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Hrag Vartanian

@hrag.bsky.social
54K followers 1.1K following 2.9K posts

Art Critic Futurist 🧬 Editor-at-large, cofounder of @Hyperallergic.com 🗽 Aleppo born, Toronto raised, Brooklyn based w/ @veken.bsky.social I tweet about art and politics because art doesn't exist in a vacuum.

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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I just can’t. She really thought she had a zinger there.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Biden’s team continues to think we’re idiots. They lost because they’re terrible liars and bad at their jobs, no other reason.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This bunny decided to hang out by us for half an hour, barely moving.
Small bunny on grass
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Hello, Canada 🍁
Early morning at a lake in cottage country
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Driving and then this made me upchuck.
Apple Maps labeling Lake Ontario
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Remembering South Lebanon 🇱🇧
Man holding a protest sign in Bryant Park
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Outside the United Nations
Woman holding banner protesting Netanyahu’s role in the Gaza Genocide
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
From yesterday’s protest in front of the Museum of Modern Art, and reporter Anna Lee has this story hyperallergic.com/duo-calls-to...
Protester in front of the Museum of Modern Art 
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Aruna D’Souza @arunadsouza.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
“Worst” is such a strong word, but “Pavilions I was ambivalent about and some I thought were missed opportunities” was too long. Anyway @hrag.bsky.social and I offer our quick takes on the Venice Biennale for your reading pleasure in @hyperallergic.com hyperallergic.com/the-worst-na...
hyperallergic.com
The Worst National Pavilions at the Venice Biennale
And some we're still ambivalent about.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I spilled a can of water in a bag of sketchbooks 😭 I think I can mostly save them.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The Tarot show at Morgan Library is truly exceptional & you should run to see it before it closes Oct 4. It was one of the rare times I read almost all the wall text. This is an illustration of a couple playing cards (which is how Tarot started) from a 16th-century Flemish manuscript.
16th century Flemish manuscript
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The Tarot show at Morgan Library is truly exceptional & you should run to see it before it closes Oct 4. It was one of the rare times I read almost all the wall text. This is an illustration of a couple playing cards (which is how Tarot started) from a 16th-century Flemish manuscript.
16th century Flemish manuscript
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The Taryn Simon show at the Guggenheim was disturbing because it presented the horrors of US intelligence organizations in the coldest most detached manner imaginable. The artist more an engaged part of the machine of US empire than an observer.
View of the Guggenheim Museum atrium
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I reviewed the current play at The Brick theater about the fantastical tale of Damien Hirst’s death revealing his secret gay lover, Shape. I love plays about obsession, and this off-off-Broadway production was as quirky as they come.
hyperallergic.com
The Titillating Tale of Damien Hirst’s Gay Hole
An infectious play by Sleth explores infatuation and fame through an imagined relationship between Hirst and his gay lover, a younger artist whose paintings consist of holes on the ground.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Some people seem to replace their parents with theory to tell them what to do.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Writing letters of recommendation is far more work than I ever account for.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I’m still thinking about the Baked Alaska at Gage & Tollner. It was incredible.
Baked Alaska
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Ed Sheeran is a fool and has destroyed his reputation.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The Trump admin clearly hates abstract art. "Trump called it a 'strange modernist sculpture' that 'tells visitors nothing about America, inspires no one, and honors none of our Great American Heroes.'”
hyperallergic.com
Another Abstract Public Artwork Faces Trump’s Senseless Ire
The president wants to replace José de Rivera's “Infinity” (1967) outside the National Museum of American History with a statue of George Washington.
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Hyperallergic @hyperallergic.com · 14/09/2026
Founding Chair Charles Traub said he believed the closure could have been avoided with “better coordination” and more strategies for “how we were going to deal with the future of AI.”
hyperallergic.com
School of Visual Arts Ends Photography MFA Program
Founding Chair Charles Traub said he believed the closure could have been avoided with “better coordination” and more strategies for “how we were going to deal with the future of AI.”
