A $1B Evening With Nicole Kidman

Painted book covers have become more prominent, often featuring cropped, smeared, and distorted paintings. Designers and publishers are asked about the appeal of this trend in a market filled with design templates and AI-generated imagery. The painted cover stands out as distinctly human, suggesting a craving for embodiment and physical presence. The shift toward gestural figuration is linked to proof of the artist’s hand and subjectivity in an internet era. Painting implies time, and novels demand sustained attention for writing and reading. This creates tension with forces that drive creation and consumption toward ever-increasing profit margins in both art and publishing. An exhibition in Chicago highlights Black American artists, writers, and performers who sought freedom in Paris and left a lasting mark on its history.

"In a market flooded with design templates and AI-generated imagery, the painted cover stands out as distinctly human. "The recent shift from color fields and geometric abstraction to gestural figuration on book covers may reflect a broader craving for embodiment and physical presence - proof, in other words, of the artist's hand and subjectivity in the era of the internet. Just as painting implies time, so does the novel, demanding sustained attention to both write and to read.""

""The recent shift from color fields and geometric abstraction to gestural figuration on book covers may reflect a broader craving for embodiment and physical presence - proof, in other words, of the artist's hand and subjectivity in the era of the internet. Just as painting implies time, so does the novel, demanding sustained attention to both write and to read. It's a tension that undermines the forces driving creation and consumption in the service of ever-increasing profit margins, both in the art market and the publishing industry.""

"An exhibition in Chicago celebrates the painters, writers, and performers who sought freedom in the city of light and left an indelible mark on its history. "When I first learned of the exhibition Paris in Black: Internationalism and the Black Renaissance at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, my initial reaction was, "What a dream come true!" As much as I'd like to reflect on my favorite Black artists and writers expatriating to Paris and living their best lives, tho"

Read at Hyperallergic