Aesthetica Issue 124

Aesthetica

THE ART & CULTURE MAGAZINE

www.aestheticamagazine.com

Issue 124 April / May 2025

ANCIENT ECOSYSTEM

ALTERED LANDSCAPE

BENEATH THE WAVES

Sarah Meyohas presents new interactive pieces at Desert X

Documenting old-growth trees that form a vast network of life

Photographers are responding to life in the Anthropocene age

Sculptures constructed out of plastic collected on the beach

UK £6.95 Europe €14.99 USA $16.49

MIRRORED IMAGERY

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Welcome Editor’s Note

On the Cover Maria Svarbova's iconic photographic vision is defined by minimalism, detachment and symmetry, as well as an interest in buildings.

Figures, who are dressed in brightly coloured bathing suits and caps, line up amidst stark architectural spaces, or wander across wide, open roads and mountain ranges. (p. 52) Cover Image: © Maria Svarbova for Kolektiv Cité Radieuse, with the kind authorization of Le Corbusier Foundation © FLC I ADAGP Paris (2025).

Transformation is a continuous journey. It begins with a single decision – to embrace possibility. The impossible only remains so, until someone dares to challenge it, push it beyond limitations, turning ideas into action. Innovation and progress stem from a mindset that believes in breaking boundaries. Art is the great champion of this philosophy, constantly evolving to reflect and redefine the world as we know it.

This issue highlights photographers who embody that spirit of renewal. Carter Baran captures moments that rethink visual storytelling, blending documentary precision with a poetic sensibility. Claudio Dell'Osa’s work plays with perception, using layering techniques to construct images that question how we see reality. Adam Gibbs brings nature to life with compositions that showcase the raw beauty of the landscape, while Bevil Templeton-Smith experiments with light and form, turning ordinary moments into extraordinary microscopic visions. Han Yang, with a sharp eye for contrast and emotion, crafts images that leave a lasting impact, proving that photography is as much about feeling as it is about seeing. Our cover photographer Maria Svarbova brings her iconic visual style, defined by minimalism and curation.

Inka & Niclas, part of Second Nature: Photography in the Age of the Anthropocene, examine how photography intersects with environmental consciousness, urging us to reconsider our role in nature. Sarah Meyohas explores the dynamic relationship of art, technology and economics, demonstrating how digital innovation shapes visual culture. Thirza Schaap’s work confronts the climate crisis through surreal compositions made from plastic waste, transforming discarded materials into compelling still life pieces.

Finally, for the Last Words, curator Anne Ruygt speaks about the Lee Miller exhibition at FOMU Antwerp. She brings a fresh perspective to the legendary photographer’s work. Miller’s ability to transcend genres – from fashion to war photography – is a testament to the power of reinvention and resilience.

Cherie Federico

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Art 13 Welcome Art is about reinvention, pushing boundaries and trying new ideas. This issue of Aesthetica encourages creative thinking and innovation.

16 News A close-up look at landmark events launching this season, from Milan Design Week to Photo London and Sony World Photography Awards.

32 10 to See Charting what's on across the world, with art and photography exhibits in Canada, Denmark, Italy, Hong Kong, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and USA.

36 Study in Humanity The portraits of Han Yang are rich in emotion, drawing inspiration from philosophy, fashion, posthumanism and the surrealist movement.

46 Beneath the Waves Thirza Schaap's sculptures are constructed with plastic collected on beaches, raising awareness of the waste crisis through visual juxtapositions.

52 Serene Geometry Simplicity, detachment and symmetry are among the hallmarks of artist Maria Svarbova's distinctive style, from the Swimming Pool series and beyond.

64 Mirror Imagery Sarah Meyohas, who is widely known for works that make invisible systems visible, presents a brand new piece of installation art at Desert X.

70 Worlds Up Close Microscope images by Bevil Templeton-Smith document sweeping abstract shapes and bold colours found in everyday household objects.

82 Stories Unfolding Carter Baran captures surreal, hazy images which are lit by an eerie glow, making audiences stop to wonder: what's going to happen next in the story?

94 Altered Landscape Photo-based artists from around the world are responding to the Anthropocene, a geological era defined by human activity and destruction.

100 Ancient Ecosystem A journey into the last old-growth forests on Vancouver Island's west coast, trees that form a vast, yet tragically disappearing, web of life.

112 Detailed Perspective Claudio Dell'Osa presents cross-section views of Mediterranean fruits and vegetables: asparagus, chicory, fennel, parsley, peppers and strawberry.

124 Exhibitions Surveying key shows, including Leigh Bowery! at Tate Modern, as well as the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize's 2025 edition.

129 Film An Army of Women charts activism in the face of indifference, meanwhile Blue Road tells the true story of renowned novelist Edna O'Brien.

131 Music Miki Berenyi Trio releases the ethereal yet urgent Tripla, Anika's Abyss is a response to grief, whilst Blondshell's second album records the zeitgeist.

Books

Artists’ Directory

Last Words

133 The Latest Publications From iconic buildings that changed the story of architecture, to contemporary cyanotypes that critique fast fashion and textile wastage.

138 Featured Practitioners Contemporary artists hold up a mirror to the here and now, using a wide variety of media: photography, painting, sculpture and more.

146 Anne Ruygt The curator of FOMU's latest show speaks about Lee Miller and her extraordinary interdisciplinary career, across fashion, surrealism and journalism.

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Reviews

ISSN 1743-2715.

All work is copyrighted to the author or artist.

All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used or reproduced without permission from the publisher.

Published by Cherie Federico and Dale Donley.

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Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Surrounded Islands, Biscayne Bay, Greater Miami, Florida, 1980-83. Photo: Wolfgang Volz. Copyright: 2024 Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation. Collection NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale: Gift of the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation.

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Visionary Installation SURROUNDED ISLANDS NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale | Permanent nsuartmuseum.org

Temporary art installations have the power to bring people together, united in a single collective moment of curiosity or amazement. Few artists have done this better than Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The late duo remains famous worldwide for wrapping landmarks in brightly coloured fabrics. In 1985, they covered Pont Neuf, Paris’ oldest bridge, in golden cloth. Ten years later they produced the iconic Wrapped Reichstag, which blanketed Berlin's main governmental building in 100,000 square metres of silver fabric and attracted millions of visitors.

In May 1983, 430 people helped unveil a new installation in Miami. Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Surrounded Islands encircled 11 areas in Biscayne Bay with neon pink material. The vibrant piece took three years to create but was on display for just 14 days. The artists designed the vibrant textile to work in harmony with the tropical vegetation of the uninhabited location, the light of the Miami sky and the crystal blue waters of the bay.

Forty years on, NSU Art Museum has acquired the legendary design, meaning Surrounded Islands will return to southern Florida to find its permanent home. Gifted by the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation, the gallery’s first exhibition of the work will showcase over 43 drawings, collages, photographs, engineering surveys, environmental studies, permits and correspondence, as well as sections of the pink fabric and scale models. Together, these items take visitors on a journey from conception to realisation and provide an insight into the creative genius of one of the 20th century’s most celebrated artistic pairs.

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Shaping the Future THE GAY SPACE AGENCY ICP, New York | Until 1 May icp.org

In 1983, Sally Ride (1951-2012) made history as the first American woman in space. Gender made her the subject of scrutiny and celebration in equal measure. After retiring, she dedicated her career to encouraging more girls to take up careers in STEM fields. Yet, Ride's obituary was the first time it was publicly stated that she was in a relationship with a woman.

It made her one of only three publicly queer crew members from NASA, all of whom came out after going to space. Today, the agency has still never selected an openly LGBTQIA+ astronaut.

Mackenzie Calle’s photographic series The Gay Space Agency takes inspiration from Ride. The ground-breaking work of docufiction confronts the American space programme’s exclusion of queer astronauts. The collection reimagines NASA records, manipulating historical and archival materials to offer a new perspective on the agency’s actions. Several poignant images draw attention to NASA's 1994 request “to include homosexuality as a psychiatrically disqualifying condition.” The photographs mimic psychological evaluations, and highlight the absurdity of NASA’s demands. They also reference to the Rorschach inkblot test, where the expected response was to see feminine anatomy.

Calle's body of work also presents a possible future where LGBTQIA+ individuals form their own fictional space agency, the GSA. In today's world of shifting perceptions of sexuality and the erosion of LGBTQIA+ rights under Donald Trump's presidency, The Gay Space Agency is a moving tribute to pioneering queer astronauts and a powerful counter-narrative to the story thus far.

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The Gay Space Agency, © Mackenzie Calle. Project funded with support from the Magnum Foundation Counter Histories Grant.

Between the Shadows © Erik Johansson

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Realities Expanded ALL WE HAVE IS NOW Fotografiska, Shanghai | Until 4 May shanghai.fotografiska.com

There are approximately 34 million AI generated images created each day. These pictures now make up 71% of social media feeds.

Today, it is taken for granted that any picture imaginable can be conjured up in a split second. Erik Johansson’s surreal scenes buck this trend. The Swedish photographer only produces 10 images a year, pouring hours into planning, capturing and editing a single shot. The artist always builds his works on-site, using props, carefully arranged lighting and perspective. Digital technology is only used as a tool to finalise the compositions, ensuring there is a seamless evolution from reality to the surreal.

These mesmerising landscapes see familiar sights bleed into dreamlike situations. In Deadline (2023), an office worker sits at a desk that is partially submerged in the ocean. Papers float away and a moon-like clock glows in the distance. Another picture shows an oversized vase of flowers bursting from a shed, whilst a pair of gigantic shears can be seen next to the stalks left behind.

Elsewhere, a woman stands alone in the forest, the beam of her torch transforming shadowy tree trunks into cloudy blue skies.

Fotografiska Shanghai launches the latest solo exhibition from Johansson. All We Have is Now reflects on the fleeting nature of the moment, and the pressing environmental problems that define our current era. The dynamic presentation of the photographs is particularly unique; they appear in intervals through the day to offer a constantly shifting, ethereal experience. Here, audiences are invited to suspend their disbelief, set aside their own reality and step into a world that asks the question: "what if?"

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Powerful Storytelling A SENSE OF WONDER Fondazione Brescia Musei | Until 24 August bresciamusei.com

Street photography is as old as the medium itself. Louis Daguerre’s shots of a shoe-shiner on the streets of Paris date the genre back to the 1830s. But the enthusiasm for bottling up the buzz of urban settings took off in the 1960s and 1970s, brought into the mainstream art world by practitioners like Helen Levitt, Lee Friedlander and Garry Winogrand. Amongst their ranks was Joel Meyerowitz, whose images of New York earned international recognition. His work has appeared in over 350 exhibitions, he has published 53 books and is a two-time Guggenheim Fellow.

Fondazione Brescia Musei surveys Meyerowitz’s career from the 1960s to the present-day. It features over 90 pictures, tracing his pioneering contribution to street photography, most notably the introduction of colour in 1962. It was a time when the pervading feeling was that serious photographers shot only in black and white, to which Meyerowitz responded: “But why, when the world is in colour?” Examples include images taken in Provincetown in the 1970s, which document the families, artists and citizens of the Massachusetts town in rich hues, from the red interior of a car, to young people caught after a swim in the sea.

