Hrag Vartanian
@hrag.bsky.social
Art Critic Futurist 🧬 Editor-at-large, cofounder of Hyperallergic 🗽 Aleppo born, Toronto raised, Brooklyn based
I tweet about a lot of stuff because art doesn't exist in a vacuum.
I tweet about a lot of stuff because art doesn't exist in a vacuum.
This is the question of the moment.
Why does Clarissa, the largest Penguin, not simply eat the other Penguins?
November 13, 2025 at 1:22 AM
This is the question of the moment.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
Local media is calling it: Katie Wilson will be the next mayor of Seattle.
Wilson ousts Mayor Bruce Harrell after running as a progressive challenger.
Her win is a west coast companion to Mamdani’s as a statement victory for the left.
Wilson ousts Mayor Bruce Harrell after running as a progressive challenger.
Her win is a west coast companion to Mamdani’s as a statement victory for the left.
November 13, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Local media is calling it: Katie Wilson will be the next mayor of Seattle.
Wilson ousts Mayor Bruce Harrell after running as a progressive challenger.
Her win is a west coast companion to Mamdani’s as a statement victory for the left.
Wilson ousts Mayor Bruce Harrell after running as a progressive challenger.
Her win is a west coast companion to Mamdani’s as a statement victory for the left.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
i have said this before but i think that the people who were “charmed” by epstein wanted to be charmed
honestly one of the most striking things about epstein's emails is the fact that the man, described in many places as "a genius," is essentially subliterate
November 13, 2025 at 12:57 AM
i have said this before but i think that the people who were “charmed” by epstein wanted to be charmed
I wrote a deeply personal essay that hopes to explain @pyaariazaadi.bsky.social’s art and how so much is outside the frame of her gallery art and how it represents a new wave of practitioners challenging us!
Pyaari Azaadi’s Epic Mission to Mend the World
Our relationship as artist and critic deepened in a profoundly unexpected way as we faced darkness together.
hyperallergic.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:32 PM
I wrote a deeply personal essay that hopes to explain @pyaariazaadi.bsky.social’s art and how so much is outside the frame of her gallery art and how it represents a new wave of practitioners challenging us!
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
Meet Yaa’kub Ira Vijandre. He’s the US’ latest political prisoner.
His detention is designed to send the message that anything noncitizens post in support of disfavored causes can be labeled a deportable threat to national security.
His detention is designed to send the message that anything noncitizens post in support of disfavored causes can be labeled a deportable threat to national security.
ICE Caged This Man For His Instagram Posts And Likes
New details about Yaa'kub Ira Vijandre's detention show his posts supporting Palestine and the wrongfully convicted representing, in Homeland Security's eyes, support for terrorism
www.forever-wars.com
November 11, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Meet Yaa’kub Ira Vijandre. He’s the US’ latest political prisoner.
His detention is designed to send the message that anything noncitizens post in support of disfavored causes can be labeled a deportable threat to national security.
His detention is designed to send the message that anything noncitizens post in support of disfavored causes can be labeled a deportable threat to national security.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
New diagram of Mamdani’s city hall.
November 10, 2025 at 11:22 PM
New diagram of Mamdani’s city hall.
Saw Meet the Cartozians and it was clever and thoughtful, while being quirky and easy to watch. Recommended.
Meet the Cartozians Tickets | New York Theatre Guide
Book theatre tickets for Meet the Cartozians in New York. Tony Award winner David Cromer directs this sharp new play about two generations of Armenian Americans.
www.newyorktheatreguide.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Saw Meet the Cartozians and it was clever and thoughtful, while being quirky and easy to watch. Recommended.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
This was v good, thank you, as a Dreyfus primer open.spotify.com/episode/4nWx...
November 8, 2025 at 11:49 AM
This was v good, thank you, as a Dreyfus primer open.spotify.com/episode/4nWx...
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
❤️ American Meritocracy
archive.ph/9JeYZ
archive.ph/9JeYZ
November 7, 2025 at 6:52 PM
❤️ American Meritocracy
archive.ph/9JeYZ
archive.ph/9JeYZ
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
Kevin, what if I told you that him refusing to meet with you and your buddies is exactly why people voted for him?
Canadian multimillionaire and Shark Tank guy Kevin O'Leary went on TV to say he's upset Zohran won't talk to him: "I and others who invest in real estate have tried to get a meeting to figure out what's rhetoric and what's policy. So far for me it's been crickets."
November 7, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Kevin, what if I told you that him refusing to meet with you and your buddies is exactly why people voted for him?
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
“Art is often the theory of the impossible, a land to which those who dream of our collective freedom immigrate in order to live and breathe without the burden of what has come before.” …I wrote something reflecting on the promise of the Mamdani mayoralty and the artistic act of creation.
