Ben Davis
@benadavis.bsky.social
Writer. Author of '9.5 Theses on Art and Class' and 'Art in the After-Culture.' My newsletter at https://substack.com/@benstoppable
With "Nigerian Modernism" getting rave reviews at the Tate, I talked to Chika Okeke-Agulu about Nigeria's midcentury art avant garde. Here's the promo and the link podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
November 7, 2025 at 3:16 PM
With "Nigerian Modernism" getting rave reviews at the Tate, I talked to Chika Okeke-Agulu about Nigeria's midcentury art avant garde. Here's the promo and the link podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
This month's Art Angle end-of-month news round-up: Louvre heist, Euro fairs, Sora video art podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
The Round-Up: Louvre Heist!, Europe's Art Market Reboot, and the Queasy Art of Sora
Podcast Episode · The Art Angle · 10/30/2025 · 34m
podcasts.apple.com
October 31, 2025 at 7:37 PM
This month's Art Angle end-of-month news round-up: Louvre heist, Euro fairs, Sora video art podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Australian art groups have risen up in opposition to moving towards an A.I. policy closer to the U.S. one
news.artnet.com/art-world/co...
news.artnet.com/art-world/co...
After Fierce Outcry From Arts Groups, Australia Changes Course on A.I. | Artnet News
A proposed law change in Australia would have moved Australia towards a U.S.-style system when it comes to A.I. Artists objected.
news.artnet.com
October 28, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Australian art groups have risen up in opposition to moving towards an A.I. policy closer to the U.S. one
news.artnet.com/art-world/co...
news.artnet.com/art-world/co...
Reposted by Ben Davis
read this a few weeks ago and after this week feel like I should read it one more time
Since it seems to be coming up a lot, I went back to dig up some details from the 1937 "Degenerate Art Show" to see what the lessons are
news.artnet.com/art-world/de...
news.artnet.com/art-world/de...
The Disturbing Lessons of the 1937 ‘Degenerate Art’ Show | Artnet News
7 points to keep in mind when the specter of the 1937 "Entartete Kunst," or "Degenerate Art" show, is invoked today.
news.artnet.com
October 25, 2025 at 2:24 AM
read this a few weeks ago and after this week feel like I should read it one more time
Jeanette Andrews is basically a genre all of her own. Interviewing her here about the touchpoints between magic and art. Here's the link and the promo:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
October 24, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Jeanette Andrews is basically a genre all of her own. Interviewing her here about the touchpoints between magic and art. Here's the link and the promo:
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
This week's Art Angle is me interviewing the curator of the De Young Museum's big "Art of Manga" show. Promo below, link to the episode here podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...
October 17, 2025 at 6:11 PM
This week's Art Angle is me interviewing the curator of the De Young Museum's big "Art of Manga" show. Promo below, link to the episode here podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...
A take on take on creativity and the Sora 2 A.I. video app news.artnet.com/art-world/so...
October 15, 2025 at 4:10 PM
A take on take on creativity and the Sora 2 A.I. video app news.artnet.com/art-world/so...
Since it seems to be coming up a lot, I went back to dig up some details from the 1937 "Degenerate Art Show" to see what the lessons are
news.artnet.com/art-world/de...
news.artnet.com/art-world/de...
The Disturbing Lessons of the 1937 ‘Degenerate Art’ Show | Artnet News
7 points to keep in mind when the specter of the 1937 "Entartete Kunst," or "Degenerate Art" show, is invoked today.
news.artnet.com
October 8, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Since it seems to be coming up a lot, I went back to dig up some details from the 1937 "Degenerate Art Show" to see what the lessons are
news.artnet.com/art-world/de...
news.artnet.com/art-world/de...
My take on 'Sixties Surreal' at the Whitney: camels, sex, and social revolution
news.artnet.com/art-world/si...
news.artnet.com/art-world/si...
‘Sixties Surreal’ at the Whitney Explores a Forgotten Side of the 1960s
'Sixties Surreal' at the Whitney surfaces a lot of art from an important time. It's more vibes than anything else—but what vibes!
news.artnet.com
September 26, 2025 at 3:26 PM
My take on 'Sixties Surreal' at the Whitney: camels, sex, and social revolution
news.artnet.com/art-world/si...
news.artnet.com/art-world/si...
What was the “Mouvement Flou”? Some thoughts on a very fun Man Ray show at the Met news.artnet.com/art-world/ma...
