Author: Calvin Wilson
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Mona Hatoum: Reimagining the Familiar
Can a wheelchair pose a threat? Does menace lie in a bunk bed? Is there a hidden agenda lurking in a kitchen — as an ominous electric buzz humming through chairs and tables suggests? In the art of Mona Hatoum, the familiar can be disorienting and unsettling, challenging our assumptions and upending our expectations. “Terra Infirma,” an exhibition on view at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis through Aug. 11, spans the four-decade career of the Palestinian multimedia and installation artist.
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Glenn North: Truth Teller
Artists have often explored connections across disciplines, resulting in work that can be as surprising as it is provocative — from theater director Julie Taymor and U2 bandmates Bono and The Edge collaborating on the troubled but intriguing musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” to actress Tilda Swinton reclining in a glass box as part of an exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
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Standing Up for Veterans – All of Them
J. Malcolm Garcia has traveled widely — and often dangerously — in his role as freelance journalist, getting his passport stamped from Sierra Leone to Syria, and from Pakistan to Afghanistan. But he calls Kansas City home. So, he qualifies as a local author, albeit one whose writings have documented people and places far beyond the American heartland.
