The Critics' Table The Big Picture Art

A.I., Income Inequality, and Labor Organizing: Two New Exhibitions Take on the World of Work

John Vincler reviews two contemplative New York gallery shows, at Bridget Donahue and Maxwell Graham, on the lives of working people and, maybe, the origins for our current political moment.

  • February 5, 2025
kenneth-tam-artist
Kenneth Tam, "The Medallion” (Installation View), 2025. Image courtesy of the artist and Bridget Donahue.

Kenneth Tam through March 8
Bridget Donahue | 99 Bowery, 2nd Floor

Fred Lonidier through March 1
Maxwell Graham | 55 Hester Street

A collective chortle was almost audible when the Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek debuted a product that was competitive with those of U.S. companies, brought to market in less time and with just a fraction of the start-up capital. But investors in the California-headquartered chipmaker Nvidia weren’t laughing when its stock lost $589 billion of its market value last Monday in response, the biggest drop ever for a U.S. company.

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