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I'm not going to fix my posts anymore, because why. You all get what I mean, and typos are part of this … as are random bs, satire, quoting random crap you hear, etc. You all know how this works.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I recently remembered that I once produced an off-broadway play by Nouritza Matossian, Black Angel: The Double Life of Arshile Gorky in 2003. How did I even forget that? Life moves too fast. I thought was it was a good play.
theatermania.com
Black Angel: The Double Life of Arshile Gorky on New York City: Get Tickets Now! | Theatermania - 101027
This solo performance dramatizes the life of the most mysterious artist Arshile Gorky, how he rose to become one of America’s greatest painters, his betrayal and suicide. Author/actress Nouritza Matos...
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Heba Gowayed هبة جويد @hebagowayed.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
9/11/2001 I was a freshman in high school in Alabama, I wore a hijab. In gym class my teacher wheeled in a screen. Something horrible was happening. I watched, mouth agape as the second tower hit. We were silent. As that period reached an end, my name was announced on the loud speaker. 1/
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
This is what Trump did on 9/11.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I shared my post-9/11 story here. Never forget what a Brown University report says was over 940,000 people who were killed by direct post-9/11 war violence in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Pakistan between 2001–2023.
hyperallergic.com
Artists Reflect on 9/11 and the Wounds of the “War on Terror”
Shahzia Sikander, Wafaa Bilal, Rina Banerjee, and others share stories from the day of the attack and the vicious campaign of Islamophobia, racism, and surveillance in its wake.
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Eli Valley @elivalley.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Naya Lekht 🇮🇱 🇺🇸ניה לכת
@LekhtNaya
·
Sep 7
“Every country has bad actors, agitators, hooligans, extremists, and criminals. Yet virtually no one treats them as proof of some deeper national pathology. We do not routinely speak of “French violence,” “Australian extremism,” or “South African criminality” as though the actions of a fringe automatically define an entire society.”
From futureofjewish.com
matt
@reallymadatyou
·
Sep 8
Which political constituency in Israel wants an end to the occupation?
Naya Lekht 🇮🇱 🇺🇸ניה לכת
@LekhtNaya
What occupation?
9:13 AM · Sep 8, 2026
·
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I mailed a postcard from Fire Island to Toronto on July 18 and my friend only received it yesterday. The Postal Service is completely utterly f-ed.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Some days I send my partner real estate listings for country homes we’ll never buy because it feels like pebbling.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
15 art books for your fall reading lists 📖 I chose the Kent Monkman/Vermeer catalog for the show at the Frick.
hyperallergic.com
15 Art Books for Your Fall Reading List
Guadalupe Rosales’s memoir, Christine Sun Kim’s artist book, Fady Joudah’s ode to the people of Gaza, and Elizabeth Alexander’s essay collection are among our most anticipated titles.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
15 art books for your fall reading lists 📖 I chose the Kent Monkman/Vermeer catalog for the show at the Frick.
hyperallergic.com
15 Art Books for Your Fall Reading List
Guadalupe Rosales’s memoir, Christine Sun Kim’s artist book, Fady Joudah’s ode to the people of Gaza, and Elizabeth Alexander’s essay collection are among our most anticipated titles.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
The ending to Yesteryear is weak. Such a good book and then a weird Hollywood ending.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Propaganda works.
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Daniel Suitor @danielsuitor.com · 31/08/2026
My pedantic note on this is that a private enterprise cannot "fine" you. They can charge you money, sure. But a fine can only be issued under color of law.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Google really sucks. 😑 A friend in London says it says Lake Ontario there.
