The Untidy Tales of Katie Kitamura

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( encounter [The Untidy Tales of Katie Kitamura]( Her hypnotic new novel asks: What happens when your main character is a passive witness to her own life? Photo: Scott Semler The novelist and art critic Katie Kitamura suggested we meet at David Zwirner gallery on 19th Street. She wanted to catch a show by Rose Wylie, an 86-year-old British artist who creates massive paintings inspired by pilgrims, Quentin Tarantino films, chocolate cookies, World War II, and other phenomena. A festively colored Baggu tote dangling from her wrist, Kitamura stood before a canvas that showed a giant crablike figure in a green sea. Wylie was anointed an art star late in life, decades after she’d had children. “A lot of artists, their work changes when they get picked up by galleries and attain a level of commercial success,” Kitamura observed. Not this one, who still paints whatever she wants on unprimed canvases with blobs and strings trailing at the edges; 11 out of the 11 paintings at Zwirner had cat hairs stuck to the surface. “I love that she’s unfazed,” Kitamura said. [Read The Story »]( The Latest TV Recaps • [The White Lotus Premiere:]( Tropical Kabuki • [The Real Housewives of Potomac Season-Premiere:]( Over the Valleys and Hills We Go • [Evil:]( Next Time Take the Stairs • [Kevin Can F**k Himself:]( Asking for Messy [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Stories We Think You’ll Like … [My Afternoon With Papa Roach An excerpt from Tom Scharpling’s new memoir, It Never Ends.]( [Bergman Island Is for the Ingmar Bergman Heads Let Mia Hansen-Løve explain you to yourself.]( [Sleep No More Sleeps No Longer By the pricking of your arm …]( [Black Players Target of Racist Harassment After England Soccer Loss British police are investigating hateful posts on social media.]( [Hey, Sean Penn Didn’t Get Booed at Cannes This Time Flag Day’s premiere night went decidedly better than the last time the actor-director was on the Croisette.]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Subscribe to Vulture now]( for unlimited access. Vulture Recommends We consume it all so you don’t have to. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos by YouTube • From Daddy Day Care to Studio Ghibli, we found [the 30 best family films on HBO Max](. • [Our list of the best songs of 2021 (so far)]( includes Jazmine Sullivan’s years-in-the-making comeback, electrifying rock anthems, and Doja Cat’s NSFW tongue twister. • Comedians including Ziwe Fumudoh, Karen Chee, and Meg Stalter [recommend their favorite funny books](. [Read more from Vulture]( If you enjoyed reading Vulture’s daily newsletter, forward it to a friend. Or dive deeper into the Vulture universe with our other newsletters: • [1.5x Speed](: Podcast recommendations and listening notes from Nick Quah, sent every Wednesday. • [Buffering](: Joe Adalian reports on the streaming industry, sent every Thursday. • [Read Like the Wind](: Book recommendations and literary mischief by Molly Young, sent the first Tuesday of every month. • [The Housewives Institute Bulletin](: For dedicated students of the Reality TV Arts and Sciences, sent every other Friday. [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe](param=daily) | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on e-mail newsletters please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 11th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2021, All rights reserved