A Glimpse Into New York’s 1970s Art Scene
By Wim Langedijk for HURS
A Glimpse Into New York’s 1970s Art Scene
HUR Reads is our definitive shortlist of the most prominent articles from around the web.
By HURS Team
1
Marte Mei van Haaster – The Supermodel Pioneering Sustainable Design
Dutch model Marte Mei van Haaster is carving out a parallel career in sustainable design, focusing on phytoremediation—using plants to cleanse polluted land. Working with hemp grown on PFAS-contaminated soil, she transforms harvested materials into “phytoresin” furniture. Bridging fashion, science and design, her practice turns environmental repair into functional objects, aiming to scale land restoration through design while challenging the industry she still inhabits.
HOW TO SPEND IT
Photographer Petra Collins reflects on her career and new book Star, tracing her signature aesthetic back to a stylized, often darker reimagining of girlhood shaped by personal experience. Known for her “big sister” dynamic, she builds intimate, cinematic worlds with her subjects. As her influence permeates pop culture, Collins is shifting toward filmmaking, exploring fame, horror, and identity while choosing creative evolution—and happiness—over control.
I-D
Paula Cooper reflects on pioneering Soho’s gallery scene after opening her space there in 1968, when the neighborhood was still industrial and artist-led. Rooted in close, often familial relationships with artists, her gallery helped transform Soho into an art hub. She recalls a slower, more collaborative era, balancing work and motherhood, championing emerging talent, and fostering a tight-knit creative community that shaped contemporary art.
THE CUT
A new documentary, Georgia O’Keeffe: The Brightness of Light, will be released this spring, with Claire Danes voicing the artist and Hugh Dancy narrating. Directed by Paul and Ellen Casey Wagner, it explores O’Keeffe’s life through interviews with leading scholars and locations central to her work. Celebrated as a founder of American Modernism, O’Keeffe is shown through her sensual, monumental depictions of nature, guided by her own ideal: honesty and beauty.
ARTSY
Hanif Abdurraqib reflects on how modern convenience has reshaped attention, desire, and connection, fuelling nostalgia for slower, more “inconvenient” technologies like Walkmans and VCRs. While acknowledging this longing, he argues it often masks a deeper discomfort with present-day speed and digital overload. Through personal memories and political reflection, he suggests that small friction—patience, effort, presence—can restore a sense of aliveness that seamless convenience tends to erase.