Perhaps the most impactful part of the exhibition is the poignant photos taken in the days following the 9/11 terrorist attack.

Meyerowitz was the only photographer authorised to document the World Trade Center district. His striking and emotional subjects range from isolated workers who were dealing with the aftermath of the atrocity, to a sea of people lining the streets to show their respect. This display is the result of a master at work.

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© Joel Meyerowitz, Red Interior, Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1977

Kasia Strek is shortlisted in the Professional competition of the Sony World Photography Awards 2025. Exhibition at Somerset House, London, 17 April – 5 May.

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A Global Perspective WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS Somerset House, London | 17 April – 5 May worldphoto.org

The first iPhone was released in 2007, revolutionising mobile phone design. This new technology allowed everyone to carry a camera in their pocket. The same year, the World Photography Organisation announced their inaugural award, celebrating the ability of an individual shot to record and distil a singular moment. Fast forward to today, and much has changed in the realm of image-making – more than 90% of daily pictures are taken on smartphones – but the Sony World Photography Awards continue to showcase the very best of lens-based artwork.

The competition has a diverse set of categories, acknowledging achievements in open, professional, student and youth groups.

This year, there were more than 419,000 entries across all areas, with submissions from over 200 countries. Now, a selection of works, by shortlistees and finalists, is on display at Somerset House. Featured practitioners include Rhiannon Adam, who was selected for the first civilian flight to deep space, only to see it abruptly cancelled three years later. Her photographs document the process of reckoning with this abandoned dream.

Kasia Strek’s Repairing the Earth is part of the Professional Shortlist. The arresting image of dense foliage arching over a creek addresses the fact that “in Benin, one of the world’s poorest countries, mangrove forests have been saved through NGOs, political will and local beliefs.” In a visually-saturated world, a scroll through social media pulls our attention in countless different directions. Here, there is a recentring, as artists remind audiences that society cannot afford to be distracted from reality.

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Sensory Experience MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE Garage 21, Milan | 7 – 13 April fuorisalone.it

Light and water have long been points of fascination for artists. In 1973, Anthony McCall unveiled Line Describing a Cone. The mesmerising piece, inspired by the ethereal shafts of light emitted by film projectors, invited viewers to witness the gradual formation of a cone. His current exhibition at Tate Modern takes this one step further, beaming light through a thin mist to create three-dimensional forms. Olafur Eliasson has also captivated audiences by using nature to evoke profound sensory experiences. In Beauty (1993), he used fine mist to suspend bands of coloured light in midair, producing a rainbow that altered and moved depending on where the viewer stands.

Now, Lachlan Turczan joins these iconic names in their investigations into light, water and sound. The American artist has spent the past decade developing a creative practice that explores how the natural world can alter human perception.

His latest show, Making the Invisible Visible, was put together in partnership with Google designer Ivy Ross. Visitors enter into Turczan’s Lucida (I-IV), a series of spaces sculpted entirely out of light. Luminous veils ripple through mist, forming environments that blur the boundaries between what is tangible and intangible.

Making the Invisible Visible is part of Milan Design Week.

This year the focus is on the theme of “connected worlds.”

The exhibitions, events and projects featured are united in a singular vision: creating design that works in harmony with new technologies. Turczan's collaboration with Google embodies this notion, blending artistic exploration and technical craftsmanship.

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© Joel Meyerowitz, Red Interior, Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1977

Plant Portraits or Weeds & Aliens Studies, Sisymbrium irio L.- London Rocket, 100 Yellow 130 Magenta 0 Cyan 40s, Courtesy Chrystel Lebas, April 2017.

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Legacy of Images PHOTO LONDON Somerset House, London | 15 – 18 May photolondon.org

Photo London has established itself as a key moment in the cultural calendar over the past decade. This May, the fair returns to Somerset House to celebrate this milestone. Visitors have the opportunity to see renowned photographs, witness the scope of today's talent and explore the future possibilities of the medium.

The featured galleries offer encounters with images that have shaped lens-based practice throughout the 20th century. Highlights include Irving Penn’s legendary Mouth (1986). It shows a close-up of a model’s mouth, smeared with different shades of lipstick, comparing her lips to a painter’s palette. Other exhibitors focus on those who are at the forefront of contemporary photography. Tania Franco Klein returns after receiving the Photo London Emerging Photographer Award in 2018, whilst Chrystel Lebas brings long-established techniques into the modern era, making photograms that reveal the beauty in unwanted weeds.

This year London, as a concept, takes centre stage. Many artists and photographers have used the city as a muse. The special exhibition features 30 household names such as David Bailey, Heather Agyepong, James Barnor, Jamie Hawkesworth and Joy Gregory. Bailey’s portraits are a who’s-who of cultural icons, from Mick Jagger to David Hockney, whilst Hawkesworth’s pictures of ordinary communities offer a tender documentation of British life. Gregory, meanwhile, has literally changed the fabric and design of London’s infrastructure via Art on the Underground.

The expansive selection is a testament to creatives influenced

by London, who helped make its vibrant culture what it is today.

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Joyful Portraits MUSIC MAKES THE PAIN FADE Homecoming Gallery, Amsterdam | Until 5 April homecoming.gallery

Music and art go hand in hand. Artists help make music history, producing iconic visuals that end up gracing the pages of magazines and adorn bedroom walls as posters. Famous examples include photographer Lee Friedlander, who worked with Atlantic Records and was responsible for the album cover of Hank Crawford and Ray Charles. Meanwhile, Keith Haring’s imagery was the artwork for David Bowie’s Without You in 1983.

Now, Derrick Ofosu Boateng celebrates the transformative power of song. The artist sees music as more than sound; it is a never-ending source of creativity, a force of healing and a vessel of happiness. The show portrays music as a bridge between past and present, bringing communities together. Boateng's wider practice is inspired by ancient African proverbs and is driven by a desire to showcase the vibrancy of Ghanaian life. Guardian of Dreams is one such shot, showing men wrapped in fabric, balancing an arch of fruit between them, against a bold blue backdrop.

Music Makes the Pain Fade is equally delightful, bursting with saturated colours and playful motifs. Figures are often caught mid-laughter, or else with their eyes closed, lost in the moment of playing an instrument. It is as though listening hard enough will make the melodies drift from the photographs. The eponymous picture shows three young boys standing with their arms lifted in a triumphant gesture, listening as one child plays the trumpet. It is the cover of rapper Common’s A Beautiful Revolution Pt.1. Boateng’s work is an ode to the people who pick up a camera, brush or instrument, and make something outstanding.

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Guardian of Dreams by Derrick Ofosu Boateng via Homecoming Gallery

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10 to See RECOMMENDED EXHIBITIONS THIS SEASON

April and May’s must-see shows immerse audiences in new worlds. Gyula Kosice and Julian Charrière invite visitors to walk through imagined futures, which have been shaped by climate crisis, whilst Laia Estruch and Yukinori Yanagi offer boundary-pushing multimedia encounters.

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Gyula Kosice: Intergalactic Pérez Art Museum, Miami | Until 7 September

pamm.org Gyula Kosice was one of Argentina’s foremost avant-garde artists, pioneering the use of light, motion and water as a creative medium. Most notable in this exhibition is The Hydrospatial City (1946-2004), an experimental work designed to stay suspended in the sky by using energy from cloud water. It continues to be a visionary example of sustainable and innovative design. These artworks were created between 1950 and 1980, but in the present-day reality marred by the climate crisis and socioeconomic inequality, they remain as relevant as ever.

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teamLab Phenomena Saadiyat Cultural District, Abu Dhabi | From 18 April – Ongoing

teamlab.art Immersive exhibitions and experiences are booming in popularity. Art galleries no longer consist of white walls and framed paintings; they are spaces of innovation and exploration.

Now, teamLab Phenomena opens its doors in Abu Dhabi. The 17,000 square metre space rethinks the very nature of artwork. The whole building engages sight, sound and touch, encouraging guests to expand how they interact with the world. The pieces do not exist on their own, but are shaped by surrounding movement, ensuring that no two visits are the same.

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Laia Estruch: Hello Everyone

Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid | Until 1 September

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museoreinasofia.es Laia Estruch's work exists at the intersection of performance and presentation. This latest show brings together pieces from the past 14 years, reimagining them for the vast warehouse space. Trena, a 35-metre-long installation that mimics the experience of moving through a giant windpipe, has been upcycled into a curtain to divide the gallery’s two zones. Elsewhere, floor-based sculptures are “turned off”, dismantled and hung against the wall. Audiences are reminded that art, culture and history are always evolving and open to fresh interpretations.

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Beach of Dreams

Various Locations, UK | 1 May – 1 June

beachofdreams.org In the UK, no-one lives more than 80 miles from the sea. The coastline stretches 22,000 miles, and is home to a vast array of wildlife, as well as providing endless inspiration for creatives.

Beach of Dreams is a national celebration of the unique heritage, traditions and futures tied to the coast, particularly in the face of stark environmental change. The programme features eight major commissions, displayed across the country, exploring topics from the hidden habitats beneath the waves, to the many communities and livelihoods that rely on the ocean.

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Rotimi Fani-Kayode: Tranquility of Communion

The Polygon, Vancouver | Until 25 May

thepolygon.ca This landmark survey features almost 200 works by ground-breaking photographer Rotimi Fani-Kayode. In a brief but influential career, he focused attention on society’s "outsiders".

His images of queer Black individuals were made during the 1980s, when the AIDS crisis devastated LGBTQIA+ communities. The portraits shrugged off a western viewpoint, instead associating experiences of desire with a “technique of ecstasy” from Yoruba spirituality. Forty years on, Fani-Kayode’s work is still shaping conversations on race, sexuality and belonging.

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Tyler Mitchell: Wish This Was Real Photo Elysee, Lausanne | Until 17 August

elysee.ch Tyler Mitchell’s influence on contemporary lens-based art is almost unparalleled. He was the first Black photographer to shoot the cover of Vogue in 2018, and his work was featured in the landmark book, The New Black Vanguard, which showcased imagery that centred the Black experience. Now, Wish This Was Real traces his remarkable career to date. The pictures on display challenge traditional definitions of fashion, fine art and masculinity. Here, Mitchell’s dedication to portraying and celebrating the nuance and diversity of Black life is centre stage.

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Desert Dialogues Nevada Museum of Art, Reno | Until 27 December 2027

nevadaart.org Deserts cover one-fifth of the Earth and are home to one billion people. Nevada Museum of Art explores why humanity continues to be drawn to these seemly barren environments. This show reveals their history as places of discovery, development, solitude and survival, with rich and vibrant ecosystems. The centrepiece is Wagon Station, designed by Andrea Zittel. It evokes covered carts of 19th century American settlers, as well as suburban station wagons.

Elsewhere, Cai Guo-Qiang's Mushroom Clouds deconstructs an "icon" of 20th century power.

