The Modern Art Notes Podcast

Sixties Surreal, Filippino Lippi

Episode No. 735 features curators Dan Nadel and Laura Phipps, and curator Alexander J. Noelle. With Elizabeth Sussman and Scott Rothkopf, Nadel and Phipps are the co-curators of "Sixties Surreal" [https://whitney.org/exhibitions/sixties-surreal] at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. The exhibition works to complicate the march of -isms which, outside the academy and too few art museums, has too often ossified into the the era's US art history. "Sixties Surreal" offers some of the ways in which artists working around the US (and not only in New York or for its market) mined surrealist thought and theory to help them reckon with the era's sociopolitical extremes. The exhibition is on view through January 19, 2026. The thought-provoking exhibition catalogue was published by the Whitney. Amazon [https://amzn.to/4pMw4qr] and Bookshop [https://bookshop.org/p/books/sixties-surreal-david-j-getsy/0bacff8071f75b46?ean=9780300284508&next=t] offer it for about $40-45. Also, Nadel and Phipps have made a 113-song Spotify playlist [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7HFbVlTH1R1WGox5XOaDPj?go=1&sp_cid=e1e1008cebdc301181ea7fb5c09ae546&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=cd0a056f1d9845e1] to accompany the show. The Cleveland Museum of Art's remarkable autumn of major Italian Renaissance presentations continues with Noelle's "Filippino Lippi and Rome," a look at the Florentine's painter's work in and informed by travel to Rome. The impetus for the exhibition was Cleveland's own tondo The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist and Saint Margaret [https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1932.227] (ca. 1488-93), a masterpiece and the only known independent work that Filippino produced in Rome. Filippino is the son of the famed Fra Filippo Lippi, and apprenticed and collaborated with Sandro Botticelli before working on his own. "Lippi and Rome" is on view through February 22, 2026. A superb catalogue was published by the museum. Amazon [https://amzn.to/448VxC3] and Bookshop [https://bookshop.org/p/books/filippino-lippi-and-rome-alexander-j-noelle/15e663dc4faf86a8?ean=9780300286472&next=t] offer it for $40. Several months ago the Cleveland Museum of Art debuted Giambologna's Fata Morgana [https://manpodcast.com/portfolio/no-722-opposing-trumpism-giambologna/], a high-profile acquisition of a rare Giambologna marble sculpture. Instagram: Dan Nadel [https://www.instagram.com/dannadel/], Laura Phipps [https://www.instagram.com/phippslaura/], Alexander J. Noelle [https://www.instagram.com/alexander.j.noelle/], and Tyler Green. [https://www.instagram.com/tylergreenbooks/]

Holiday clips: Aliza Nisenbaum

Episode No. 734 is a Thanksgiving weekend clips program featuring artist Aliza Nisenbaum. The Des Moines Art Center is presenting "Aliza Nisenbaum: Día de los Muertos" [https://desmoinesartcenter.org/art/exhibitions/aliza-nisenbaum/] through January 11, 2026. For the latest iteration of DMAC's annual Día de los Muertos celebration, and as the museum's Toni and Tim Urban International Artist-in-Residence, Nisenbaum created five paintings. The presentation was curated by Beth Gollnick. Earlier this fall, the Obama Presidential Center announced that it had commissioned a mural from Nisenbaum. Titled Reading Circles/ Weaving Dreams/ Seeding Futures, the mural will depict moments of civic life within a public library, offering a living portrait of community in action. This episode was taped in 2021. For images, please see Episode No. 522. [https://manpodcast.com/portfolio/no-522-aliza-nisenbaum-the-gettys-new-bassano/] Instagram: Aliza Nisenbaum [https://www.instagram.com/alizanisenbaum/], Tyler Green. [https://www.instagram.com/tylergreenbooks/] Air date: November 26/27, 2025.

Allan Rohan Crite, Gabriele Münter

Episode No. 733 features curators Diana Seave Greenwald and Megan Fontanella. With Christina Michelon, Greenwald is the co-curator of "Allan Rohan Crite: Urban Glory" at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum [https://www.gardnermuseum.org/allan-rohan-crite-urban-glory] and the Boston Athenaeum. Both presentations are on view through January 19, 2026. (Theodore Landsmark co-curated the ISGM presentation.) The exhibition surveys the career of Boston-based Crite, whose work spotlighted Boston neighborhoods such as Lower Roxbury and the South End, the challenges they faced from gentrification and so-called urban renewal, and Christianity. A fine exhibition catalogue was published by the two institutions. Amazon [https://amzn.to/44hYNLj] and Bookshop [https://bookshop.org/p/books/allan-rohan-crite-neighborhood-liturgy-efeoghene-igor-coleman/4e876926d19b800a?ean=9780691973944&next=t] offer it for $42. Fontanella is the curator of "Gabriele Münter: Contours of a World" [https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/gabriele-munter] at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. Across more than 50 paintings and almost 20 photographs, the exhibition survey's Münter's work and finds that it was involved in avant-garde presentations of landscape, still life, and portraiture. Fontanella curated the photography section of the exhibition with Victoria Horrocks. "Contours of a World" is on view through April 26, 2026. A catalogue was published by the Guggenheim. Amazon [https://amzn.to/4i9VewL] and Bookshop [https://bookshop.org/p/books/gabriele-m-nter-contours-of-a-world-dorothy-price/d3f03f8f782404da?ean=9780892075690&next=t] offer it for about $55. Instagram: Diana Seave Greenwald [https://www.instagram.com/dsgreenwald/], Megan Fontanella [https://www.instagram.com/meganfontanella/], Tyler Green. [https://www.instagram.com/tylergreenbooks/] Air date: November 20, 2025.

