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1 week ago | 
midbrow.org | Brian Slattery
David Goldblatt: No Ulterior MotiveYale University Art GalleryNew HavenThrough June 22It’s a portrait of action and fun, as if the kids were already laughing in the street and the photographer told them to look up for just a second. It’s also startling in its intimacy. The camera is so close, the kids so unaffected even as they’re posing. Look closer, too, and it’s not all joy. The kid on the ground isn’t smiling. Why is one of the other kids holding up a ball?
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1 week ago | 
newhavenindependent.org | Brian Slattery
David Goldblatt: No Ulterior MotiveYale University Art GalleryNew HavenThrough June 22It’s a portrait of action and fun, as if the kids were already laughing in the street and the photographer told them to look up for just a second. It’s also startling in its intimacy. The camera is so close, the kids so unaffected even as they’re posing. Look closer, too, and it’s not all joy. The kid on the ground isn’t smiling. Why is one of the other kids holding up a ball?
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2 weeks ago | 
newhavenindependent.org | Brian Slattery
In Praise of Floods: The Untamed River and the Life It BringsBy James C. ScottYale University PressIn Praise of Floods, the final published work by the late Yale political scientist and anthropologist James C. Scott, is a fleet, searching book, with the laudable ambition to change people’s minds about how they relate to the rivers around them, in the hopes of creating a more sustainable future for all plants and animals.
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1 month ago | 
midbrow.org | Brian Slattery
In Our HandsCurated by nico w. okoroOrchid Gallery/ ConnCORP496 Newhall St. Through July 3The shot in Merik Goma’s photograph is cinematic, a bright light in a darkened room. You can’t see either of the people’s faces, but you don’t have to. The postures of their bodies, their heads close together, convey much of the emotion, as do the arms, interlocked. The hands seal the deal, their gentle, firm grip, offering comfort, support.
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1 month ago | 
newhavenindependent.org | Brian Slattery
In Our HandsCurated by nico w. okoroOrchid Gallery/ ConnCORP496 Newhall St. Through July 3The shot in Merik Goma’s photograph is cinematic, a bright light in a darkened room. You can’t see either of the people’s faces, but you don’t have to. The postures of their bodies, their heads close together, convey much of the emotion, as do the arms, interlocked. The hands seal the deal, their gentle, firm grip, offering comfort, support.
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1 month ago | 
newhavenindependent.org | Brian Slattery
While the president of Enstructure spoke of his company’s careful management of the huge salt piles along the shore of the Mill River at Chapel and East Streets, longtime environmental advocates described a different scene — one where permeable tarps ripped and flapped in the wind during storms, and where the salt ran into the river and sank into the soil.
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1 month ago | 
newhavenindependent.org | Brian Slattery
NosegayInstitute Library847 Chapel St.Through June 23Living Magic, by Maria Citarella, is mounted unobtrusively on the front wall of the gallery, looking — at first glance, from a distance — like an orderly triptych, a study in greens. But as you approach, the lines in the piece grow more complex, and the three panels take on dimension, until you can see that the panels aren’t of paint, but of mosses and lichens. The piece comes to life, nudging over its own borders.
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1 month ago | 
newhavenindependent.org | Brian Slattery
Takaat and Mountain MoversThree SheetsNew HavenMay 4, 2025Ahmoudou Madassane of Takaat finished a long flourish on his guitar, raw and lyrical at the same time. Mikey Coltun answered with a drone on bass, supportive and grounding. Souleymane Ibrahim played a long swell on drums. Having created a wide-open musical landscape, the trio proceeded to charge through it on a galloping rhythm.
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1 month ago | 
midbrow.org | Brian Slattery
Takaat and Mountain MoversThree SheetsNew HavenMay 4, 2025Ahmoudou Madassane of Takaat finished a long flourish on his guitar, raw and lyrical at the same time. Mikey Coltun answered with a drone on bass, supportive and grounding. Souleymane Ibrahim played a long swell on drums. Having created a wide-open musical landscape, the trio proceeded to charge through it on a galloping rhythm. The audience — a crowded room, with everyone standing close together — swayed as if hit by a wave, already in tune.
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1 month ago | 
newhavenindependent.org | Brian Slattery
Two people are in a train station. You’d think they’d be waiting for a train, but it turns out they’re not. It’s unclear what they’re waiting for. Moreover, something has happened before the play starts. The situation is already awkward. “It’s fine,” he says. “It’s not,” she says. “It’s just weird. I feel awful.” We don’t know what they’re talking about. “Were you supposed to be meeting him here?” he asks. “No. What gives you that impression?” she responds. “Nothing. Just,” he begins.