Man Ray at the Met: A One-Man Art Movement | Artnet News
Discover the Man Ray Met Museum exhibition “When Objects Dream,” showcasing iconic Rayographs, surreal objects, and innovative experiments.
news.artnet.com
September 22, 2025 at 12:30 PM
What was the “Mouvement Flou”? Some thoughts on a very fun Man Ray show at the Met news.artnet.com/art-world/ma...
I picked through several thousand art shows at several thousand museums, and here are the artist names that turn up the most this month at U.S. museums
news.artnet.com/art-world/mo...
news.artnet.com/art-world/mo...
These 15 Artists Are the Biggest at U.S. Museums Right Now | Artnet News
From hundreds of museum exhibitions, these artists are having the best September 2025, from Jeffrey Gibson to Teresa Baker.
news.artnet.com
September 17, 2025 at 1:35 PM
I picked through several thousand art shows at several thousand museums, and here are the artist names that turn up the most this month at U.S. museums
news.artnet.com/art-world/mo...
news.artnet.com/art-world/mo...
Reposted by Ben Davis
Art Critic @benadavis.bsky.social watched about 3.5 hours of AI generated video of founding fathers, part of White House & Prager U right wing propaganda collab. news.artnet.com/art-world/wh...
The White House Proposes Weird A.I. Paintings as the Future of Patriotic Education | Artnet News
The Founders Museum is a project of PragerU, now installed in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Here's what it looks like.
news.artnet.com
September 2, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Art Critic @benadavis.bsky.social watched about 3.5 hours of AI generated video of founding fathers, part of White House & Prager U right wing propaganda collab. news.artnet.com/art-world/wh...
I put together all the links to things I wrote, podcast appearances, etc., for my personal newsletter. If you want to read it, or get it in the future, here it is:
benstoppable.substack.com/p/essays-and...
benstoppable.substack.com/p/essays-and...
Essays and Podcasts of August 2025
My "content slurry" theory, PragerU's talking paintings, Agnieszka Kurant’s science-art, Cara Romero's big year, a big "state of art now" interview, more.
benstoppable.substack.com
September 2, 2025 at 2:41 PM
I put together all the links to things I wrote, podcast appearances, etc., for my personal newsletter. If you want to read it, or get it in the future, here it is:
benstoppable.substack.com/p/essays-and...
benstoppable.substack.com/p/essays-and...
Reposted by Ben Davis
Excellent tips for looking at art by @benadavis.bsky.social for artnet - advice for pacing and the value of taking your time one piece, keys to real seeing news.artnet.com/art-world/ho...
Here's My Personal Method for Seeing an Art Show, If You Want to Get the Most Out of It | Artnet News
How to get the most out of a day at the museum? Consider these three steps: Make a Map, Find the Story, and Focus In.
news.artnet.com
September 1, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Excellent tips for looking at art by @benadavis.bsky.social for artnet - advice for pacing and the value of taking your time one piece, keys to real seeing news.artnet.com/art-world/ho...
I watched through all the White House's "Founders Museum" A.I.-animated paintings teaching U.S. Revolutionary history, installed in D.C in partnership right-wing YouTube content farm #PragerU. news.artnet.com/art-world/wh...
The White House Proposes Weird A.I. Paintings as the Future of Patriotic Education | Artnet News
The Founders Museum is a project of PragerU, now installed in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Here's what it looks like.
news.artnet.com
August 29, 2025 at 2:09 PM
I watched through all the White House's "Founders Museum" A.I.-animated paintings teaching U.S. Revolutionary history, installed in D.C in partnership right-wing YouTube content farm #PragerU. news.artnet.com/art-world/wh...
Something on the spiral towards multimedia-izing everything
news.artnet.com/art-world/sl...
news.artnet.com/art-world/sl...
The Great Enslurrification of Culture | Artnet News
Everything is being forced into multimedia form, and that's resulting in a new kind of bad online content. Let's call it slurry.
news.artnet.com
August 26, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Something on the spiral towards multimedia-izing everything
news.artnet.com/art-world/sl...
news.artnet.com/art-world/sl...
On that hanging bride sculpture from those NYT Epstein house photos
news.artnet.com/art-world/je...
news.artnet.com/art-world/je...
Jeffrey Epstein’s Taste in Art Was Just as Twisted as You’d Think
The art collection of Jeffrey Epstein remains a symbolically important enigma within the much larger morass of unresolved mysteries around him
news.artnet.com
August 7, 2025 at 6:56 PM
On that hanging bride sculpture from those NYT Epstein house photos
news.artnet.com/art-world/je...
news.artnet.com/art-world/je...
