Iraqi artist Ali Eyal remembers being nine years old, gazing out at the Baghdad skyline from a car on a Ferris wheel. Burn that image into your mind, his mother told him, knowing the city would never be the same. It was 2003, and mere days later, the United States and its allies would launch their invasion of Iraq, raining airstrikes down on the city.
“I felt like I became a kid when I looked at a TV this morning,” Eyal told writer Renée Reizman last week, two days after the US and Israel began their bombardment of Iran, triggering a cascade of destruction and panic across the Gulf region. In a must-read profile, the Los Angeles-based artist, who is showing a painting and a suite of drawings in this year’s Whitney Biennial, talks about the ongoing reverberations of the war of his childhood, the disappearance of his father, and the surreal, twilit vistas of grief and devastation he makes to process.
Also in this edition, we honor a giant: Thaddeus Mosley, the self-taught sculptor who passed last Friday at the age of 99. Aaron Short memorializes the magician of wood, who captured the joyful improvisation of jazz in burnished and chiseled forms.
—Lisa Yin Zhang, associate editor
Ali Eyal Gives Testimony
“I was nine years old, and I felt like I lost that childhood,” the Whitney Biennial artist told Hyperallergic, reflecting on the US’s war in Iraq, the disappearance of his father, and the art he makes to process.
Detroit Institute of Arts Reinstalls African American Galleries at the Heart of the Museum
African American art history has often been underrepresented. “Reimagine African American Art” invites visitors to discover transformative works across two centuries.
News
- Internationally known self-taught sculptor and beloved Pittsburgh public figure Thaddeus Mosley died on Friday, March 6, at the age of 99.
- Amid Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon, Joumana Asseily temporarily closed the doors of her Beirut gallery, Marfa’ Projects. Speaking with Hyperallergic, she described the attacks on her city as “incomprehensible.”
From Our Critics
Amoako Boafo Takes His Studio on the Road
His new exhibition I Bring Home With Me combines portraits with seating areas and a model of his studio, inviting visitors to stay awhile and get comfortable. | Nereya Otieno
Inside Pratt SCPS: Where Practice Meets the Spotlight
Discover what happens when working creatives, career pivoters, and lifelong makers plug into art and design education at Pratt’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
More on Hyperallergic
How a Texas Town Became an Art Project
With fewer than 700 residents, Kingsbury has become a hub for cultural governance and sovereignty, largely thanks to advocacy led by arts organization Habitable Spaces. | Alicia Grullón
Vermont Studio Center – 2027 Artist & Writer Residencies
A Vermont Studio Center (VSC) residency provides the time and space to deepen creative practice. Nestled in the Green Mountains, VSC’s walkable campus provides private studios, a dining hall, and private rooms along the banks of the Gihon River. The application fee is $25.
Deadline: March 31, 2026 | vermontstudiocenter.org
See more in this month’s list of opportunities for artists, writers, and art workers!
From the Archive
Artist Michael Rakowitz Reveals the Iraq War’s Many Wounds
From war loot to Saddam Hussein’s Star Wars obsession, an exhibition at MCA Chicago considers the costs of power and destruction. | Claire Voon
ICYMI
The Art Crossword: Whitney Museum Edition
How much do you know about the institution’s collections and controversies? | Natan Last
