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
"What Is the Mysterious New Group Behind Trump’s Venice Biennale Pick?" Some observations about the American Arts Conservancy news.artnet.com/art-world/am...
What Is the Mysterious New Group Behind Trump's Venice Biennale Pick? | Artnet News
What is the American Arts Conservancy? Who are its advisors? Why is a pet foods entrepreneur in charge of the U.S. Venice Biennale pavilion?
news.artnet.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:36 PM
"What Is the Mysterious New Group Behind Trump’s Venice Biennale Pick?" Some observations about the American Arts Conservancy news.artnet.com/art-world/am...
I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out that Epstein email about the sale of Leonardo da Vinci's 'Salvator Mundi.' Here's what I think it means (and doesn't mean)
news.artnet.com/art-world/tr...
news.artnet.com/art-world/tr...
What Those Jeffrey Epstein Emails About Leonardo's 'Salvator Mundi' Really Mean | Artnet News
Emails reveal that Epstein was speculating about the $450-million sale of Salvator Mundi—and whether it was connected to Trump.
news.artnet.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:45 PM
I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out that Epstein email about the sale of Leonardo da Vinci's 'Salvator Mundi.' Here's what I think it means (and doesn't mean)
news.artnet.com/art-world/tr...
news.artnet.com/art-world/tr...
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
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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...