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ARKEN, Copenhagen | Until 21 April

arken.dk A large mirror of anthracite coal. An ancient forest. A rave deep inside a palm oil plantation.

Julian Charrière’s ambitious show is a dizzying journey through the history of the Earth.

Guests are welcomed into a vast space filled with plant species that flourished 300 million years ago, before being whisked through the history of coal mines and oil drilling. Charrière invites critical reflection on the use of organic resources and their impact on ecosystems. The message is clear: rebuild humanity’s relationship with the natural world, before it is too late.

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Chen Wei: Breath of Silence Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong | Until 12 April

blindspotgallery.com Breath of Silence captures the present-day feeling of alienation and solitude. This is a global problem that Chen Wei sees as a repercussion of the Covid-19 pandemic. The titular photograph stages a figure in a self-confinement chamber, a sense of claustrophobia permeating through the plastic sheets. There is a similar sentiment in Clean Hands, which shows rubber gloves hanging from holes in a glass partition. The collective result is an eerie acknowledgement of the divides, both physical and imagined, that exist between people in societies today.

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Yukinori Yanagi: Icarus Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan | Until 27 July

pirellihangarbicocca.org In 1993, Yukinori Yanagi had his first international exhibition: representing Japan at the 45th Venice Biennale. The installation saw 70 coloured sand flags crumble day by day, eroded by the unrelenting efforts of thousands of live ants. Now, 32 years later, Yanagi returns to Italy with a major show. Icarus recontextualises key works from the 1990s and 2000s. The monumental site-specific pieces unflinchingly navigate Japanese history and culture, as well as prescient themes like nationalism, and the impact of technology on contemporary society.

1. Gyula Kosice. Satélite de luz, (1970). Acrylic, engine, and light. Courtesy Fundación Malba. Photo: Santiago Orti. 2. Installation view of Floating lamps that resonate in spontaneous order with people. © teamLab. Image courtesy of teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi, opening 18 April 2025. 3. Laia Estruch Ganivet (Cuchillo/Knife), (2020). View of the performance at the Fundació Joan Brossa, Barcelona.

Collection of the artist and Galería Ehrhardt Flórez. Photograph: Eva Carasol. Image courtesy of the artist. 4. Julie Brook, Firestack Autumn, Aird Bheag, Hebrides, Scotland. Image courtesy of the artist and Beach of Dreams, opening 1 May - 1 June 2025. 5. Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Adebiyi, (1989). Courtesy of Autograph (London). 6. Tyler Mitchell, Untitled (Red Steps), (2016). ©Tyler Mitchell. Image courtesy of the artist and Gagosian Gallery. 7. Cai Guo-Qiang, The Century with Mushroom Clouds: Project for the 20th Century (Nevada Test Site), (1996). Realized at Nevada Test Site, February 13, 1996, approximately 3 seconds, Gunpowder (10 g) and cardboard tube, photo by Hiro Ihara. 24 x 34 inches. Collection of the Nevada Museum of Art, Purchased with deaccessioning funds © Cai Guo-Qiang.

8. Julian Charrière, Controlled Burn, (2022). Copyright the artist; VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, Germany. Installation photo: Anders Sune Berg.

9. Chen Wei, Ring Lock, (2024). Image courtesy of the artist and Blindspot Gallery. 10. Yukinori Yanagi, Article 9, (1994). Neon, plastic box, print on transparency sheet, acrylic frame. Dimensions variable. Installation view, 8. Busan Biennale, 2016. Photo: Road Izumiyama.

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Study in Humanity Han Yang

Psychology, femininity, gender, technology and the body. These are key themes at the heart of Han Yang’s research-led practice. The London-based photographer, visual artist and creative director combines elements from abstraction, Chinese philosophy, fashion, posthumanism and surrealism to build pictures that are rich in emotional depth. Her closeup portraits use visual metaphors – like broken eggs, or butterfly wings – alongside writings from Buddhist text The Heart Sutra, to explore what it means to be vulnerable, yet resilient, amidst periods of personal and global turmoil. Elsewhere, subjects stand next to withered tree trunks or cherry blossoms in shallow pools; the concept here is to examine the intrinsic connections between people, plants and their environments. All of this is executed through a distinct visual style. Han Yang consistently pushes the boundaries of genre, drawing the viewer in via symbolism, mystery and precise attention to detail. yanghan-photo.com

Han Yang, Tenderness and Conflict, (2020).

Image courtesy of the artist.

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Han Yang, Vulnerability, (2020). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Han Yang, What does the plant tell us?, (2020). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Han Yang, The Life of A Tree, (2021). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Han Yang, Undercurrents, (2020). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Han Yang, Vulnerability, (2020). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Han Yang, Oriental Dream, (2019). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Han Yang, Nonhuman Environment, (2020). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Han Yang, Vulnerability, (2020). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Beneath the Waves Thirza Schaap THE ARTIST MAKES SCULPTURES FROM WASTE PLASTICS COLLECTED ON BEACHES, RAISING AWARENESS OF POLLUTION THROUGH VISUAL CONTRAST AND JUXTAPOSITION.

Every year, 11 million metric tons of plastic enters our to sun, wave and wind exposure. Schaap builds compositions oceans. That’s according to nonprofit environmental advo- against brightly coloured, pastel or black backdrops. The recacy group Ocean Conservancy, which has picked up more sults are intentionally jarring: a dandelion made from plasthan 380 million pounds of rubbish from shores over the tic straws; a coffee-lid crow; and a candy shop stocked with last 35 years. Beach clean-ups have become an increasingly discarded footballs. It’s chilling, and makes you double take. popular way for individuals to help combat the waste crisis.

The artist, based between Cape Town and Amsterdam, pubData shows the most common items found are cigarette lished the series – titled Plastic Ocean – as a book in 2021. butts, bottles, caps, food wrappers, grocery bags and straws. Other significant accolades include collaborating with the Over the past 10 years, campaigns, images, statistics and likes of Greenpeace Africa and WWF, for whom she reinventvideos have shifted perceptions of single use plastics. There ed Pantone’s 2019 Color of the Year: Living Coral. Schaap’s are plenty of shocking facts: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, image – of bags and bottles splayed out underneath Panfor example, covers an estimated surface area of 1.6 million tone’s iconic logo – communicated a powerful message: square kilometres – an area twice the size of Texas or three 75% of the world’s coral reefs are threatened. She is repretimes the size of France. No one can forget the distressing sented by contemporary photography gallery Bildhalle, video of the turtle with a straw stuck up its nose, which went Zurich and Amsterdam, and has exhibited at Christie’s, Het viral in 2015. Then there’s Justin Hofman's heartbreaking Nieuwe Instituut and Unseen Amsterdam, amongst others. image of a seahorse clutching an old, discarded cotton swab.

Schaap is amongst a growing number of advocates using Thirza Schaap (b. 1971) takes a different, yet equally pow- visual art to raise awareness about the consequences of overerful, approach to picturing the plastic problem. In 2016, she consumption. Mandy Barker (b. 1964) is perhaps the most began transforming debris collected from shorelines into well-known; her visually captivating, yet disturbing, scenes sculptures, sharing them on social media. A daily morning are also assembled from ubiquitous items found on beaches. ritual – picking up items on the beach and turning them into Now, Schaap joins Barker as part of the line-up for Flowers – arrangements – became a far longer-term project that was Flora in Contemporary Art & Culture, a hugely popular show published by i-D and Vice. The idea was to create a contradic- at London’s Saatchi Gallery. It is a giant exhibition that comtion: a clash between the initial aesthetic appeal of a beauti- prises over 500 artworks and speaks to the different ways ful artwork, and the creeping repulsion of its subject matter. flowers have inspired, and been depicted by, creatives. It's a Schaap’s sculptures feature everyday items: bags, bottles, who’s who of the contemporary art world, featuring installacartons, combs, cutlery, lids and nets, as well as smaller, tion and photography from Rebecca Louise Law, Tim Walker less-easily identifiable pieces, which have broken apart due and Viviane Sassen, plus much more, spanning nine galleries.

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Thirza Schaap, Crumple, from Plastic Ocean. © Thirza Schaap.

“In my photographs, the traditional art icons of mortality, ephemerality and wealth have been traded out in place of bottles, baskets and bowls: singleuse items which are used and discarded.”

Previous page: Thirza Schaap, Lotus, from Plastic Ocean. © Thirza Schaap.

Left: Thirza Schaap, Bluebird, from Plastic Ocean. © Thirza Schaap.

A: Do you remember the moment you decided to begin compositions. One hundred years ago, the Surrealists coined the Plastic Ocean project? Was there a particular trip, en- the concept of “écriture automatique” – automatic writing – counter, or piece of waste, that sparked the idea in you? in which the hand does its own thing, unconsciously. When TS: In 2008, we went on a trip with our 10-year-old son to working on Plastic Ocean, I practice “sculpture automatique.”

Bali. We enjoyed the tropical islands and wanted to learn to dive and get our PADI certification. Strangely, it was not in A: You’ve described the series as “a kind of vanitas for the the water where we first noticed the plastic. We were amazed 21st century.” Can you explain what you mean by that? by the dazzling amount of waste we could see in the rice TS: Vanitas is the 17th century style of painting we know from fields – bits and pieces sparkling like fairy lights in the bright our art classes, which contains collections of objects – desunlight. After that, we couldn’t fully enjoy our stay on the caying flowers, rotting fruit and snuffed candles – that are island. I started Plastic Ocean to create awareness around this symbolic of the inevitability of death. These works on canvas type of pollution, to try and prevent – or at least reduce – are about transience, and the vanity of earthly achievements the use of plastic. As a child I would walk over beaches and and pleasures. Vanitas exhorts the viewer to consider mortalthrough fields and forests to collect beautiful shells, shim- ity and to repent. The objects I find on the shores, affected by mering stones, feathers and funnily shaped branches. Much the current, salt water and light, also emphasise the shortness later, when spending more time on beaches all over the of life, just like the paintings did several hundreds of years world, I found myself doing the same thing. Only to discover ago. In my works, the traditional iconography of mortality, that I started filling my pockets with trash instead of treasure. ephemerality and wealth has been traded out for bottles, baskets and bowls: single-use items that are used and then A: Can you walk us through the process of putting one of discarded, now only existing as empty vessels of destruction. your sculptures together, from beach to studio? How do you decide on what to include, which colours to use, and A: Are there any other contemporary artists – or environhow to stage, combine and light the different elements? mental activists – whom particularly inspired the project?

TS: My storage space is a small garden shed, where the TS: The idea really came out of a place where, due to my former owner used to repot her plants. Once I’m in there, I health, I could not work in advertising anymore and I was so just follow what appeals to me at a certain moment. It’s about bored. I had already been collecting these bittersweet, beauwhat pieces fit together – like a puzzle. Simply documenting tiful pieces of plastic from the beaches. One day, I was lookthe washed up, eroded plastic findings wasn’t doing justice to ing around my shed and I started to rearrange them. Sudthe beauty of their colours and textures. I decided to sepa- denly, I was forming my first still lives. I hadn’t made a still rate them from any reference to their original environment, life composition since graduating from the Royal Academy so that they became stand-alone objects – the basis of my of Art in The Hague in 1996, but it felt like being back there.

