'Touching the Art' author explores her grandmother's love and denial

By Sheilah Kast,

Published November 9, 2023 at 10:21 AM EST

A mixture of memoir, biography, criticism, and social history, Touching the Art is queer icon and activist Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore’s interrogation of the possibilities of artistic striving, the limits of the middle-class mindset, the legacy of familial abandonment, and what art can and cannot do. Photo: Provided by MBS — A mixture of memoir, biography, criticism, and social history, *Touching the Art* is queer icon and activist Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore’s interrogation of the possibilities of artistic striving, the limits of the middle-class mindset, the legacy of familial abandonment, and what art can and cannot do. Photo: Provided by MBS

Growing up Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore adored her grandmother Gladys Goldstein -- not for her acclaim as an abstract artist, but because she nurtured young Mattilda’s creativity. That all changed when Mattilda came out as gender queer. She explains in her memoir: "Touching the Art."

Links: Ivy Bookshop talk 11.13.23.

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