The Creative Essence of Zohran Mamdani's Ascent
The sentiments that drove his inspiring campaign should be familiar to any artistic soul.
hyperallergic.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:58 PM
“Art is often the theory of the impossible, a land to which those who dream of our collective freedom immigrate in order to live and breathe without the burden of what has come before.” …I wrote something reflecting on the promise of the Mamdani mayoralty and the artistic act of creation.
No one cared what the NY Times said on their politics and editorial pages. Remember that. That paper is for those in the halls of power and elsewhere, not everyday New Yorkers.
Mamdani's victory wasn't only a repudiation of an old and exhausted political establishment in the city, it was also a triumph over the framing power of the political press, and none more so than the New York Times, whose coverage and editorials worked relentlessly to dampen his appeal.
November 6, 2025 at 8:43 PM
No one cared what the NY Times said on their politics and editorial pages. Remember that. That paper is for those in the halls of power and elsewhere, not everyday New Yorkers.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
Love this. Grateful to all the folks who “refuse to believe that what exists defines what is possible” and specifically to the artist who help us in instantiate our dreams for a better world.
"Artists know that you only have to do something once to prove to others that the unimaginable is actually very much possible." Read @hrag.bsky.social's powerful essay on artistic creative imagination and Mamdani's election. hyperallergic.com/1055167/the-...
The Creative Essence of Zohran Mamdani's Ascent
The sentiments that drove his inspiring campaign should be familiar to any artistic soul.
hyperallergic.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Love this. Grateful to all the folks who “refuse to believe that what exists defines what is possible” and specifically to the artist who help us in instantiate our dreams for a better world.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
"Artists know that you only have to do something once to prove to others that the unimaginable is actually very much possible." Read @hrag.bsky.social's powerful essay on artistic creative imagination and Mamdani's election. hyperallergic.com/1055167/the-...
The Creative Essence of Zohran Mamdani's Ascent
The sentiments that drove his inspiring campaign should be familiar to any artistic soul.
hyperallergic.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:35 PM
"Artists know that you only have to do something once to prove to others that the unimaginable is actually very much possible." Read @hrag.bsky.social's powerful essay on artistic creative imagination and Mamdani's election. hyperallergic.com/1055167/the-...
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
Have you tried turning off and back on again.
November 6, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Have you tried turning off and back on again.
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
“Or as the Ancient Roman author Pliny the Elder wrote, ‘How many things, too, are looked upon as quite impossible until they have been actually effected?’”— the splendid @hrag.bsky.social on Mamdani’s win.
Say his name and pronounce it correctly. It’s a new day, y’all.
Say his name and pronounce it correctly. It’s a new day, y’all.
The Creative Essence of Zohran Mamdani's Ascent
The sentiments that drove his inspiring campaign should be familiar to any artistic soul.
hyperallergic.com
November 5, 2025 at 11:51 PM
“Or as the Ancient Roman author Pliny the Elder wrote, ‘How many things, too, are looked upon as quite impossible until they have been actually effected?’”— the splendid @hrag.bsky.social on Mamdani’s win.
Say his name and pronounce it correctly. It’s a new day, y’all.
Say his name and pronounce it correctly. It’s a new day, y’all.
“Art is often the theory of the impossible, a land to which those who dream of our collective freedom immigrate in order to live and breathe without the burden of what has come before.” …I wrote something reflecting on the promise of the Mamdani mayoralty and the artistic act of creation.
The Creative Essence of Zohran Mamdani's Ascent
The sentiments that drove his inspiring campaign should be familiar to any artistic soul.
hyperallergic.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:58 PM
“Art is often the theory of the impossible, a land to which those who dream of our collective freedom immigrate in order to live and breathe without the burden of what has come before.” …I wrote something reflecting on the promise of the Mamdani mayoralty and the artistic act of creation.
We have a mayor who quotes Eugene Debs in his speeches. I’m so happy.
November 5, 2025 at 1:38 PM
We have a mayor who quotes Eugene Debs in his speeches. I’m so happy.
We have a socialist mayor. I know it’s because I voted.
November 5, 2025 at 3:01 AM
We have a socialist mayor. I know it’s because I voted.
36% in and Mamdani is at 51.5%
November 5, 2025 at 2:06 AM
36% in and Mamdani is at 51.5%
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
Across New Jersey, bomb threats at multiple polling locations have prompted closures and relocations today
Bomb threats force closures at some New Jersey polling places
Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh said polling sites at School 2 and School 10 in Paterson were shut down after threats were received.
newjersey.news12.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Across New Jersey, bomb threats at multiple polling locations have prompted closures and relocations today
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
BREAKING: Live look at the rich fleeing New York
November 4, 2025 at 10:25 PM
BREAKING: Live look at the rich fleeing New York
Reposted by Hrag Vartanian
How is New York City’s cultural community voting, feeling, and reacting? Get the latest in our live updates on the mayoral election: bit.ly/3Jlfnmy
November 4, 2025 at 10:44 PM
How is New York City’s cultural community voting, feeling, and reacting? Get the latest in our live updates on the mayoral election: bit.ly/3Jlfnmy