"Monumental by Cat Dawson invites us to contemplate a world of subversive monuments - or one that does away with them altogether. Our reviewer Nanase Shirokawa relished the contemporary works in its pages, like Kara Walker's 2014 sugar sculpture, but craved a deeper exploration of the funding systems behind them. She asks: "What stakes are at play if the most common staging grounds for these new monuments are the rarified atriums and rooftops of art museums?""
"It's hard to believe that Knife-Woman: The Life of Louise Bourgeois by Marie-Laure Bernadac, translated by Lauren Elkin, is the first comprehensive biography of the artist. Critic Bridget Quinn assesses the strengths and shortcomings of this overdue "gigantic tapestry" of a book, in the words of its author, including the simultaneous feminist use of first names and questionable inclusion of sexist terms. (Are we really calling women "hysteric" in 2025?)"
Monumental invites contemplation of subversive monuments and the possibility of removing monuments altogether. Contemporary works such as Kara Walker's 2014 sugar sculpture are foregrounded, but funding systems behind new monuments receive less analysis. The most common staging grounds for recent monuments are rarified museum atriums and rooftops, raising questions about access and institutional power. Knife-Woman: The Life of Louise Bourgeois appears as the first comprehensive biography of the artist, combining feminist naming choices with unsettling reproductions of sexist terminology. Additional recommendations include a 15‑title holiday art book gift guide and archived reading suggestions to remedy reading slumps.
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