View Master" through September 7. It is the first mid-career survey of Adams' twenty-year career. The exhibition was curated by Dexter Wimberly and Tessa Bachi Haas. An Adams monograph was published by Monacelli in association with Gagosian, an art dealership chain, last year in anticipation of the exhibition.

Adams' work celebrates contemporary Black Life in works that emphasize joy and leisure. Among the institutions presenting solo exhibitions of his work are the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver. His work is in collection of museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond; the Studio Museum in Harlem; and Adams' hometown Baltimore Museum of Art.

Series of Adams' work discussed on the program:

Instagram: Derrick Adams, Tyler Green.

Air date: July 23, 2026.

Young Joon Kwak; "The Crossing" Jul 16, 2026

Show notes

Episode No. 767 features artist Young Joon Kwak and curator Laura Igoe.

Kwak is featured in the 2026 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Curated by Drew Sawyer and Marcela Guerrero with assistance from Beatriz Cifuentes and Carina Martinez, it's on view through August 23.

Kwak uses sculpture, performance, and collective action to explore bodily transformation, intimacy, and the politics of visibility. Through visually lush, often highly detailed sculptures, Kwak challenges traditional and dominant modes of representation while manifesting ways that trans and queer bodies might be seen. Kwak is the co-founder of Mutant Salon and lead performer in the electronic-dance-noise band Xina Xurner with Marvin Astorga. They have had solo exhibitions at museums such as the Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, University of California, Berkeley; the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, New York; and ARKO Art Center, Seoul. Kwak's work is in the collections of BAMPFA, the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento; the Dallas Museum of Art; the Speed Art Museum, Louisville; and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Igoe is the curator of "The Crossing: Picturing the American Revolution" at the Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Penn. The exhibition looks at how artists have represented Continental Army commander-in-chief George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776. Upon reaching the New Jersey side of the river, Washington and his troops would attack carousing Hessian mercenary soldiers fighting for the British, earning a pivotal victory for the Patriots. "The Crossing" is particularly interested in how artists have built on and 'refuted' Emanuel Leutze's famed 1851 Washington Crossing the Delaware, which is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The exhibition is on view through January 10, 2027.

As discussed on the program:

Kwak's Glitter Mani Festo.

Igoe was a guest on Episode No. 732, when she discussed her election to the Jenkintown, Penn. school board.

Instagram: Young Joon Kwak, Laura Igoe, Tyler Green.

Air date: July 16, 2026.

Marcel Duchamp, Nic Nicosia Jul 09, 2026

Show notes

Episode No. 766 of The Modern Art Notes Podcast features curators Matthew Affron, Michelle Kuo, and Ann Temkin, and artist Nic Nicosia.

The Museum of Modern Art, New York is presenting "Marcel Duchamp" through August 22. The exhibition, the first Duchamp retrospective in the United States since 1973, features over 300 works from across Duchamp's career. The show was curated by Affron, Kuo, and Temkin, with assistance from with Alexandra "Lo" Drexelius, Helena Klevorn, Danielle Cooke, and Julia Vázquez. MoMA has published a catalogue for the show; Amazon offers it for $63.

The Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas is showing "Nic Nicosia: Everyday Surreal" through August 16. The exhibition surveys the last 25 years of Nicosia's career (the period since a 1999-2000 mid-career retrospective) a time during which he has particularly focused on sculpture, films, and drawing. The exhibition was curated by Jed Morse. The Nasher has published a valuable catalogue of the exhibition. It is available from the museum.

Air date: July 9, 2026.

Holiday clips: Hew Locke Jul 02, 2026

Show notes

Episode No. 765 is a holiday clips episode featuring artist Hew Locke.

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston is presenting "Hew Locke: Passages," the first US survey of Locke's career, through September 13. Across sculpture, painting, photography and installations, Locke's work considers colonialism, its power, and the ways in which we respond to colonialism and its impacts. Locke, who is Guyanese-British, particularly focuses on British imperialism and how it was constructed, including through monarchy, trade, and (sometimes forced) migration. The show was curated by Martina Droth. The catalogue, which was edited by Droth and Allie Biswas, was published by the YCBA. Bookshop and Amazon offer it for $60-70. In-gallery materials are available here in both English and Spanish.

Locke's work has been featured in solo exhibitions at The British Museum, London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Tate Britain, London, the Institute of Contemporary Art / Boston, Pérez Art Museum Miami, and more.

In addition to the images below, here are links to works and exhibitions discussed on the program:

Hew Locke, Ark, 1994.
Hew Locke, Menace to Society (series), 1999-2001.
Hew Locke, The Nameless, 2010.
"Hew Locke: what have we here" at the British Museum;
"A Conspiracy of Icons: The Art of Donald Locke," at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; and
"The Other Story: Afro-Asian Artists in Post-War Britain" at the Hayward Gallery, London.

Instagram: Hew Locke, Tyler Green.

Air date: July 2, 2026.

Louis Fratino Jun 25, 2026

Show notes

Episode No. 764 features artist Louis Fratino.

The Baltimore Museum of Art is exhibiting "Fratino and Matisse: To See This Light Again" through September 6. The exhibition shows how Matisse -- specifically Baltimore's great Matisse collection -- has informed Fratino's painting. The exhibition was co-curated by Virginia Anderson and Katy Rothkopf.

Fratino, who earned his undergraduate degree at Baltimore's Maryland Institute College of Art, often depicts intimate personal spaces and experiences, usually by centering queer life and the male body. His work has been the subject of a solo show at the FLAG Art Foundation, New York; he has been included in group exhibitions at museums such as the Long Island Museum, Stony Brook, NY; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, the RISD Museum, Providence; and the Columbus Museum of Art. His work is well-collected by art museums such as the Art Institute of Chicago, the British Museum, London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the MCA Chicago, and the MFA Houston.

Air date: June 25, 2026.

Summer clips: Jes Fan Jun 18, 2026

Show notes

Episode No. 763 is a summer clips episode featuring artist Jes Fan.

The Yale University Art Gallery is presenting "Jes Fan: Unbounded" through June 28. The exhibition spotlights how Fan makes sculptures that combine elegant abstract forms with an experimental and innovative approach to materials. Fan's sculptures often explore the porousness of identity, and incorporate living matter, such hormones, and fluids, such as glass. Fan's work has been exhibited in the 2024 Whitney Biennial, the 2022 Venice Biennale, the 2021 New Museum Triennial at the New Museum, New York, the MIT List Visual Arts Center, the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, and more.

As mentioned on the program:

Stills from Fan's 2023 video Palimpsest.
Byung-Chul Han's book Saving Beauty.

For more images, see Episode No. 658.

John Akomfrah Jun 11, 2026

Show notes

Episode No. 762 features artist John Akomfrah.

The Menil Collection, Houston is showing "John Akomfrah: The Hour of The Dog" through October 11. The work, co-commissioned by the Menil and the Baltimore Museum of Art, explores the history of the US civil rights movement between 1954 and 1963. The presentation was curated by Michelle White and Cecilia Wichmann.

Akomfrah is one of the world's most celebrated film-based artists. His work often investigates memory, colonialism, diaspora, and the intersection of time and aesthetics. He has had solo exhibitions at several Smithsonian museums, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and at the Tate Britain. He represented the UK in the 2024 Venice Biennale, a year after the UK honored him with a knighthood.

This is Akomfrah's third time on the program. His previous visits were on Episode No. 332 and Episode No. 339.

Air date: June 11, 2026.

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