“Mark Armijo McKnight: Decreation”
Where: The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
When: Through January 12, 2025
What It Is: A concise, starkly beautiful group of images and a breathtaking film by photographer Mark Armijo McKnight in the museum’s lobby gallery that offers a contemplative and humane vision of bodies and landscape.
Why It’s Worth a Look: Armijo McKnight has depicted Brown and queer subjects throughout his career, merging an expansive vision of sexuality with the exhilarating vistas of Southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. "Decreation" is a spiritual experience—plus a little lesson on the radical French philosopher-mystic Simone Weil and the American Modernists who found inspiration in the desert if you want it! Admission to the lobby gallery is free. And starting mid-December, admission to the whole museum will be free for visitors under the age of 25.
–Johanna Fateman, Co-Chief Art Critic
Lady Gaga’s Jazz Standards Galore
Where: Streaming, or your living room record player if you prefer the scratch of vinyl when spinning jazz
What It Is: This September, Lady Gaga released Harlequin, a slightly confusing companion piece to her widely panned new film, Joker: Folie à Deux. The album, a rotation of covers, was readily considered a side project, a palette cleanser ahead of LG7. Hardly different than her Tony Bennett collaborations, critics wrote dismissively. In other words, “hardly worth listening to.” And, admittedly, hardly anyone did.
Why It’s Worth a Look: Is Harlequin worth your 41 minutes and 27 seconds, I’m not sure. I do find myself cracking into “That’s Life” and “That’s Entertainment” repeatedly, but I won’t stand for hand-waving over the Bennett and Gaga collaborations Love For Sale and Cheek to Cheek. These jazz standards are a gift bestowed by two generations of top-notch vocalists. Love For Sale is the last album from 20-time Grammy winner Bennett, recorded in the early stages of Alzheimer's and marking his retirement at 95, before he passed just two years later. The songs are littered with echoes of his laughter, his voice still as pliable as ever, and Gaga’s admiration for the late musician is audible in perhaps some of the brightest vocals she’s laid down on a track yet. Do take a listen during your next commute or cocktail party.
–Sophie Lee, Associate Digital Editor
“Color in Motion: Chromatic Explorations of Cinema”
Where: Academy Museum, Los Angeles
When: Through July 13, 2025
What It Is: This exhibition beautifully explores the role of color in film, starting from the early technology and artistry that made it possible to use color as a narrative tool that engages emotions and psychology.
Why It’s Worth a Look: Before I started working in art, I used to be a filmmaker and a real film nerd. I’ve always been fascinated by old silent films, black and white classics, and sexy Blaxploitation cinema of the 1970s. This new exhibition at the Academy Museum takes a deep dive into how color made its way on screen. To think that actual artists used to literally paint film frame by frame is absolutely insane and a reminder of how we take modern technology for granted. Movies took so much work to make back in the day and now we just easily slap on filters in sepia, black and white, and high chromas to make it look like old cinema. I was obsessed with the “rainbow room” where the whole spectrum of the rainbow is shone through a wardrobe that includes the red slippers worn by Dorothy, the cutest little pink ensemble worn by Shirley Temple, and the iconic green and yellow Clovers cheerleading uniform worn by Gabrielle Union in Bring It On. Highly recommend!
–Dominique Clayton, Contributing Editor
“Making Home: Smithsonian Design Triennial”
Where: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York
When: November 2 through August 10, 2025
What It Is: Like its six predecessors, “Making Home” captures the creative spirit of design but takes a significant step forward. For the first time, the Cooper Hewitt collaborates with the National Museum of African American History and Culture, broadening the exhibition’s scope. It is also the first triennial in which the show’s curators have commissioned all the works, giving artists and architects funding and a mandate to design whatever they wished.
Why It’s Worth a Look: Perhaps the triennial’s greatest depth lies in its expansive definition of home. The exhibition features 25 site-specific installations throughout the museum, inviting visitors to explore diverse interpretations of this theme. The works don’t always represent conventional notions of home design, prompting me to question my own beliefs about what it means to make home. Most impressively, the "reopening" of the mansion allows light to flood in, revealing the old splendor of the Carnegie family's former residence, and experiencing these ideas in the context of a former home enhances the impact of this innovative exhibition.
– Colin King, Design Editor-at-Large
Reddit’s Remembrance of Perfumes Past
Where: r/Perfumes "Bottle Identification" tag
What It Is: Haunted by scent memories, redditors upload lo-fi sketches of fragrance bottles to r/Perfumes in hopes that one of the subreddit’s 145K members can ID the mystery scent. In the past week, Bottle Identification requests have spiked, sparking debate around the need to enact a “Mystery Bottle Mondays Only” rule.
Why It’s Worth a Look: Beauty escapism at its best—each Bottle Identification post is a genre-perfect mystery, complete with sympathetic protagonists, tenacious detectives, frustrating red herrings, and, usually within just 24 hours, a satisfying "yes that’s it!" denouement. Yet there’s also bittersweet, real-world emotion behind each quest—someone seeking the “pretty and effervescent” childhood eau that they would spritz on letters from the Tooth Fairy; someone, a very real someone, who lost their mother in 2018, looking for her signature scent, one that’s “rich and deep but sweet… what a dark red lipstick would smell like.” As for the bottle illustrations? Pure magic. “The hand-drawn posts seemed to get found much faster than people who have photos of their actual bottles,” says r/Perfumes moderator u/Jadybug via DM. “I especially love the posts when the drawing seems crazily abstract, and someone finds it and it’s actually a pretty spot on drawing of just a very strangely shaped bottle.” Grown-ups, some who haven’t drawn anything since middle school, sketching and sharing those sketches with strangers?! Exactly what I need right now.
–Emily Dougherty, Beauty Editor
Shadows Lifted from Invisible Hands by James Hoff
Where: Bandcamp
What It Is: I've known and admired James Hoff's work with Primary Information and as a poet, but I was unaware of his work as a musician. I've been listening to his latest release, Shadows Lifted from Invisible Hands.
Why It’s Worth a Look: He describes it as "ambient" music but, while great for writing and reading to, it is more active and dynamic than that description suggests. Can't argue with the gorgeous Jack Whitten painting on the cover, either.
–John Vincler, Co-Chief Art Critic
"Carol Szymanski: the fall (recirculation): 1st movement"
Where: Torn Page, New York
When: November 17, 2024, at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
What It Is: A one-night-only sound performance featuring live musicians and alphabetical horns.
Why It’s Worth a Look: Szymanski's brass horns, which she molded into alphabetical shapes, are intriguing as sculptures on their own. But it's a rare delight to see them played by professional musicians, as she did in 2021 with the late avant-garde trumpeter Jaimie Branch at the Park Avenue Armory. This composition, inspired by James Joyce, is the first movement out of six that Szymanski has planned. Reserve a seat in advance for one of the evening's two sets.
–Rachel Corbett, Contributing Editor
"Winter Baby / New Jersey Blues" by 070 Shake
Where: Your local streaming platform—or YouTube if you want to see Lily Rose Depp bop around in a cute pink number
What It Is: The first single off of Petrichor, 070 Shake's third album, slated to drop Nov. 15
Why It’s Worth a Look: Our Summer issue cover star—and my forever crush—serves up a sleepy banger here. Steeped in holiday-coded ersatz and a substance-induced haze (booze, weed, cherry syrup medicine, toxic fumes, and processed foods), the succinct song is an ode to yearning anyone can get behind. Winter blues have never sounded this hot.
–Ella Martin-Gachot, Senior Editor
