The Art Assignment

Why those hazy rectangles, and why should I care? Here’s why.
The Case for Mark Rothko

Inserting live bodies into artworks unsettles the delusion that a universal perspective exists.
The Case for Performance Art

What kind of an art can thrive with such a formidable co-star as Earth?
The Case for Land Art

Pollock dripped, flung, scattered, and poured paint on canvases spread out on the floor—but why?
The Case for Jackson Pollock

Museums are more than collections that once belonged to the rich—they can help us understand our history.
The case for museums

Artists don’t just imitate the world around them—they copy each other, reworking old images and revising history.
The Case for Copying

Ai Weiwei synthesizes the clash between reverence for the past and the irrepressible drive for the future.
The Case for Ai Weiwei

By laying bare the relationship between commerce and art, Warhol nullified the idea of being a sell out.
The Case for Andy Warhol

Yoko Ono issued instructive prompts in both her art practice and anti-war activism.
The Case for Yoko Ono

There’s no Marie Kondo tidying up here, so what is Minimalism, really?
The Case for Minimalism

Why are you looking at splashes on a canvas? Math, music, and WWI are just some of many possible answers.
The Case for Abstraction

Surrealism may be familiar from dorm room posters, but what do you really know about this movement?