Maya Pontone

2 days ago | hyperallergic.com | Maya Pontone

Climate activists took to the iconic “Charging Bull” sculpture in Manhattan’s Financial District on Earth Day today, April 22, to call out Wall Street’s “bullshit” in the face of a worsening environmental crisis — quite literally, by installing a display of fabric feces descending onto a rendering of planet Earth at the rear end of the 11-foot-tall bronze bull.

3 days ago | hyperallergic.com | Maya Pontone

What had begun as a vibrant propagation of a monstera vine had withered away into nothing more than a dead leaf and a clump of dried-out roots in a plastic cup of dirt sitting on my bedside table. I’d watched its gradual demise over the course of months while I tried desperately to revive it with water, fertilizer, and in a last-ditch effort, my own voice. But the moment had finally come for me to accept the truth that my lifeless cutting was gone for good. It was time to say goodbye and move on.

3 days ago | hyperallergic.com | Maya Pontone |Isa (Isabella) Farfan

The Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has set its sights on the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC, as the White House continues its escalation against federal arts and cultural institutions.

4 days ago | hyperallergic.com | Maya Pontone

As I peered into the gargantuan tangle of 50 multicolored inflatables comprising the centerpiece of CJ Hendry’s Keff Joons exhibition, an attendant named Tim gave me a heads-up. “Only a few more seconds of silence,” he said. Moments later, as if on cue, two small children and an adult, all wearing socks, rushed into the all-white padded room. The kids made a beeline for the 20-foot-tall mess of air-filled knots and instinctively began to climb an oversized pink tentacle resting on the floor.

1 week ago | hyperallergic.com | Maya Pontone

Chants of “Guggenheim’s cheap!” “New York is a union town!” and “Up with the union, down with the layoffs!” reverberated down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side this evening, April 16, as more than 50 cultural workers rallied outside the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum to protest the abrupt termination of 20 staffers. The museum announced the layoffs in late February, citing extended post-pandemic financial constraints.