Why Wall Labels Matter
Plus, Sarah E. Bond on polychromy in ancient art, a Miami artist’s ode to queerness through water, and a sculptor’s shapeshifting art.
Wall labels are not always the first thing that grabs my attention when I’m in a museum: there’s the art surrounding me, the commotion and conversation in the galleries. But I do take notice when I feel like they’re communicating with me — and when they’re not. Wall texts aren’t just for listing who made an artwork; they’re one of the most direct ways that institutions can connect with visitors. So on those rare occasions when they speak to me clearly and graciously, without telling me what to think, but rather inviting me to ruminate on the art, I feel welcomed into the museum.
In an illuminating essay below, art critic Aruna D’Souza reflects on what makes a good wall label and why getting them right is not just about the art — it’s about community, too.
—Natalie Haddad, reviews editor
The Sticky Politics of Wall Texts
"There was a lot to commend about this thought-provoking exhibition … here I want to focus on the show’s didactics, which were — not to put too fine a point on it — pretty bad," writes Aruna D'Souza of her visit to the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, where labels "in hard-to-find locations [turned] one’s experience of the exhibition into a scavenger hunt."
In Focus
Plunging Into Bex McCharen’s Trans Queer Atlantic
“I went into the ocean as one person and came out another,” the artist told Alexandra Martinez, who dives into McCharen's new series of photographs and quilts that speak to the presence of queer and trans people in Florida through the lens of Miami's waterways.
From Our Critics
How White Elites Drained Ancient Art of Its Color
The publication of “Chroma” represents an important shift by museums toward recognizing polychromy and its entanglement with white supremacy. | Sarah E. Bond
The Shapeshifting Sculpture of Diane Simpson
From one angle, her sculptural constructions appear deep, but from another flat; here they look angled, there not. | Lori Waxman
John Altoon’s Fever Dream Drawings
After a stint in 1950s New York, the LA-based artist abandoned abstraction and painting in favor of dreamlike, sexually charged drawings. | John Yau
Member Comment
Sasha Chavchavadz on Damien Davis's “When Artists Lose Their Archives”:
See more in this month’s list of opportunities for artists, writers, and art workers!
From the Archive
Why We Need to Start Seeing the Classical World in Color
The equation of white marble with beauty is not an inherent truth of the universe; it’s a dangerous construct that continues to influence white supremacist ideas today. | Sarah E. Bond
