Art Writer Robin Cembalest
has produced everything from investigative journalism to profiles, trend stories, hard news, reviews, and early listicles and blog posts. She’s published in the the Village Voice, New York Observer, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, El País, most of the major art magazines, design publications, and many other places.
Working at ARTnews, Robin covered the major cultural events and controversies of the ‘1990s and 2000s— government funding and the Mapplethorpe obscenity trial, the ecological art boom, the growth of the Guggenheim, censorship cases, multiculturalism, diversity, Native American art, and the transformation of the art museum, among other topics. She’s also written extensively on Spanish art and culture for publications in Spain and the U.S.
Following is a non-chronological sampling from Robin’s hundreds of publications.
The Military Is Present
Using outreach, performance, video, photography, and therapy, artists and museums are devising new ways to connect with veterans—and to bring their stories to a wider audience.
Chatting With MacArthur Winner Carrie Mae Weems
The artist, activist, and educator on winning the 'genius grant,' bringing color to the Guggenheim, and changing the world one flower at a time.
Ten Tough Women Artists Who Stand Up to the Bad Boys
In the male-dominated art season of fall 2013, Robin revealed where to find female artists who change the rules, explore new horizons, and do it gangsta-style.
The Mysteriously Tiny Drawings of an 18th-Century Artist, Born Without Hands or Feet
Using an implement he wielded with his stumps, Matthias Buchinger excelled in calligraphy, ornamentation, and micrography, the practice of making patterns with tiny letters. Ricky Jay’s book and a show at the Met explored the art and life of “The Little Man of Nuremberg.”
Talking to Howardena Pindell about her pioneering role
As a Black woman artist and activist whose goal has been to “deal with American history as it is not told,” Howardena Pindell long faced exclusion on many levels. In recent years, she has become recognized as pioneer and thought leader whose influence goes far beyond the studio. Robin profiled Pindell for the Yale Alumni magazine, November 2019.
The Spectre Haunting Eva Hesse's Brooklyn Museum Show
In a Brooklyn Museum exhibition of the artist's early paintings, some aspects of her story were conspicuous by their absence.
The Afterlife of the Conceptual and Minimalist Art of Sol LeWitt
Sol LeWitt’s minimalist installations for synagogues and Jewish institutions have given the late Conceptual artist an afterlife he’d approve of. Published in Tablet, February 2012.
A Turner Behind the Scenes
Reality, illusion and the sublime converge in An-My Lê's photo of a Turner painting being restored, recently acquired by the Yale Center for British Art.
9 Art Shows to See After ‘12 Years a Slave’
Museum exhibitions confront amnesia, restore lost narratives, and consider the legacy of the Middle Passage.
From Black Power to Migrants’ Power
As ’60s activist art enters museums, a new generation is creating an iconography of protest for today.
An Artist Sews a Sense of Community
Communal crafting and collective action are essential parts of Marie Watt’s art practice.
Connecting Jack the Dripper and Jack the Doodler
Pollock collection show at MoMA upends curatorial policy by uniting major paintings with prints and drawings.
The Influential Chinese Contemporary Artist You've Never Heard Of
A show at the Queens Museum celebrated mischief-making artist Zhang Hongtu, who has built a five-decade career out of skewering icons with deft irreverence
A new Barbie is the “Jewish Mona Lisa”
A new doll is inspired by Adele Bloch-Bauer, Klimt’s famous Austrian Jewish model. It’s one of a new series of collector’s edition dolls dedicated to great works of art.
12 Museum-Worthy Power Suits from Around the World
Yinka Shonibare, Carla Fernandez, Jae Jarrell, Nick Cave and other creators turn up in this roundup of fabulous duds in museum shows
“Change the Board and Get Rid of the Director”
An award-winning investigation into the Hispanic Society of America that resulted in real change