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Thirza Schaap, Dandelion, from Plastic Ocean. © Thirza Schaap.

A: Awareness of plastic pollution has grown since you Right: Thirza Schaap, Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe first started working on the series. What has the public Too, from Plastic Ocean. © Thirza Schaap. response to the collection been like, and has it affected your own life in any way? Do you see the project as a A: What are some of the most surprising, or worrying, form of protest, education, or something else entirely? finds you’ve made on beaches? What have you learned TS: All the above. At the same time, it is a journey of personal during the time you’ve been working on these images? growth. There is no consistent way of consuming and disposTS: The tide brings in the same sized objects at the same time, ing of our goods anymore. Of course, there never was, but due to their weight and shape. So, plastic bags become tan- now we are aware we cannot turn away. In my own life, I am gled up with the seaweed, and tiny pieces settle like confetti trying to buy only what I need and, when I do feel tempted on the white sand. There really is nothing to celebrate here. to purchase something, I will wait a day, and the urge is gone.

The project has been published in Aperture, Dazed, Elle, i-D, A: Plastic Ocean presents discarded waste in a way that Ignant , Kinfolk, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, Vice, Vogue is surprisingly beautiful. How do you achieve the bal- and many others. Moreover, I’ve talked to so many other ance between aesthetics and activism in your practice? concerned people who are experiencing the same feelings as TS: When you disguise ugliness with beauty, it enters the me, which has given me the sense that I am not alone in this. mind through another door. Instead of disgusting people with, for example, the view of a cut open seabird’s belly A: You’re featured in Saatchi’s major new display Flowers – which shows the pieces of plastic he ate accidentally – I – Flora in Contemporary Art & Culture. Can you tell us decided to show the problem in a different way. Personally, I about the pieces you are showing as part of the line-up? would rather not think about the seabird example, and would Beyond the exhibition, what's next for you? Are there any Words hide it in my brain. My images, by contrast, offer minimal and new materials, ideas, or techniques you'd like to try out? Eleanor Sutherland aesthetically pleasing compositions which, on closer inspec- TS: I am showing an early sculpture originally made for tion, instil the same sense of ecological grief. Plastic Ocean Vogue China. It is a buoy set on its side, to which I have atquestions consumption, idolatry and what it is we value in tached a small bottle and a top, as well as cut-out paper flowour lives today. The effect is a quirky, playful and pop art ers. The other is one of the first works I did in the garden: a Flowers paradox: the pictures show a clash between worlds. At a first still life of fallen hibiscus flowers and pieces of plastic bottle. Saatchi Gallery, London glance, the debris does not repulse us. On the contrary, its In terms of the future for me and my practice: I have been Until 5 May dainty appearance almost seems to gloss over the ugliness making paintings, in which I include figures that represent of the plastic pollution on beaches. But only for an instant. myself and the people around me. They translate the per- plastic-ocean.net Our initial attraction soon fades, but the message remains. sonal and ecological grief that I am going through right now. saatchigallery.com Since then, I have become familiar with the work of Mandy Barker – she is a brilliant contemporary artist who collaborates closely with scientists to make art from waste plastics.

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Serene Geometry Maria Svarbova

Maria Svarbova’s (b. 1988) Swimming Pool images are instantly recognisable: figures, dressed in brightly coloured bathing suits and caps, line up amidst stark architectural spaces or immersed in water. The artist’s vision – defined by minimalism, detachment and symmetry, as well as an interest in buildings – has led to widespread acclaim: she's been named a Hasselblad Master and appeared on Forbes' 30 Under 30 list. Beyond this, Svarbova’s collaborators includes Kolektiv Cité Radieuse, a gallery established at the Unité d'Habitation Le Corbusier in Marseille. The photos navigate the architect’s so-called “vertical village”, visualising the relationship between human beings and his famous idea of houses as "a machine for living in.” She’s worked with the Museum of Ice Cream, where swimmers are immersed in pools of candy and sprinkles take water's place. Finally, Lost in the Valley features models wandering across open roads and mountain ranges. mariasvarbova.com

© Maria Svarbova for Kolektiv Cité Radieuse, with the kind authorization of Le Corbusier Foundation © FLC I ADAGP Paris, (2025).

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© Maria Svarbova for Kolektiv Cité Radieuse, with the kind authorization of Le Corbusier Foundation © FLC I ADAGP Paris, (2025).

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© Maria Svarbova for Kolektiv Cité Radieuse, with the kind authorization of Le Corbusier Foundation ©FLC I ADAGP Paris, (2025).

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Maria Svarbova, Museum of Ice Cream, (2019).

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Maria Svarbova, Museum of Ice Cream, (2019).

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Maria Svarbova, Untitled, Pool, (2020).

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Maria Svarbova, Grossling City-Bath, (2020).

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Maria Svarbova, Museum of Ice Cream, (2019).

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Maria Svarbova, Museum of Ice Cream, (2019).

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Maria Svarbova, Empty street, from Lost in the Valley, (2019).

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© Maria Svarbova for Kolektiv Cité Radieuse, with the kind authorization of Le Corbusier Foundation ©FLC I ADAGP Paris, (2025).

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Images Mirrored Sarah Meyohas DESERT X RETURNS WITH AWE-INSPIRING INSTALLATIONS THAT RESPOND TO THE LANDSCAPE, SPARKING KEY CONVERSATIONS ABOUT SYSTEMS DRIVING OUR WORLD.

Societies operate through intricate networks – automated installations have been designed and implemented; they not systems, advanced technologies and structures of power, only respond to the region's vastness and beauty, but also value and control. Artist Sarah Meyohas (b. 1991) is dedi- comment on issues that matter in today’s world. Meyohas cated to making these constructs visible. One of her best- joins an impressive line-up: Agnes Denes, Alison Saar, Canknown pieces is Bitchcoin, a cryptocurrency-as-artwork that nupa Hanska Luger, Jose Dávila, Kapwani Kiwanga, Kimsooja, launched in 2015 to question the speculative value of cryp- Muhannad Shono, Raphael Hefti, Ronald Rael and Sanford tocurrency and the ineffable value of art. It was released five Biggers. The themes cover everything from deep time to Inmonths before the launch of Ethereum and predated the NFT digenous futurism, design activism, colonial power and the boom, leading The Wall Street Journal to place her "at the impact of humanity on the land. Their interventions take on vanguard of an art-world revolution." But Bitchcoin is just ambitious forms: a giant pyramid covered in plants, a gas one of the many innovative projects that make up Meyohas' station “for the soul” and a towering 30 foot cloud sculpture. ever-growing oeuvre: she's also synchronised the movement Meyohas’ contribution is Truth Arrives in Slanted Beams, of birds to unpredictable stock market fluctuations, built an which showcases “caustics” – light patterns formed by the AI dataset of rose petals and created Speculations: a series refraction or reflection of light through curved surfaces. They of brightly-coloured mirror images that "literally never ends." often occur naturally, like at the bottom of a swimming pool.

Meyohas is a leading voice on the capabilities of emerg- In Coachella, Meyohas enables visitors to project sunlight ing technologies in art and culture. As such, she wears many onto a ribbon-like structure cascading across the desert floor. hats: as an artist, inventor, economist and technologist. This The installation recalls ancient timekeeping methods, like interdisciplinary approach has led to substantial recognition. sundials, whilst paying homage to 20th century land art. The In 2017, she was included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, artist has carefully mapped the sun’s path over the site, orand her work now sits in the collection of Centre Pompidou, chestrating the interaction between mirrors and the artwork's Paris. She has been published in Artforum, The Financial surface to craft precise reflections and shadows all day long.

Times, The New York Times and Vice, and has exhibited work at The piece encourages Coachella Valley visitors to create The Barbican Centre, London, as well as The New Museum of unexpected illusions in the desert – waves, moiré patterns, or Contemporary Art and Rockefeller Center in New York City. perhaps a mirage – “stirring a longing for the desert’s everNow, the artist is part of Desert X 2025, the fifth edition of present water.” As Desert X's Artistic Director Neville Wakethe site-specific, international art exhibition that takes place field explains: “Time, light and space permeate every aspect in the Coachella Valley. The event breaks free from gallery of this work, but so too does an urgency to find new sustainawalls, inviting creatives to riff on the desert landscape. Eleven ble approaches to living in an increasingly imperilled world.”

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Sarah Meyohas, Light Speculation #7, (2023). C-Print. Image courtesy the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery.

“I’m drawn to the way light structures perception, how it reveals and distorts, and how it can be used to make visible the systems – both physical and conceptual – that shape our world.”

Previous page: Sarah Meyohas, Light Speculation #5, (2023). C-Print. Image courtesy the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery.

Left: Sarah Meyohas, Light Speculation #3, (2023). C-Print. Image courtesy the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery.

A: What was it like to work with the Coachella Valley as a backdrop, as opposed to a traditional gallery space?

SM: I’ve long imagined working at this scale and in an outdoor setting. The desert offers artistic possibilities that a traditional white cube simply cannot – especially when it comes to light, which has always been central to my practice, whether in photography, holography, or, in this case, caustic reflections. For years, I had been experimenting with this type of technology. It redirects light through a lens or off a mirror to generate images purely from light itself. When I attempted to adapt this technique for a gallery setting, I found that artificial lighting dulled its magic. This approach thrives on natural sunlight, which made the invitation from Desert X feel serendipitous. The desert – where the sun is ever-present – became the ideal site to fully realise this vision. From there, the work took shape around a single question: How could I make sunlight the medium, the bearer of a message?

A: Truth Arrives in Slanted Beams focuses on refraction and reflection – themes that also appear in your Speculations series. Why do you return to the mirror image?

SM: Speculations was originally conceived in the context of Bitchcoin, where I tied the financial concept of speculation to the specular nature of mirrors – the way both involve an act of projection, and an imagined value. Both Speculations and Truth Arrives in Slanted Beams explore how light can be reflected, but in distinct ways. In Speculations, light is effectively trapped through an optical effect between a mirrored plane, creating a sense of illusion and depth. In Truth Arrives in Slanted Beams, it is reflected off an uneven surface, making the projection dynamic and ephemeral. I’m drawn to

the way in which light structures perception, how it reveals and distorts, and how it can be used to make visible the systems – both physical and conceptual – that shape our world.

A: How does the new installation relate to previous work?

SM: It is both an extension and a new beginning. Conceptually, it aligns with my ongoing explorations of light, perception and systems of value. But in terms of execution, Truth Arrives in Slanted Beams represents new ground for me – I had never worked architecturally or with caustic technology at this scale before. This piece has opened up exciting new avenues that I now plan to continue exploring into the future.

A: It is also interactive, allowing visitors to manipulate the mirrors. How important is audience collaboration?

SM: Participation has always been integral to my practice.

