Akeem Smith: No Gyal Can Test

By Darla Migan

NOV 2020 | ArtSeen

Akeem Smith’s No Gyal Can Test is an exploration of the visual, sonic, and material culture emanating from dancehall, wherein the now globally exported form is understood from its social and political specificity and not simply for its unforgettable style.

The Medici: Portraits and Politics, 1512–1570

By Christian Kleinbub

SEPT 2021 | ArtSeen

If you think yourself immune to the seductions of visual propaganda, go check out the current Met exhibition, The Medici: Portraits and Politics, 1512–1570. It will test you.

Jay Caspian Kang’s The Loneliest Americans

By Rhoda Feng

NOV 2021 | Books

If you’re a youngish Asian American like me, you can likely dredge up memories of being dragooned to test prep or tutoring sessions. Housed in spartan rooms with the obligatory Scantron machine, these may have been academies for the SAT, PSAT, AP, and ACT or aggressively accredited courses to give you an edge over other applicants to private or feeder schools. Acres of paper would be distributed, from pallets of practice questions to flash cards and take-home exercises. Classes were set to the metronome of drills. At some point, the instructor might airily toss off a bit of advice for the clueless: if in doubt, just bubble in “all of the above”—whatever the question, there was a good chance that was the right choice.