At 84, American photographer Kwami Brathwaite remains a legend in American culture. In the 1950s and 1960s in New York City, he pioneered the black identity liberation movement and pointed to a different aesthetic model with his photographs. A new exhibition at the New York Historical Society, which opened August 19 and runs until January 2023, is dedicated to his work as a tribute to a man who bravely managed to build an entire world, give substance to many people, and give voice and dignity to many others. The exhibition features portraits for which the black American portrait painter Kwami Brathwaite became famous. In the changing times, but with great difficulty, in the post-war decades, this pioneering photographer wanted to create a network of understanding and solidarity with other black creators. At the same time, she fought tooth and nail to free black women from the beauty standards they saw everywhere in films and advertisements that defined and targeted white women. This inequality caused great mental anguish to millions of African American women in those years who struggled to express their identity in a society that did not have many role models for itself. Kwami Brathwaite reinforced the trend towards new modeling and new aesthetic standards after the 1960s, as well as the integration of black women into the mainstream of the production and dissemination of aesthetic standards and erotic criteria. It was a long but effective process. The exhibition is an opportunity for an alternative reading of the African American emancipation movement, projecting a new identity and making sense of this journey, which is now a legacy with a cultural imprint. In addition to portraits of Kwami Brathwaite, unknown photos from the unprecedented Harlem of the 60s are presented, as well as fashion photos from the Pride catwalks that took place at that time. In another sense, this exhibition is an opportunity to get to know a great personality who is leaving work.

Views of the world

Ordinary people
One of the most interesting artists from South Korea, 38-year-old Hiso Kim, presents his unique series of “fragmentary” portraits in London. At the Unit Art Gallery in Mayfair, the artist shares versions of the universal human condition with explorations of loneliness and fixation. His technique, with elements of expressionism and cubism, makes his art recognizable and collectible internationally.

Elizabeth Taylor
A new biography of Elizabeth Taylor has been announced by Harper Publishing and will be released on December 6 by journalist Kate Andersen Brower (book available for presale). This is the most comprehensive biography of Taylor based on interviews with family and friends, diaries, anecdotal letters, and a wealth of testimonies. This year marks the 90th anniversary of her birth and the 11th anniversary of her death.

Return to Italy
The Getty Museum has announced that it will return to the Italian state an antique found to be the product of an antique theft and illegally sold. It is a sculptural composition of the II century AD. made of clay, consisting of a seated poet surrounded by two sirens. The sculpture is also known as Orpheus and the Sirens. Four other works of art are also being considered, which will likely also be returned to Italy.

Raymond Briggs
One of England’s favorite children’s book illustrators, Raymond Briggs, has died at the age of 88. World famous for his wordless picture book The Snowman (1978), Briggs was a writer who, in his own way, made a mark on children’s literature. He published other books, all contemplative and philosophical, which found a wide readership around the world.

Stormy architecture
A new residential project by architecture firm MVRDV is drawing mixed reactions in Amsterdam due to its iconoclastic aesthetic. The Valley project offers luxury residential apartments, offices and public spaces on an area of ​​75,000 sq.m. in green areas. Many windows, balconies, terraces contribute to the architectural solution, which is completed in combination with the water element.