Ellen Gallagher, DeLuxe, 2004–2005; Grid of 60 photogravure, etching, aquatint and drypoints with lithography, screenprint, embossing, tattoo-machine engraving; some with additions of plasticine, watercolor, pomade and toy eyeballs, 15⅓× 12⅘inches each, 84⅗×178⅕ inches overall. © Ellen Gallagher, Courtesy Gagosian. Installation view © Hill Art Foundation. Photo: Dan Bradica Studio

There’s a lot of discourse today around the context of art. What was the climate when the art was made? Was it produced during the dark Inquisition years or the more tolerant yet still political Renaissance? What country, race or ethnicity can we link to the artist? What political, social or economic statement are they making? And the curator—what thoughts, feelings or inquiries are they trying to prompt with the exhibition?

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Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, critic and curator Hilton Als is known for his sharp, deeply contextual explorations of art and culture. A. His Joan Didion show, “What She Means,” at the Hammer Museum in L.A. in 2023, gave us historical, political, social and symbolic representations of her writing. He has curated other wordsmiths like James Baldwin and painter and writer Celia Paul with that same eye. And his current show, “The Writing’s on the Wall: Language and Silence in the Visual Arts” at the Hill Art Foundation in New York, is an example of this contextual braiding par excellence.

The group exhibition, on through March 29, includes sculpture, photographs, printed zines and video installations—all of which consider the........

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