Tobi Haslett is an American critic and writer. He has written about art, film, and literature for

n+1 N1, N.I, N-1, or N01 may refer to: Information technology * Nokia N1, an Android tablet * Nexus One, an Android phone made by HTC * Nylas N1, a desktop email client * Oppo N1, an Android phone * N1, a Sun Microsystems software brand now mostly ...

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ x 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notabl ...

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

, and other publications. He lives and works in New York City.

Work

Haslett has written reviews, catalog essays, and introductions to novels. He has written reviews for ''The Collected Essays'' ''of Elizabeth Hardwick,'' Norman Podhoretz's ''Making It'', and ''The Image Book'', directed by

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran� ...

. For ''

'''s special issue titled ''The Year in Monsters'', Haslett wrote about

Omarosa Manigault Newman Omarosa Onee Manigault Newman () ( Manigault; born 1974), often known as Omarosa, is an American reality television show participant, writer, and former political aide to former US President Donald Trump. She became widely known as a contestant ...

's third book, ''Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House.'' Haslett wrote the introduction to Gary Indiana's re-released debut novel, ''Horse Crazy'', which follows a semi-autobiographical tale of a New York City art critic vying for the attention and affection of an addict-riddled artist. He wrote on

Martin Puryear Martin L. Puryear (born May 23, 1941) is an American artist known for his devotion to traditional craft. Working in wood and bronze, among other media, his reductive technique and meditative approach challenge the physical and poetic boundaries ...

's sculptures that were included in the United States’ official contribution to the

2019 Venice Biennale The 58th Venice Biennale was an international contemporary art exhibition held between May and November 2019. The Venice Biennale takes place biennially in Venice, Italy. Artistic director Ralph Rugoff curated its central exhibition, ''May You ...

. In 2019,

Hannah Black Hannah Black is a visual artist, critic, and writer. Her work spans video, text and performance. She is best known for her open letter written with Ciarán Finlayson and Tobi Haslett, ''The Tear Gas Biennial'', criticizing co-chair of the board o ...

, Ciarán Finlayson, and Haslett released a statement in ''Artforum'' titled ''The Tear Gas Biennial,'' decrying the involvement of

Warren Kanders A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval An ...

, co-chair of the board of the

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude ...

, and his "toxic philanthropy." Although Kanders has donated an estimated $10 million to the museum, the source of his fortune is derived from Safariland LLC, a company that manufactures

riot gear Riot control measures are used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful demonstration or unlawful protest. If a riot is spontaneous and irration ...

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ad ...

, and other chemical weapons used by the police and the military to enforce violent order. As of 1925, the

Geneva Convention upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conven ...

has outlawed the use of tear gas in all international military conflict, however, the tear gas fired at peaceful protesters and civilians by the police and military during the

George Floyd protests The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internati ...

as well as migrants on the US-Mexico border is the same brand of tear gas manufactured by Defense Technology, a subsidy of Safariland. A wave of artists from the Biennial, including

Korakrit Arunanondchai Korakrit Arunanondchai is a video and multimedia artist originally from Bangkok who now splits his time between Brooklyn and Bangkok. He is best known for his 2017 installation, ''With history in a room filled with people with funny names 4'', whi ...

Meriem Bennani Meriem Bennani (born 1988) is a Moroccan artist currently based in New York. Biography Bennani was born and raised in Rabat, Morocco. She earned a BFA from The Cooper Union in 2012, and an MFA from the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts D� ...

Nicole Eisenman Nicole Eisenman (born 1965) is French-born American artist known for her oil paintings and sculptures. She has been awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship (1996), the Carnegie Prize (2013), and has thrice been included in the Whitney Biennial (1995, 20 ...

and

Nicholas Galanin Nicholas Galanin (pronounced gah-LANN-in) is a Tlingit and Unangax̂ multi-disciplinary artist and musician from Alaska. His work often explores a dialogue of change and identity between Native and non-Native communities. Background Nicholas Gala ...

, demanded immediate removal of their work from the Biennial within hours after the essay was published. After mounting pressure from additional artists, critics, and patrons urging the public to boycott the show, Kanders stepped down from his leadership position at the museum. The essay was instrumental in Kanders resignation as well as the museum cutting ties with Kanders financial endowments that are directly connected to the promotion and use of military weaponry and violence during peaceful social unrest. Later that year, Haslett published an essay criticizing

Thomas Chatterton Williams Thomas Chatterton Williams (born March 26, 1981) is an American cultural critic and author.Harper's'' stating that there needs to exist a complicated understanding and practice of liberalism such that claiming, as an example, that former President Barack Obama was a center-right moderate would be anachronistic.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haslett, Tobi African-American writers American literary critics American art critics Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American people