THIS WEEK IN THE ARTS

I don't know how easily we can put the Year 2025 behind us. Hard trodden, dull, confusing and sticky. The malaise may be hard to get rid of.

To prove my point:
1) The Oxford Dictionary tallies “Rage Bait” as the 2025 Word of the Year. Congrats. Another evolutionary step backward.
2) The color predictor Pantone has intuited 2026 as their first off-white color, Cloud Dancer, an uninteresting hue devoid of all hope and meaning.

In today's issue, we feature an article, "Is 2026 the Year of State-Sanctioned Art & Culture?" This topic pops up from time to time, throughout the centuries. Mamdani of New York will surely open state-sanctioned galleries once he gets the supermarkets up and running. Clean up in Aisle Five.

Editor's Note: 1) Government in the arts has never been a winning combination. That very seductive slippery slope is an invitation to the continuing Celebration of Mediocrity. 2) The art world is already a fertile buffet for money launderers, NGOs and open collar criminals. The idealistic art world is not strong enough to withstand the government grift.

I'm not sure how to say this politely. Polite isn't working. Like ripping a Band-Aid, I will just say it: This is a great time to be alive, as so many fascinating artists are dying.

News on the miraculous internet provides the obits of extraordinary artists I have never heard of. I learn of lives, dedicated to the arts. The challenges they faced, the ideas they chased, and the decisions they made are heroic tales. These are purpose-driven lives.

Death has plucked them from obscurity. Their pursuits and lifestyles are revealed, acknowledged and possibly understood. The last spotlight fades.

I find this inspirational. So does Rainey Knudson of Texas.

In this issue, we feature a Glasstire podcast "Discussing Obituaries and Generational Shifts." Arts writer Rainey Knudson is quoted, "I think that when we lose somebody in an art community, it’s just a passage to the next generation. In the larger sense, the more of these you experience, the more you really see the continuum over generations; and how each of us plays our role."

There is a new book, the first comprehensive biography of Louise Bourgeois and her very long life in the arts. The news of the book reminded me that an artist's life is not defined in the galleries. It is the daily living.

The Arts are a very wide berth. Its arms are open, with room for all interests. Action is everything, the documentation of our time, the true tell-all, the CV. Curiosity is a motivator for greater study. Maximal experience in all things. What a life!

Art Report Today .com

CRITICISM IN A POST-RACIAL SOCIETY

This bothered me. An event in mid-2025 blew through, like a chubasco, the fast moving, violent Pacific storm, that vanishes as fast as it appears.

The teapot for the tempest was the digital Film Media, a passionate band of cinema-lovers, critics, pundits, podcasters, prognosticators and bloggers. These news sites love to debate every aspect of cinema.

In 2025, "Sinners," a film by talented director Ryan Coogler was released. I even went to see the Jim Crow South period piece in a movie theatre; Art Report Today covered the production extensively.

The film was full of talent. Thespians Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld and Jack O'Connell lead an amazing cast. Score was composed by Ludwig Göransson. Coogler is a highly-accomplished and creative filmmaker. (Fruitvale Station, Creed, two Black Panther blockbusters).

"Sinners" is a mess of very beautiful intentions.

The Film Media began to review it. Not everyone felt the film was nothing less than a Cinematic Miracle. One said that "the cinematography may be a bit dim." Another stated that "the screenwriting might possibly miss several opportunities."

Suddenly, like a crash of Olympus thunder, a violent and very loud gaggle of Harpies descended upon the unenlightened film critics, furiously pecking at their flesh with cries of "Racist Hate Monger!"

Issues with the mise en scène? "Racist!" This deafening social media barrage was all Shock & Awe. Flatly stunned, the Film Media stood silent, gaping for words. No one bothered to mention "Sinners" again. Untouched, the mainstream entertainment media never spoke of it.

This weird kerfuffle nettled me.

Movie criticism was our last universal Safe Space.

Race has blatantly entered the world of criticism. And that never works out beautifully. This kind of thing would not exist in a Post-Racial society.

Now, with the Best Picture oddsmakers throwing their dice, "Sinners" is on a few, not all, racing forms. Like a chubasco, the Harpies are attacking Rolling Stone for their 'racist' exclusion of the film from their Best Of.

I will take leave and let the great film journo Jordan Ruimy explain the new assault. Click Here to read his "‘Sinners' Left Off Rolling Stone’s Top 20 of 2025 — Hive Mind Meltdown Ensues."

Art Report Today .com