Sam Ben-Meir, PhD is an adjunct professor at Mercy College. His current research focuses on environmental ethics and animal studies. sam@alonben-meir.com
By Sam Ben-Meir TOPEKA, Kansas — Dancing Waters is a new exhibition at Topeka’s Mulvane Art Museum, curated by museum director Connie Gibbons, and featuring the work of Rita Blitt, who has been making art consistently and diligently for over sixty years. In that time, Blitt has created a body of work of immense breadth […]
Dancing Waters: Rita Blitt at Mulvane Art Museum Read More »
Music and Visual Arts, Sam Ben-Meir, USABy Sam Ben-Meir NEW YORK — The levels of wealth inequality we are currently witnessing in this country are unprecedented and alarming. The very richest among us have succeeded in grabbing ever more of the proverbial pie, and the trend is only worsening. Wealth inequality is proving disastrous for America. On both collective and individual
Freeing America From the Quagmire of Inequality Read More »
Opinion, Sam Ben-Meir, USA
By Sam Ben-Meir NEW YORK — Clement Greenberg once observed that Edward Hopper was a “bad painter. But if he were a better painter, he would, most likely, not be so superior an artist.” “Edward Hopper’s New York,” a major retrospective currently on view at the Whitney Museum, confirms this judgment. There is occasionally a
Light and Obliquity: Edward Hopper at the Whitney Museum Read More »
Music and Visual Arts, Sam Ben-Meir, USABy Sam Ben-Meir “Anarchism is an aspect of socialism (among many others) that those of us wishing socialism, or some comparable form of resistance, to survive will have to think about again, this time without a prearranged sneer.” T. J. Clark, Farewell to an Idea It is 180 years since the birth of Pyotr Kropotkin
Pyotr Kropotkin, 180 Years Later Read More »
International, Opinion, Sam Ben-Meir
By Sam Ben-Meir NEW YORK — Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure, on view at the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea, features more than 200 artworks and artifacts from the artist’s estate – 177 of which have never been exhibited before. This highly unusual and intimate exhibition was assembled not by a curator or art historian, but by Basquiat’s
‘King Pleasure’ Lives Up to Its Name Read More »
Music and Visual Arts, Sam Ben-Meir, USABy Sam Ben-Meir NEW YORK — If nothing else, the Republican Party has steadily removed any doubt that it has embraced an extremism that threatens the future of American Democracy. We can clearly perceive the imminent danger that the Party poses in several crucial ways, perhaps the most salient being the refusal of candidates to
The Authoritarian Personality and Rise of Right-Wing Extremism Read More »
Opinion, Sam Ben-Meir, USADuring his 50 years as a painter, Canadian American artist Philip Guston created a body of work that stands out as among the most significant and daring of the 20th century. His development as an artist involved several phases, and culminated with images notable for their dark, biting humor, distinct palette, unmistakable lexicon of objects, and concern with themes when taken together seem designed to heighten our uneasiness and have us question everything we thought we knew about painting. [Sam Ben-Meir]
‘Philip Guston Now’ at Boston Museum of Fine Art Read More »
Music and Visual Arts, Sam Ben-MeirBy Sam Ben-Meir NEW YORK — In the first episode of season three of The Kominsky Method (2021), there is a funeral service for Michael Douglas’ character’s lifelong friend Norman Newlander (played by Alan Arkin). By far the most inconsolable mourner to give a eulogy is Newlander’s personal assistant of 22 years who, amid a hyperbolical
Sleep No More: Capitalism and Insomnia Read More »
Opinion, Sam Ben-Meir, USABy Sam Ben-Meir NEW YORK — It is shameful and unconscionable that this country has allowed gun violence to become the leading cause of death among children in the United States – but that is the reality. The legislation, including gun measures, recently proposed by a bipartisan group of senators represents a step in the
Repeal the Second Amendment, Palladium of Death Read More »
Opinion, Sam Ben-Meir, USA
By Sam Ben-Meir NEW YORK — Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), the English Romantic artist who lifted landscape and seascape painting to new and enthralling heights will never cease to amaze, inspire and make us question what we thought we knew about painting, about what colored pigment on canvas can do. “Turner’s Modern World” at
Harmonious Magic: JMW Turner at the Boston Museum of Fine Art Read More »
Music and Visual Arts, Sam Ben-Meir, USA
By Sam Ben-Meir Charles Ray (b. 1953) — undoubtedly one of the most conceptually and visually breathtaking sculptors alive today — is enjoying something of cultural moment at present, with four exhibitions on two continents, including “Charles Ray: Figure Ground” at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Throughout his career, Ray has been engaged in
Charles Ray at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Read More »
Music and Visual Arts, Sam Ben-Meir, USA
By Sam Ben-Meir NEW YORK — The Russian-born artist Vasily Kandinsky (1866-1944) was one of the early pioneers in the field of abstract painting – along with Kazimir Malevich, Piet Mondrian, and Hilma af Klint, among others. Through September 5, New York’s Guggenheim Museum is hosting “Around the Circle,” an immense retrospective of this extraordinarily
The Art of Transformation: Vasily Kandinsky at the Guggenheim Read More »
International, Music and Visual Arts, Sam Ben-Meir, USABy Sam Ben-Meir This March 24 marked 50 years since the release of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972), a film which has garnered such praise since it first appeared in theaters that it hardly seems necessary to rehearse its countless and well-deserved accolades. It is undoubtedly one of those few cinematic works of art
‘The Godfather,’ 50 Years Later Read More »
Sam Ben-Meir, Theatre, Film & BroadcastBy Sam Ben-Meir NEW YORK — With last week’s bombing of a maternity ward, the increased targeting of Ukrainian civilians, and the strike against a military base just miles from the Polish border, the brutality and audacity of Russian forces will only grow as Vladimir Putin becomes increasingly desperate to crush Ukraine’s government, its independence,
Where Will We Draw the Line in Ukraine? Read More »
International, Opinion, Sam Ben-Meir, USA