I’ve long been interested in relational aesthetics, and in many of my works, the meaning is activated through interaction – whether it’s a live audience engaging with Interferences (where holograms shift with movement), an AI responding to human input in Cloud of Petals, or financial markets shaping Stock Performance and Bitchcoin. In Truth Arrives in Slanted Beams, the audience physically moves mirrors, bringing projected images into focus. I see this as a metaphor for human perception – how we actively shape what we see around us.

A: Which Desert X works are you looking forward to?

SM: I’m particularly eager to see Agnes Denes’s The Living Pyramid. She is a pioneer in land art, and I admire her ability to fuse mathematical precision with ecological consciousness. I am also very intrigued by Sanford Biggers’s Unsui

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Sarah Meyohas, Light Speculation #2, (2023). C-Print. Image courtesy the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery.

(Mirror) – perhaps for obvious reasons – but also because of how the artist harnesses the desert’s natural forces. Biggers is using wind to create a shimmering, kinetic interplay of light.

A: Who, or what, are your biggest creative inspirations?

SM: My background in finance informs my artistic practice in fundamental ways. I studied economics at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania whilst simultaneously exploring art, and when I first encountered Bitcoin in 2014, it was a revelation. The idea that a financial system could be conjured into existence by an anonymous individual through a creative, almost conceptual, gesture fascinated me. It reinforced my belief that value is, at its core, a construct – one that can be shaped through art just as much as through markets. Conceptual artist Adrian Piper has been a major influence, particularly in how she integrates philosophy, activism and performance to engage with reality in profound ways. Similarly, Yves Klein’s articulation of value and immateriality – his ability to frame art as both a spiritual and economic act – has deeply shaped my thinking about the intersections between aesthetics, finance and technology.

A: Bitchcoin was ahead of its time in 2015, merging cryptocurrency and art. Since then, we have seen a rise and fall in the NFT space. What does the future hold?

SM: The future of digital art is bright. The NFT boom during the pandemic was an inevitable speculative bubble, but digital art itself is not a passing trend – it has existed for decades and will continue to evolve. Blockchain remains promising, particularly in its ability to offer provenance and decentralisation. Whilst the initial hype around it has faded, I believe

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we’re moving towards a more mature phase where more long-term applications for these technologies will emerge.

Right: Sarah Meyohas, Light Speculation #8, (2023). C-Print. Image courtesy the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery.

A: AI and machine learning are increasingly integrated into creative processes. Do you consider this type of software as a tool, collaborator, or something different?

SM: Like any powerful technology, AI presents both opportunities and challenges. It can certainly be a valuable tool for artists, but it also raises fundamental questions about authorship, creativity and labour. Rather than replacing artists, I see AI as a medium – one that requires a critical and intentional approach. In many ways, it’s like photography or video when they first emerged – initially it was disruptive, but they ultimately expanded the parameters for artistic possibilities.

A: You work with various media. Do you have a favourite?

SM: Fluidity is essential to my approach. Each idea dictates its own form, and I want my practice to remain responsive – to evolve alongside new technologies, new contexts, and new ways of seeing. Restricting myself to a single medium would be like trying to tell every story with the same vocabulary.

A: What’s on your radar for 2025? Any new projects?

SM: I’m expanding Truth Arrives in Slanted Beams. We’ve been filming on-site with Jacob Jonas The Company, who performed at the opening, and I’m currently in Joshua Tree creating holograms that will debut in 2026. My studio is refining a 6’x6’ drawing machine that produces pastel compositions titled Millionfold, and we’re developing experiments in painting, sculpture, film, furniture and AI. There’s always more in motion – fresh ideas, technologies and frontiers.

Words Eleanor Sutherland

Desert X 2025 Coachella Valley Until 11 May desertx.org

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Worlds Up Close Bevil Templeton-Smith

Bevil Templeton-Smith (b. 1971) is compelled by extreme challenges. From the macro to astrophotography and long exposures, he is often constructing devices to capture a difficult shot. His most recent pictures blur boundaries between science and art. They’re made using a Leitz Orthoplan research microscope, originally manufactured in the 1970s, which is adapted to fit a modern digital camera. “I have made endless microscope slides, mixing anything that I can find – artificial sweeteners, acids, sugar, caffeine, cleaning agents, paracetamol, vitamin C – that will dissolve or melt and crystallise.” The resulting prints, at Alveston Fine Arts in London, are a kaleidoscope of colour. There is a sense of movement, with curves that sweep, twist and explode upwards. Some household substances form grids or jagged edges when viewed up close. It’s easy to get lost in these compositions, and to imagine the micro-universes that could exist alongside our own. @bevilts | bevilts.art

Bevil Templeton-Smith, Crystal Symmetry, (2025).

Image courtesy of the artist.

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Bevil Templeton-Smith, Blue and Red, (2024). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Bevil Templeton-Smith, Blue Fanfare, (2023). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Bevil Templeton-Smith, Columna Reborn, (2023). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Bevil Templeton-Smith, Allegra, (2023). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Bevil Templeton-Smith, Banner III, (2023). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Bevil Templeton-Smith, Columna IV, (2024). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Bevil Templeton-Smith, Columna in Blue, (2024). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Bevil Templeton-Smith, Serena, (2023). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Bevil Templeton-Smith, Singularity, (2025). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Bevil Templeton-Smith, Untitled, (2023). Image courtesy of the artist.

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Stories Unfolding Carter Baran

Carter Baran is a Canadian artist with a passion for surreal and ethereal scenes. The following pictures are either self-portraits, or the result of spontaneous shoots with friends.

Baran's photos are united by a neon colour palette and masterful use of haze and shadow.

Characters – who are invariably suffused in an eerie glow – open mysterious doors, hover above stairways or drive to unknown destinations. You're never quite sure what is going to happen next, or who might be lurking beyond the edge of the frame. In one shot, a vintage telephone waits to ring on a side table. In another, strange energy seems to seep through a closed window. Baran’s photography kit comprises a couple of lenses, LED lights and a fog machine: “I find a lot of joy in having those limitations – in duct-taping lights to fishing rods, or building spotlights out of flashlights and cardboard.” Right now, the artist is taking a new direction – turning his attention towards cinematography and music production. carterr.co

Image courtesy Carter Baran.

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Image courtesy Carter Baran.

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Image courtesy Carter Baran.

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Image courtesy Carter Baran.

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Image courtesy Carter Baran.

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Image courtesy Carter Baran.

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Image courtesy Carter Baran.

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Image courtesy Carter Baran.

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Image courtesy Carter Baran.

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Image courtesy Carter Baran.

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Image courtesy Carter Baran.

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Altered Landscape Second Nature INNOVATIVE PHOTO-BASED ARTISTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD ARE RESPONDING TO THE ANTHROPOCENE, A NEW GEOLOGICAL EPOCH MARKED BY HUMAN ACTIVITIES.

“It’s good to screw around and mess with photography – it of nature photographs," and have been included in a number needs to be done,” says Inka & Niclas Lindergård, the Stock- of similarly-themed shows, from Human / Nature at Fotoholm-based artist duo who has worked together since 2007. grafiska New York to, more recently, Apocalypse: From Last There's perhaps no better example than Adaptive Colorations Judgement to Climate Threat at Gothenburg Museum of Art. I, a photo-sculpture in which a craggy mountain ridge peeks May co-curated Second Nature with Marshall N. Price, the out from the opening of a cave, glowing turmeric yellow and Chief Curator at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke Univerneon pink. The image is screen printed onto a three-dimen- sity, where the exhibition first launched. They pored over sional block of wood, offering different vantage points. Here, thousands of artworks before settling on 63 to exhibit. Price dreamlike photography is rendered into a tangible 3D object. recalls: “We wanted the artists in the show to reflect the gloThis innovative artwork, part of “a series of sculptures creat- bality of the conundrum, and so that informed the process.” ed by floating a photograph on the surface of the water and The photographs traverse continents and biomes, cities, fordipping a shape into it”, is on display in Second Nature: Pho- ests, and oceans, exposing humans’ paradoxically outsized tography in the Age of the Anthropocene at the Cantor Arts scale to the majestic geology of the planet. Even though, Center in Stanford University. The show is several years in physically, humans are tiny in front of nature, the rapid asthe making, and is accompanied by an expansive photobook cension of technology, the 4.06 trillion dollar global real published by Rizzoli. It considers the age of human domina- estate market, and the overpopulation of cities has irrevotion over planet Earth through the lens of 44 creatives, tying cably transformed the planet with carbon dioxide emissions, together urban crisis with disappearing natural abundance. fossil fuel use, erosion of natural habitats and deforestation.

“There was the humanity component – the ‘anthropos’ part “I knew before this project that the Earth was four-and-a-half – and there was also the physical transformation of the en- billion years old, and humanity has only been here for a very vironment to consider,” says Jessica May, the Executive Di- short period of time," Price explains. "When you zoom out rector of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and a and think about time on a geological scale, you realise how Co-Curator. “At the same time, we were starting to see the An- impactful humanity has been on the globe. And just thinking thropocene enter public discourse, and a transformation of about that puts urgency of the moment in to relief.” The show photography itself. So many photographers are really push- and book are divided into four categories: the reconfiguraing the medium in different ways, and that is a function of the tion of nature thanks to the meteoric increase in human activemergence and dominance of digital practices post-2000.” ity across the past couple of centuries; the notion of the “toxic Inka & Niclas, with their hyperreal multidisciplinary style, are sublime” – or finding otherworldly beauty in the banality of part of this shift. They are interested in "the visual mechanics excess pollution and environmental destruction; and the

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Inka & Niclas, The Belt of Venus and the Shadow of the Earth I, (2013). Image courtesy the artists, Dorothée Nilsson Gallery and Bildhalle.

“It starts with how humans perceive and consume nature. We try to provoke the eye. If we can give you all the clues, lay everything out in front of you clearly, and still make you question what you’re looking at, then we’ve succeeded.”

Previous page: Inka & Niclas, 4K Ultra HD II (TROPICAL), (2018). Image courtesy the artists, Dorothée Nilsson Gallery and Bildhalle.

Left: Inka & Niclas, 4K Ultra HD IX, (2018). Image courtesy the artists, Dorothée Nilsson Gallery and Bildhalle.

disjointed geographies resulting from profit-driven capitalist development and resource extraction. It concludes with the “new reality” that the Anthropocene has imposed on humanity, and which humankind has likewise enacted on the Earth.

Coined by biologist Eugene Stoermer in the 1980s, and then developed by scientist Paul Crutzen at the dawn of the millennium, the Anthropocene is a proposed unit of geologic time in which humans have irreversibly impacted the Earth’s climate and ecosystems, causing glaciers to melt and eroding the atmosphere with toxic gas emissions. “It’s a pity we’re still officially living in an age called the Holocene,” Crutzen wrote for the Yale Environment 360 in 2011. “The Anthropocene – human dominance of biological, chemical and geological processes on Earth – is already an undeniable reality.”

Nature and landscape have a vaunted place in the history of photography, epitomised by Ansel Adams’ striking monochrome portraits of America’s wilderness, which helped pave the way for environmental conservation and the creation of national parks. Eliot Porter’s close ups of birds in vivid colours, and the symmetric congruence of trees, contended with the quiet solitude of nature, before it was significantly disturbed by human intervention. Even Henri Cartier-Bresson, widely known for his surrealist shots of cities, practiced his trademark geometric composition in landscape photographs.

