In A Closer Look, a writer annotates a piece of art or an archival object.
A Closer Look
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A Closer Look
Terry Allen’s "Cross the Razor"
How one artist started a conversation across the US-Mexico border
Brendan Greaves
October 24, 2024
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Why the previously unpublished poem is a revelation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