Map showing Lake Ontario
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Dexter Thomas @dexdigi.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
wrote this back in 2023 dexdigi.beehiiv.com/p/i-hate-how...
dexdigi.beehiiv.com
I hate how we talk about Japanese women
Thoughts on Yayoi Kusama and Japanese 'racism'
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Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Crucial new piece in @thegrindto.bsky.social on how the Canadian state and major media outlets have used a deeply flawed 'study' to launder claims of antisemitism on campus. Turns out *the study itself* acknowledges it is *Zionist Jews* who report increased antisemitism. Antizionist Jews DO NOT.
thegrindmag.ca
Campus Antisemitism Report Hid a Key Finding that Turns the Results Upside Down
In early August, mainstream outlets repeated the findings of a flawed report describing alarming levels of antisemitism on university campuses. Two weeks later, the authors stated that 92 per cent of…
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
This review I published when I was EIC by Dexter Thomas, was the article that made it clear that Kusama anti-Blackness permeated her work, and even more disturbing, the art market was trying to cover it up in all sorts of ways.
hyperallergic.com
What the Art World Doesn't Want You to Know About Yayoi Kusama
A new publication tries hard to reinvent Kusama as a champion of racial equity despite her troubling record of anti-Black statements.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Lake Ontario should be called Lake Epstein, because it’s deep enough to hide the files he doesn’t want us to see.
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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
The self-proclaimed "mastermind" of the 9/11 attacks will stand trial in June 2028, a military judge ruled Wednesday, nearly 25 years after the attacks. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been held at Guantanamo since 2003. abcnews.com/US/alleged-9...
abcnews.com
Alleged 9/11 mastermind's long-awaited trial scheduled for 2028
The self-proclaimed "mastermind" of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will stand trial in June 2028, a military judge ruled Wednesday.
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#StupidSuez @diplomatofnight.com · 26/08/2026
After years of flouting international legal obligations, the UK under new Labour Prime Minister Andy Burnham is poised within weeks to finally announce a comprehensive ban on trade with the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise in illegally-occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Golan Heights.
Burnham poised to sanction Israeli settlements
Prime Minister considering trade embargo within weeks despite warnings it would cause Labour split over Middle East policy


Gift this article free
Add us as preferred source
An Israeli settler clashes with an activist in the West Bank
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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Dammit.
tmz.com
Actor Tim Curry Dead at 80
Tim Curry -- the legendary film and TV actor best known for playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the cult classic "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" -- has died ... TMZ has learned.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Toronto mayoral candidate Brad Bradford says that New York state should be known as “the Province of New York.” 😆 This is getting funny.
ctvnews.ca
Toronto mayoral candidate proposes new name for New York after Trump takes aim at Lake Ontario
If U.S. President Donald Trump renames Lake Ontario as Lake America to spite the province amid a trade war, Toronto mayoral candidate Brad Bradford says that New York state should be known as 'the Pro...
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I'll never forget the one & only Dolly Parton concert I went to. I was 18/19 & it was with my mum. My dad couldn't go (they both loved Dolly & were going to go together) & I went instead. I knew so little about her & I was so moved by the concert & her humble rapport that I became a lifelong fan.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Could this timeline get any dumber?
News headline
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Peter Huestis @peterhuestis.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I love how aspirational this title is:
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Few artists have been as intertwined with a struggle & so beloved by the people fighting as Sliman Mansour. Sadly, he has passed at age 79. In 2023, he told @hyperallergic.com: "Our fight now is to tell the world that we are full human beings…We are not less than any other people in the world.”
hyperallergic.com
Sliman Mansour, Painter of Palestinian Hope and Humanity, Dies at 79
"Our fight now is to tell the world that we are full human beings," Mansour told Hyperallergic in 2023. "We are not less than any other people in the world.”
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Republicans Against Trumpism @rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Ontario Premier Doug Ford fires back at Trump: You think an insult from Trump hurts me? Bring it on, buddy. I’m ready. I’ve dealt with guys like you my whole life. You’re a loser.
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Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans) @iwriteok.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
This is what the growth of surveillance is going to bring. Not safety from crime, but new, non-criminal acts redefined as criminal so as to give the police an excuse to exercise power. local12.com/news/offbeat...
local12.com
Police request public's help to find suspect who picked up $30 off ground in Walmart
A police department took to social media and asked the public to help them identify a suspect who found $30 on the ground in Walmart.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Only Trump could make English Canadians learn French. I wouldn’t be surprised if the country becomes fully bilingual in a few years.
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Hrag Vartanian @hrag.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I’m a giant pink elephant disguised as a human being.
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