Today, in the age of Instagram, travel pictures appear on social media for the sake of mass consumption and performance. The idealisation of nature spots and seemingly untouched views spur collective interest and tourism, not unlike Adams and other early nature photographers’ endeavours to lobby visitor interest and investment in the American West. This is where Inka & Niclas enter the conversation. Their

work is underpinned by the same phenomenon: the saturation of landscape imagery in public imagination. "There are so many complex dynamics at play between humans and nature. We travel, we photograph, we consume, using images of nature to shape our identities now more than ever before."

Nature is a wellspring of inspiration for the duo, an almost magical utopia of rocks, caves, mountains and beaches pervaded by their hallmark technique of capturing and manipulating light in fluorescent colours. They revel in being outdoors – in "feeling the wind in your face, feeling small." Most of all, they want people to consider places from a different viewpoint. “All of our work, in one way or another, deals with perception. Much of it starts with how we, as humans, perceive and consume nature. It’s a visual medium, and we try to provoke the eye. If we can give you all the clues, lay everything out in front of you clearly, and still make you question what you’re looking at, then we’ve succeeded in some way.”

At Cantor, Adaptive Colorations functions as a metaphor for this: "There’s something poetic about being able to dip objects into photographs. The image warps, stretches, and eventually breaks apart. What’s left is something perfectly sharp, vivid, and readable – yet cryptic and strange." Likewise, the duo’s wider body of pictures doesn't always seem real. Instead, they feel like illusory portals to an immersive, almost otherworldly unknown. In The Belt of Venus and the Shadow of the Earth (2013), a seaside boulder radiates a deep blue glow, darker than the azure sea or the cerulean sky in the background. In another shot, a serrated rock emits a yellow-orange light, and the centre of it beams a translucent pink. Inka & Niclas trigger fantasy and wonder, the same impetus that led humans thousands of years ago to invent

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Inka & Niclas, The Belt of Venus and the Shadow of the Earth IV, (2013). Image courtesy the artists, Dorothée Nilsson Gallery and Bildhalle.

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myths about the beauty and brutality of the sea, sky, woods past rehashed via multinational corporations, sweatshop fac- Inka & Niclas, The Belt of Venus and the Shadow of the Earth V, (2013). and mountains. “Hopefully, we’ve transported you to a place tories or staggeringly unequal housing schemes, at the ex- Image courtesy the artists, Dorothée where the lines are a bit more blurred – because lines need pense of labourers rendered invisible by mainstream history. Nilsson Gallery and Bildhalle. to be more blurred for everyone to reflect,” the duo explains.

Meanwhile, the bustling hub of the city collides with the And there is a lot to think about. The onset of the Anthropo- brute force of nature in Anastasia Samoylova’s Pink Sidewalk, cene dates to the rise of industrial capitalism, and the system- part of FloodZone (2017), made in Miami in the wake of Hurriic colonisation of lands across the Americas, Asia, Africa and cane Irma. The pictures use pastel palettes – creating a visual Australia. The exploitation, enslavement and / or genocide synergy with Inka & Niclas – to expose the anxiety confrontof Indigenous peoples incurred a loss in collective practices ed by coastal locales that find their way of life threatened by that protected places communities had called home for gen- rising sea levels. Meanwhile, Pablo López Luz’s Aerial View of erations. Second Nature responds to these issues. In Camille Mexico City reveals how human-made places are, at this point, Seaman’s 2016 shot, Iceberg in Blood Red Sea, a snow white more common than untouched terrains – like those shown iceberg floats in Antarctica on a red ocean translucent with by the duo in series The Belt of Venus or 4K Ultra HD (2018). shards of fragmented ice, showing how melting icecaps Even urban areas, with concrete towers and smart planare escalating the slow but gradual uninhabitability of the ning, are at risk of natural disaster. The 2023 Turkey-Syria planet. The iceberg may appear almost beautiful in its fissure, earthquake claimed over 55,000 lives, and most recently, but on the opposite yet parallel end of the earth in the Arctic, the wildfires wreaked destruction in Los Angeles, the secondInuits’ way of life is threatened. Sheila Watt-Cloutier, an Inuk largest city in the USA. Laura McPhee’s Late Summer (Drifting activist, writes in the book: “[T]he snow and ice coverings over Fireweed) shows an arid forest in LA after a wildfire, the light of which we access our traditional foods are becoming more dawn slanting through barren trees. Whilst the photograph is and more unreliable and therefore unsafe, leaving our hunt- almost 20 years old, it remains as timeless as ever: the velocers more prone than ever to breaking through unexpectedly ity of the Santa Ana winds spur wildfires as an inevitability Words thin ice or being swept out to sea when the floe-ice platform, in southern California, which is only further aggravated by Iman Sultan on which they are hunting, breaks off from the land-fast ice.” LA's carbon emissions, 19 per cent of which arise from traffic.

Similarly, an untitled piece from Sammy Baloji’s photo “We started working on this exhibition in 2016, almost a montage series Mémoire superimposes black-and-white decade ago. At that time, the world was in a different place cut-outs of Congolese men from colonial times on con- in terms of what we expected climate change to bring,” May Second Nature temporary colourised landscapes of capitalist progress and reflects. “We’re looking at a dramatically changing planet. Cantor Arts Center, Stanford construction. The spectral presence of people who toiled for The show reminds me that there’s a lot of different futures Until 3 August Belgium’s extraction of ivory and rubber from the Congo is for humanity. How we choose to move forward will mean the effectively linked with today's industrial development, the difference between survival and extinction. It feels very stark." museum.stanford.edu

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art

Ancient Ecosystem Adam Gibbs

When Adam Gibbs was planning his move to Canada in 1979, he pictured iconic scenery: the Rocky Mountains, prairies, Niagara Falls. What he didn’t realise was that the west coast of British Columbia is home to some of the most biodiverse temperate rainforests in the world. “These ancient forests are more than just a collection of trees; they are a living, breathing web of life, woven into an intricate ecosystem stretching from the salmon-bearing streams and rivers to the open ocean,” he explains. In 2020, Gibbs, who has spent 30 years photographing wild places, set out on a technically challenging mission: to document the last remaining trees on Vancouver Island’s west coast. The process has been “both inspiring and, at times, profoundly disheartening.” There is dark side to the project: most of the region’s ancient woodland has been logged within the last 150 years, leading to tragic biodiversity decline. Gibbs' latest book, Land & Light, is available now. adamgibbs.com

Adam Gibbs, Sitka Spruce, old growth forest, Carmanah Provincial Park, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Adam Gibbs, Sitka Spruce, old growth forest, Carmanah Provincial Park, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Adam Gibbs, Ancient old growth forest near Port Renfrew, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Adam Gibbs, Old growth western red cedars near the town of Port Renfrew, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Adam Gibbs, Fallen giants old growth forest near Port Renfrew, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Adam Gibbs, Sitka Spruce, old growth forest, Carmanah Provincial Park, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. Image courtesy of the artist.

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art

Detailed Perspective Claudio Dell'Osa

Do we know where our meals really come from? In the UK and USA, more than half of the average diet comprises ultra-processed foods. Claudio Dell’Osa’s (b. 1971) Cutting series brings this issue into stark focus. Here, the Italian photographer presents cross-sections of Mediterranean fruits and vegetables: asparagus, chicory, fennel, parsley, peppers and more.

Dell’Osa includes the whole plant – leaves, roots and soil – in the frame, encouraging viewers to consider the plant’s biology in close detail. It’s also about acknowledging the whole story behind the produce we eat, from farm to table, as well as rebuilding connections with the natural world that have been lost to convenience. Stylistically, meanwhile, art historylovers might be reminded of 17th century Spanish bodegón paintings – like Juan Sánchez Cotán’s Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber (1602) – in which commonplace foodstuffs are rendered against stark, almost supernatural, deep black backdrops. claudiodellosa.com

Claudio Dell’Osa, Fava Beans, from Cutting.

Image courtesy of the artist.

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Claudio Dell’Osa, Strawberries, from Cutting. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Claudio Dell’Osa, White Turnip, from Cutting. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Claudio Dell’Osa, Carrot, from Cutting. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Claudio Dell’Osa, Onion, from Cutting. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Claudio Dell’Osa, Peppers, from Cutting. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Claudio Dell’Osa, Chicory, from Cutting. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Claudio Dell’Osa, Asparagus, from Cutting. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Claudio Dell’Osa, Fennel, from Cutting. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Claudio Dell’Osa, Pachino, from Cutting. Image courtesy of the artist.

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Claudio Dell’Osa, Parsley, from Cutting. Image courtesy of the artist.

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reviews

Exhibition Reviews

1

Sujata Setia A THOUSAND CUTS

Red has many associations. It’s the colour of love, worn at weddings in India and Pakistan to symbolise passion and prosperity. And the colour of danger, of blood and pain, of birth and life. In A Thousand Cuts, a deep, rich red envelopes the space, dark save for the lights above Sujata Setia’s work. Audiences may be familiar with the series, but being in its presence is another experience entirely. Setia collaborated with South Asian women who have survived domestic violence, initially meeting together before cocreating individual portraits. These were printed and sliced into, inspired by traditional Hindu Sanjhi hand-cut stencil art.

Displayed as part of FORMAT festival, the works hang from transparent wires as though floating, red shining out through the holes, while shadows project back onto the walls behind.

Each artwork represents a unique story. The women decided

how to pose and the portrait they preferred. Setia’s paper cutting reflects what they’ve lived through – in one case lines from their journal, in another their prison-like existence. The cuts are protective, obscuring faces to anonymise identities.

But they also confront audiences with the brutality of abuse.

The exhibition’s title alludes to Lingchi, an ancient Chinese torture technique known as "death by a thousand cuts." In taking a knife to the women’s likeness, Setia regains control, advocating for equality and women's rights by working with the community to reclaim their narratives. The cuts mark a rupture with a previous state. What was unspoken, hidden and private is disclosed, discussed. And yet the shadows of trauma remain. A Thousand Cuts is an original, nuanced intervention that does not portray healing as closure, but instead reckons with its complexity and the scars that remain.

Words Rachel Segal Hamilton

QUAD, Derby Until 15 June derbyquad.co.uk

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Looking Back: 10 Years of IBASHO 33 JAPANESE PHOTOGRAPHERS

IBASHO gallery’s retrospective, Looking Back: 10 Years of IBASHO, marks a decade of curation and exploration of Japanese photography. The exhibition coincides with Expo 2025 Osaka, and amplifies the global resonance of artists emerging out of Japan. Curated with precision, the show brings together 33 photographers, including the evocative works of Kumi Oguro, Toshio Shibata and Toshiya Watanabe.

