A Closer Look

In A Closer Look, a writer annotates a piece of art or an archival object.

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A Closer Look

Kurt Cobain and Jenny Holzer on 42nd Street

A chance decision made an iconic photograph. Thirty years later, what does it reveal?
Bob Nickas
June 19, 2024

Rembrandt’s Reclining Female Nude

What the print reveals about a body at rest
Rachel Eisendrath
June 10, 2024

Harold Cohen’s AARON

What a prescient work of computer art tells us about AI
Joanne McNeil
May 20, 2024

Candy Darling’s “Newspaper” Centerfold

Encountering the infamous collage of a downtown legend
Lucy Sante
March 18, 2024

Langston Hughes's "China"

Why the previously unpublished poem is a revelation
Selina Lai-Henderson
February 1, 2024

Ed Ruscha's "Every Building on the Sunset Strip"

Why the artists' book is a reminder of freedom
Jim Lewis
December 18, 2023

William Blake’s "Laocoön"

Why the poet's engraving reads like a protest poster
Anahid Nersessian
November 15, 2023

The First Cover of Ms. Magazine

Why the feminist magazine's inaugural issue remains its strongest
Maggie Doherty
September 27, 2023