Igshaan Adams, Laura Igoe

Episode No. 732 features artist Igshaan Adams and curator and Jenkintown, Penn. school board-electee Laura Igoe. The Hill Art Foundation, New York is presenting "Igshaan Adams: I've been here all along, I've been waiting" [https://hillartfoundation.org/art/exhibitions/view/igshaan-adams-at-the-hill-art-foundation/] through December 20, 2025. The exhibition features work from the last 15 years of Adams' practice, and emphasizes how his work engages and serves his community. Adams tapestries and sculptures build from weaving traditions to make the routine, even mundane the subject of rich, detailed artworks. On the occasion of the exhibition, the Hill Art Foundation has published this essay [https://hillartfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Adams_Mitter-Essay.pdf] by Siddhartha Mitter. Adams grew up in a Muslim-Christian household in the segregated suburb of Bonteheuwel in apartheid-era South Africa, and employs Bonteheuwel residents and family members in his studio. His work has been the subject of solo shows at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; the Art Institute of Chicago; Kunsthalle Zurich, the Aarhus Art Museum, Denmark; and the Hayward Gallery, London. His work is in the permanent collection of museums such as the Moderna Museet, Stockholm, the Tate Modern, London, and Inhotim, Brumadinho, Brazil. Discussed on the program: * Adams' 2016 exhibition "Oorskot" [https://blankprojects.com/Oorskot] at Blank Projects, Cape Town; and * Adams' 2022 exhibition "Desire Lines" [https://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/9626/igshaan-adams-desire-lines] at the Art Institute of Chicago. Igoe, the chief curator of the Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Penn. was just elected to the Jenkintown, Penn. school board. Instagram: Igshaan Adams [https://www.instagram.com/igshaan.adams/?hl=en], Laura Igoe [https://www.instagram.com/lauratigoe/?hl=en], Tyler Green. [https://www.instagram.com/tylergreenbooks/?hl=en]

Hew Locke

Episode No. 731 features artist Hew Locke. The Yale Center for British Art is presenting "Hew Locke: Passages," [https://britishart.yale.edu/exhibitions-programs/hew-locke-passages] the first US survey of Locke's [https://hewlocke.net/Homepage2ndsite.html] career. Across sculpture, painting, photography and installations, Locke's work considers colonialism, its power, and the ways in which we respond to colonialism and its impacts. Locke, who is Guyanese-British, particularly focuses on British imperialism and how it was constructed, including through monarchy, trade, and (sometimes forced) migration. The exhibition, which is on view through January 11, 2026, was curated by Martina Droth. The catalogue, which was edited by Droth and Allie Biswas, was published by the YCBA. Bookshop [https://bookshop.org/p/books/hew-locke-passages-asma-naeem/67231c1a97c7a656?ean=9780300284683&next=t] and Amazon [https://amzn.to/47AW7te] offer it for $60-70. In-gallery materials are available here [https://yaleedu-my.sharepoint.com/personal/jackie_gleisner_yale_edu/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?id=%2Fpersonal%2Fjackie%5Fgleisner%5Fyale%5Fedu%2FDocuments%2FHew%20Locke%20Brochures&ga=1] in both English and Spanish. Locke's work has been featured in solo exhibitions at The British Museum, London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Tate Britain, London, the Institute of Contemporary Art / Boston, Pérez Art Museum Miami, and more. In addition to the images below, here are links to works and exhibitions discussed on the program: * Hew Locke, Ark [https://www.hewlocke.net/Ark2.html], 1994. * Hew Locke, Menace to Society (series) [https://hewlocke.net/menacetosociety.html], 1999-2001. * Hew Locke, The Nameless [https://hewlocke.net/nameless.html], 2010. * "Hew Locke: what have we here" [https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/hew-locke-what-have-we-here] at the British Museum; * "A Conspiracy of Icons: The Art of Donald Locke," [https://high.org/exhibition/a-conspiracy-of-icons-the-art-of-donald-locke/] at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; and * "The Other Story: Afro-Asian Artists in Post-War Britain" [https://artsandculture.google.com/story/DAWhyZvGtKdOKA] at the Hayward Gallery, London. Instagram: Hew Locke [https://www.instagram.com/hewdjlocke/], Tyler Green. [https://www.instagram.com/tylergreenbooks/] Air date: November 6, 2025.