In Japanese, IBASHO means “a place where you can be yourself.” This philosophy underscored the founding principles of Martijn van Pieterson and Annemarie Zethof, when they set up the gallery in 2015. The duo’s fascination with Japanese aesthetics began with ukiyo-e printmaking and later deepened through encounters with masters like Daidō Moriyama and William Klein. Their Antwerp home-turnedgallery now stands as a bridge between Eastern photographic

traditions and western audiences, offering an intimate, tactile experience of an art form defined by subtlety and restraint.

This survey is an emotional cartography of the gallery's journey. Kumi Oguro’s dreamlike, cinematic compositions blur the line between the observed and the imagined, while Toshio Shibata’s structural studies push the limits of minimalism, transforming infrastructure into poetry. These works, amongst others, underscore Pieterson and Zethof’s commitment to embracing the philosophy of “less is more.”

Beyond its visual offerings, IBASHO has cultivated a cultural ecosystem that integrates photography with ceramics and literature. This expert selection is a testament to a deeply personal and ever-evolving love affair with Japanese art and culture. A decade in, the gallery remains a place not just for seeing, but for embracing the idea that anything is possible.

Words Shirley Stevenson

IBASHO, Antwerp Until 18 May ibashogallery.com

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Prix Pictet Human PHOTOGRAPHY’S TRANSFORMATIVE POWER

Prix Pictet's Human is the latest iteration of the worldrenowned award for photography and sustainability. Since it was founded in 2008 by the Pictet Group, the Prix Pictet has highlighted urgent global issues through the lens of contemporary photography. Now in its 10th cycle, this edition explores resilience, migration and the Anthropocene.

Amongst the 12 shortlisted artists, Icelandic photographer Ragnar Axelsson stands out for his stark, cinematic depictions of arctic landscapes and the communities fighting to survive in an environment rapidly reshaped by climate change. His work is a poignant reminder of the fragile balance between humanity and nature, a theme that resonates throughout the exhibition. Colombian photographer Federico Ríos Escobar, winner of the inaugural People’s Choice Award, presents a deeply moving series on South American children navigat-

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ing the perilous Darién Gap. His images, both tender and harrowing, humanise the plight of migrant families in ways words cannot. Meanwhile, Indian photographer Gauri Gill, recipient of the Prix Pictet Human Award, offers a profoundly collaborative approach to documentary photography. Her long-term engagement with rural communities in Rajasthan and Maharashtra exemplifies an unfading commitment to visual storytelling that is equally as immersive as it is urgent.

If there is one thing this exhibition demonstrates, it is the power of photography, as a medium for advocacy. These works provide a discourse on humanity’s triumphs and struggles. As Prix Pictet's Human embarks on its international tour, it continues to be a testament to photography’s enduring role in bearing witness, sparking dialogue and inspiring collective action in an increasingly precarious and divided world.

Words Anna Müller

Photo Museum Ireland Until 20 April photomuseumireland.ie

1. Circles in Sand. © Sujata Setia 2a. Toshiya Watanabe, SWNH #0422018 © Toshiya Watanabe. 2b. Kumi Oguro, Candy, (2024). © Kumi Oguro. 3. Ragnar Axelsson, Kötlujökull Glacier, Iceland (2021), from the series Where the World is Melting, (2013-22). Courtesy the artist and Qerndu, Reykjavik.

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4a. Sister Rock/Rock that Tries to Forget (from Automatic Rocks/Excavation), (2020). © Tarrah Krajnak 4b. Una Piedra en el Camino from the series Journey to the Center, (2021). © Cristina De Middel / Magnum Photos. 5. Nigel Parry, Photoshoot at home © Nigel Parry.

6. CAMP. Bombay Tilts Down. (2022). 4K CCTV video and seven-channel 4K video environment with alternating soundtracks. 13:14 min. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Fund for the Twenty-First Century. Installation view, Sassoon Docks, Mumbai, (2024). Image courtesy Experimenter, and the artists.

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Deutsche Börse Photography Prize ERA-DEFINING IMAGES

Migration, community, belonging and family memories are central themes in the 2025 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, now on display at The Photographers’ Gallery. This year's shortlisted artists are Cristina De Middel, Lindokuhle Sobekwa, Rahim Fortune and Tarrah Krajnak. In its 29th year, the award recognises photographers who made a “significant contribution” to the discipline in the last year.

The presentation begins with De Middel’s Journey to the Center, which portrays the Central American migration route across Mexico as a “heroic and daring journey, rather than a desperate escape.” Barren landscapes mix with bursts of colour and unexpected humour – such as a dog in cowboy boots – lending the photography an almost Godot-esque quality. Fortune’s photobook Hardtack (2024) is an homage to the American south, a region that has “nourished him personally and creatively”. Shot mostly in Texas, the work

celebrates Black American traditions and culture, through portraiture. Bull riders, praise dancers and pageant queens are shown proudly representing their community. Krajnak’s Shadowings: A Catalogue of Attitudes for Estranged Daughters re-examines art canons and the depiction of women’s bodies.

Using nude self-portraits, she asserts artistic agency, challenges beauty ideals, and highlights her Indigenous identity.

Perhaps the most personal out of all the works on display is Sobekwa’s photobook I carry Her photo with Me (2024), Words which began when he found a family portrait with his sister’s Shyama Laxman face cut out. Combining photographs, handwritten notes and family snapshots, Sobekwa explores the memory of his sister, who went missing for a decade. When looked at within So- TPG, London bekwa’s wider practice of exploring poverty and the impact of Until 15 June racism and colonialism in South Africa, this powerful project is simultaneously deeply personal and politically relevant. thephotographersgallery.org.uk

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Leigh Bowery!

BOUNDARY-PUSHING ART

On first entering the Leigh Bowery retrospective at Tate club Taboo, made his performance practice part of his eveModern, it would be easy to think that the show is just a ryday life, too. A kudos should go to Tate Modern, then, for continuation of Mike Kelley’s Ghost and Spirit across the pulling it off. His aesthetic was undoubtedly a magpie’s bridge. The barrage of colour and noise, flashing lights and hoard, pulling from Divine, Claude Cahun, Cindy Sherman, neon costumes means Bowery’s maximalist kitsch shares a sci-fi, astrology, and East London’s Bangladeshi community certain excess with Kelley’s haunted carnivalesque. But where – often with little thought for the ethics of appropriation, as the latter’s work revels in the grotesqueries of childhood and Tate Modern’s wall texts point out to visitors. There is a conAmericana, Bowery’s extravagance operates in a different spicuous absence of Bowery’s scatological and blackface register, one of deliberate queer self-mythology and bodily performances, but perhaps a little sanitising is necessary in transformation. His performances and costumes, displayed order to broaden out his appeal for more timid gallery-goers. Words here in vitrines and portraits, push beyond camp into There is a temptation to ask what might be made of Bowery Katie Tobin something more confrontational: a drag of distortion, where across the pond. Alongside Peter Hujar and Alice Neel, Bowthe body is simultaneously sculpture and site of disruption. ery’s show is one of several featured in London right now To condense a whole life – much less one as chaotic and whose art was produced under the shadow of the AIDS crisis, Tate Modern, London excessive as Bowery’s was – into a single show is not an easy the disease he would die from at just 33. In his absence, the Until 31 August task. And as one disgruntled Times reviewer notes, Bowery, exhibition is a testament to his singular vision and a sobering famed as a "nightclubbing narcissist" at the disco and fetish reminder of the queer freedom we must continue to fight for. tate.org.uk

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Video After Video THE CRITICAL MEDIA OF CAMP

In From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf – an 83-minute video by Mumbaibased collaborative artist studio CAMP – is currently on display at MoMA. In the film, the Western Indian Ocean's choppy seas buoy up makeshift wooden boats. The endless swaying is backdropped by changing times of day and unexpectedly uplifting music, whilst its grainy video quality has the potential to prompt a feeling of seasickness in viewers. However, the sailors on deck seem easygoing. They are transportation workers tasked with carrying goods across neighbouring gulfs, recording their journeys with cellphone.

The 2013 piece holds the spirit of its production year, with travellers cherishing the newfound joy of early smartphone cameras. Video After Video: The Critical Media of CAMP is a compact look at the three-person collective’s community-oriented practice. Porous and humorous, the group’s oeuvre considers unconventional forms of accessibility and communication in India, one of the world's most densely-

populated nations. Khirkeeyaan (2006) asks visitors to hop between three TV screens, each streaming conversations between households and shops in Khirkee Extension, an "urban village" of New Delhi. The neighbourhood's real time interactions – connections made possible through a network of CCTV cameras, audio mixers and cable equipment – reveal heartwarming bonds that are enabled by wired technologies.

The show’s opus is Bombay Tilts Down (2022), for which the group used a surveillance camera to document Mumbai at the peak of Covid-19 pandemic anxiety. The city of over 20 million residents looks simultaneously abandoned and packed through the camera lens, placed on a central building’s 35th floor. Several blue tarps resemble abstract paintings from a bird’s eye view, whilst billboards, traffic jams, and construction cranes stand as a reminder of the city's usual busyness. MoMA's exhibition is a reminder of the potential power of everyday technologies as tools to create artworks.

Words Osman Can Yerebakan

MoMA, New York Until 20 July moma.org

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film reviews

1

An Army of Women JULIE LUNDE LILLESÆTER

How can we bring about change in a broken system? This is something many people may be asking as the global political discourse continues its alarming shift rightwards.

It’s also a question that lies at the heart of An Army of Women, a documentary from Norwegian filmmaker Julie Lunde Lillesæter, which tells the story of activism in spite of endless legal incompetence and political indifference.

In 2018, three female rape survivors, “Amy Smith” (a pseudonym), Hanna Senko and Marina Garrett, brought a legal case against the Austin police and public prosecutors, claiming their sexual assault cases had been mishandled on the grounds of gender discrimination. In the USA, only 1% of rape cases result in a felony conviction. Determined to change this, the women joined forces with attorneys Elizabeth Myers and Jennifer Ecklund to bring a class-action lawsuit, which included 15 plaintiffs.

Constructed like a legal thriller, An Army of Women offers a brisk but effective account of four years of court filings and campaigning. Lillesæter captures the women’s lives with quiet empathy, as they deal with the practical challenges of launching a lawsuit whilst reckoning with psychological scars. The director is particularly good at exploring how the survivors were victimised first by their attackers, and then again by an apathetic legal system.

An Army of Women was completed before Donald Trump’s re-election, a fact which casts a shadow over the film’s message of hope. A conclusionary title card, which tells us that Ecklund and Myers are now filing cases to challenge the Texas abortion ban, serves as a reminder that this kind of activism is never done. Nevertheless, this story is a testament to the power of resistance and collectivisation – even against apparently impossible odds.

Words Rachel Pronger

Together Films togetherfilms.org

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Sebastian MIKKO MÄKELÄ

This absorbing drama flirts with both the contemporary London literary scene and archetypes of queer culture, as an aspiring writer sets himself up as a sex worker to research his debut novel. Max (Ruaridh Mollica) is 25-years-old, seemingly living the dream. A reporter for Wall, a hip glossy magazine, he’s a favourite there, with the editor even putting him on a juicy assignment to interview Bret Easton Ellis – the oft-controversial author who was just 21 when his own first novel was published.