Here is my July 2025 personal newsletter, with links to all the things I wrote and podcasts I did last month
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Essays and Podcasts of July 2025
Andrea Fraser's 5 art worlds, Dan Colen's biennial, Johnny Depp's Modigliani movie, Homeland Security's painting posts, a fun chat about delightmares, more.
substack.com
August 5, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Here is my July 2025 personal newsletter, with links to all the things I wrote and podcasts I did last month
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
The Art Angle monthly round-up with Kate and Naomi: Johnny Depp's self-mythologizing Modigliani film, Andres Serrano's pitch for Venice, the Labubu-art synthesis
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
The Round-Up: Johnny Depp Does Modigliani, Labubu Mania, and a Weird Idea for the Venice Biennale
Podcast Episode · The Art Angle · 07/31/2025 · 46m
podcasts.apple.com
August 4, 2025 at 2:06 PM
The Art Angle monthly round-up with Kate and Naomi: Johnny Depp's self-mythologizing Modigliani film, Andres Serrano's pitch for Venice, the Labubu-art synthesis
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Reposted by Ben Davis
Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'How to Think About Homeland Security’s Unhinged Art Posts' by @benadavis.bsky.social for Artnet. A critic’s take on the meaning behind recent social media posts of classic artworks from Homeland Security.
How to Think About Homeland Security’s Unhinged Art Posts | Artnet News
A random collection of art is being swept into the DHS's social feed, alongside Star Wars memes and mugshots. What does it mean?
news.artnet.com
August 1, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Today’s Editor’s Pick is 'How to Think About Homeland Security’s Unhinged Art Posts' by @benadavis.bsky.social for Artnet. A critic’s take on the meaning behind recent social media posts of classic artworks from Homeland Security.
I wrote about the shitposting mess that is the DHS official social media feed... As I say, I don't think that gibbering cruelty is actually a popular strategy, though as I think about it, maybe it suggests a post-democratic mindset, and the intent is to underline that news.artnet.com/art-world/dh...
How to Think About Homeland Security’s Unhinged Art Posts | Artnet News
A random collection of art is being swept into the DHS's social feed, alongside Star Wars memes and mugshots. What does it mean?
news.artnet.com
August 1, 2025 at 4:07 PM
I wrote about the shitposting mess that is the DHS official social media feed... As I say, I don't think that gibbering cruelty is actually a popular strategy, though as I think about it, maybe it suggests a post-democratic mindset, and the intent is to underline that news.artnet.com/art-world/dh...
Talking with the great Andrea Fraser about the evolving world(s) of art. Promo below, link here podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
July 28, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Talking with the great Andrea Fraser about the evolving world(s) of art. Promo below, link here podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
I talked to Maya Man about how digital art is evolving post-pandemic. One thing I got out of this is how, as digital stuff becomes more and more embedded in life, the character of digital art becomes more and more like performance, less and less like an object open.spotify.com/episode/69wr...
How the Post-Pandemic Generation Is Changing Digital Art
The Art Angle · Episode
open.spotify.com
July 11, 2025 at 5:00 PM
I talked to Maya Man about how digital art is evolving post-pandemic. One thing I got out of this is how, as digital stuff becomes more and more embedded in life, the character of digital art becomes more and more like performance, less and less like an object open.spotify.com/episode/69wr...
The more I think about this A.I. film's idea of "total pixel space," the stranger it gets
news.artnet.com/art-world/to...
with reference to @taylorlorenz.bsky.social on A.I. worship and tywenkelly.com on the "New Acheiropoieta"
news.artnet.com/art-world/to...
with reference to @taylorlorenz.bsky.social on A.I. worship and tywenkelly.com on the "New Acheiropoieta"
The Subtly Unsettling Logic of This Prize-Winning A.I. Film | Artnet News
Does A.I. film unlock the deepest secrets of reality? Yes, argues Jacob Adler's 'Total Pixel Space,' which won gold at the A.I. Film Festival.
news.artnet.com
July 2, 2025 at 2:39 PM
The more I think about this A.I. film's idea of "total pixel space," the stranger it gets
news.artnet.com/art-world/to...
with reference to @taylorlorenz.bsky.social on A.I. worship and tywenkelly.com on the "New Acheiropoieta"
news.artnet.com/art-world/to...
with reference to @taylorlorenz.bsky.social on A.I. worship and tywenkelly.com on the "New Acheiropoieta"