Max wants more than just a life where he publishes short stories and reviews others’ work. Writer-director Mikko Mäkelä’s script reeks of the ambition of youth and the awareness that you’re only the hot new thing for a microsecond. Falsely claiming he is speaking to sex workers as research for his debut book, Max creates a profile on a male escort site, reinventing himself as Sebastian.

It doesn’t take long before the money is rolling in, with older men providing the fodder for his literary ambitions.

He seems not to care that he’s plundering the lives of these vulnerable men, many of whom find it difficult to express their sexuality openly. Inevitably, this will go awry, though not before he finds tenderness with client Nicholas (Jonathan Hyde), a professor whose youth was spent in the deeply traumatic shadow of the AIDS crisis.

Finnish-born Mäkelä's second feature after A Moment in the Reeds (2017), captures well the feel of what it takes for a young writer to make a splash. If the film doesn’t add a lot to the well-worn sex worker narrative, it’s more intriguing as an author’s tale. Does a writer need to mine their own biography? Can lived experience trump imagination? Mollica skates between likeable and cynical, as these ideas swirl around Sebastian like a gale-force wind.

Words James Mottram

Peccadillo Pictures peccapics.com

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Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story SINÉAD O’SHEA

In 2015, novelist Edna O'Brien was heralded by Philip land to the glamour of literary London and the reflecRoth as the "greatest living woman writing in English." tiveness of old age. Blue Road is, in many ways, a film Author of over 20 novels, O'Brien is now regarded as one that positions O'Brien's work in the context of a dogged of Ireland's renowned writers – but this wasn't always so. fight against the rigid, male-dominated world she came In 1985, Kevin Myers proudly stated he “could willingly from, both on a personal and political level. The writer's stick a hatchet in her head only to be applauded by a provocative novels, and indeed, personal insistence on nation.” Meanwhile, her then-husband, writer Ernest independence, were a way of challenging that structure Gébler, was happy to declare that her “talent resided in – she stared it in the face and forced readers to do the [her] knickers.” Over the years, O'Brien was dismissed as same. In turn, her books were banned and, occasiona party girl, a writer of smut, a fame-hungry eccentric. ally, burned. From a modern perspective, the explosive Sinéad O'Shea's documentary Blue Road: The Edna response to O'Brien's work is shocking – and the fear and O'Brien Story, lands on a different label – revolutionary. panic it generated all-too telling of wider societal issues.

The film comprises archival footage, talking heads, exUltimately, Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story, offers cerpts from O'Brien's novels, and her own diary entries a complex and fascinating portrait of a woman with im(read by Jessie Buckley), to tell the story of her life and mense gifts and deep unresolved trauma. An author who, career – from the stifling patriarchy of rural 1930s Ire- until the end, found incredible power and joy in her pen.

Words Meg Walters

Modern Films modernfilms.com

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music reviews

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Tripla MIKI BERENYI TRIO

If you listen to the celestial vocals of Miki Berenyi on 8th Deadly Sin, you’d be forgiven for thinking you'd stumbled upon a lost Lush track from the band’s peak in the mid-1990s. This would make sense: Berenyi was the lead vocalist of the group. Now, she brings their dreampop aesthetic to this latest project, The Miki Berenyi Trio (MB3). The name is reflective of her desire to break new ground without venturing too far from familiar territory.

Cataloguing her frustrations at the unfurling climate crisis, the album’s opening track distills the essence of what made Lush stand out from the shoegaze pack: a luminous concoction of reverb-drenched guitars and bright pop melodies. However, Berenyi’s vocals sound more urgent these days. She sings: “You can’t see what I see? I’m going to have to spell it out!” Her voice is a powerful combination of despair and resolute determination.

Another difference between Lush and MB3 is that the trio – completed by bassist Oliver Cherer and Berenyi’s husband, K.J. “Moose” McKillop on guitar – has no drummer. Instead they rely on drum machines to anchor their sound. Lush originally disbanded in 1996 following the suicide of drummer Chris Acland. Across the nine tracks Berenyi sings about the exigencies of adulthood with a deep world-weariness, a symptom of time passing and life-experiences changing. Vertigo explores the mental health impact of the menopause, whilst Kinch addresses the bittersweet farewells that accompany getting older.

The album weaves together mature reflections on life with the ethereal textures of Berenyi’s much earlier work.

Deftly sidestepping the snare of nostalgia, Tripla casts a long shadow into the past, but only because the flame of Berenyi’s creative spirit continues to burn so brightly.

Words Patrick Gamble

Bella Union bellaunion.com

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Abyss ANIKA

The third solo album from British / German singersongwriter, poet and political journalist Anika feels very much a response to grief. Themes of loss – whether to do with individual freedom or those suffered by society, are abundant, with mention of everything from fascism and forest fires to birdcages, prison bars and secularism.

The driving lead single, Hearsay, juxtaposes an apathetic voice that says "I don’t care" with lyrics that beg to differ. Lamenting the state and surplus noise of the modern world, the offbeat opening manifesto doesn’t travel too far, but this feels intentional – its refrains are almost meditative and mirror the endless chatter, media power and mind-numbing nature of the news cycle. The titular track is the strongest, speaking a familiar anarchic language easily filed under "nineties grunge-inspired," even building on the legendary lyric "come as you are."

The record is a weightier, more austere departure from Anika’s previous stuff – a snapshot of disillusionment and sheer exhaustion, recorded live to tape in a few days to “capture its raw immediacy.” The urgency and exasperation culminate in the post-punk / goth of Honey, giving way to introspective confessional Walk Away. Soon enough, Oxygen brings Anika back with motorik bite, a call to action and a demand for autonomy. The frenetic Out of the Shadows can be read as vestiges of adolescent angst. Anika has said the policing of opinion makes her feel like a “restricted child.” By closing track Buttercups, she sounds as though she has disassociated, leaning towards psychedelic escape and longing for simpler days.

This is an expression of freedom for Anika, offering solidarity and catharsis. Abyss leaves you with the feeling of shouting into the void, and maybe that’s the whole point.

Words Amanda Nicholls

Sacred Bones sacredbonesrecords.com

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If You Asked For A Picture BLONDSHELL

The second album from Sabrina Mae Teitelbaum, aka Blondshell, borrows its title from a 1986 poem Dogfish

by American writer Mary Oliver, in which Oliver grapples with the idea of telling one’s own story: how much to share, how much to keep for oneself. Conceptually, this is the recurrent theme in If You Asked For A Picture, sharing glimpses into relationships and mechanisms for survival.

Indie-rock is perhaps too narrow a prism through which to view the breadth of layered textures, hooks and distortion which are characteristic throughout the album.

However, there is a clear sense of nineties alt-rock in its dark lyrics and sunny melodies. It expands upon Blondshell’s 2023 self-titled debut album, deploying a new-found urgency and ambition, harnessed by her producer Yves Rothman. There are tracks about relinquishing control, including Thumbtack and Toy, that

touch on Teitelbaum’s own lifelong struggle with OCD. Thumbtack is a bittersweet moment of self-reckoning amid a strained relationship, reflecting on longing for someone even as they prove to be “a thumbtack in my side”. There are contemplations upon family, notably parents who pass on their trauma, as in 23’s A Baby.

Teitelbaum consistently acknowledges her imperfections whilst seeking to extend compassion for the apparent flaws in others. What’s Fair examines body image in the context of a complex maternal relationship, singing the line: “You always had a reason to comment on my body.”

On the whole, this album is a dynamic collection that considers the unresolved process of figuring out who you are whilst searching for love, family and friendship.

In doing so, Blondshell has captured the zeitgeist and offers a perspective that can be tapped into universally.

Words Matt Swain

Partisan Records partisanrecords.com

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book reviews

1

The Manifesto House BUILDINGS THAT CHANGED ARCHITECTURE

Architecture is more than just shelter; it is a statement, vision and declaration. In The Manifesto House, published

by Yale University Press, curator, historian, and writer, Owen Hopkins, discusses 21 radical residential structures that defy convention and serve as bold examples of new ways of living. The book's richly illustrated three chapters offer insights into how visionary projects have the capacity to re-imagine contemporary living spaces.

The first section, Looking Back, opens with Andrea Palladio’s poetic Villa La Rotonda and features residences that reconnect with the past, imbuing planning with deeper meaning. Amongst the selection is the picturesque Casa Luis Barragán in Mexico and the postmodern Vanna Venturi House. The second chapter features dwellings that bridge private and public realms, including Frank Lloyd Wright’s revered Fallingwater and the light-

filled Casa de Vidro by Lina Bo Bardi. Meanwhile, Sou Fujimoto’s House NA in Tokyo pushes the idea of openness to its extreme with a fully transparent façade. The final chapter, Looking Forward, explores visions of the future.

Eileen Gray’s Villa E-1027 is rendered alongside Krista Kim’s Mars House; the first NFT digital home in the world.

Hopkins thoroughly examines the thought process behind each of these constructions, unpacking the ideas and ambitions that shaped them. More than mere architectural feats, these buildings are vessels of innovation, demonstrating a fresh approach to thinking about space, functionality and form. The book reflects on their influence, revealing how these structures continue to shape the canon and trajectory of design. The Manifesto House is a testament to how architects spark revolutionary ideas, and are redefining the parameters of what we can build.

Words Fruzsina Vida

Yale University Press yalebooks.co.uk

2

Photographs of British Algae CYANOTYPE IMPERFECTIONS

In 2012, Mandy Barker (b. 1964) mistook a piece of material in a rock pool for seaweed. It was a lightbulb moment and, in the years since, the artist has recovered over 200 examples of discarded fabric from around the coastline of Great Britain. The journey took Barker from John O’Groats in Scotland, to Land’s End in the south of England. Now, these clothing fragments – jackets, trainers, football shirts, fancy-dress outfits and underwear – are presented as cyanotypes in a carefully-bound volume.

The images might seem familiar. This is because Barker is paying homage to one of the most important figures in photographic history: Anna Atkins (1799-1871). She was a Victorian botanist who used the cyanotype process to immortalise different species of British algae as Prussian blueprints. Atkins’ compendium, Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions (1843), is widely

considered to be the first ever illustrated with photographs. Barker has meticulously replicated the original publication, substituting botanical specimens for found garments or fibres. Shockingly, many of the pictures are nearly indistinguishable from Atkins’ early organic forms.

This is a labour of love from a creative who is passionate about sparking conversations around fast fashion, synthetic clothes and the harmful effect of microfibres in our oceans. The items included in this book are a visual representation of the millions of tonnes of clothes that are manufactured and thrown away globally each year.

Barker is known for presenting the waste crisis in a way that is at once beautiful and disturbing. This collection moves away from her typical aesthetic, where rubbish circulates in black voids. Yet Cyanotype Imperfections delivers the same feeling: it is lovely, but it really shouldn’t be.

Words Eleanor Sutherland

GOST gostbooks.com

3

Black Earth Rising COLONIALISM AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN ART

The Global North is responsible for 92% of all excess emissions, whilst the populations of the Global South bear the brunt of the resulting ecological damage.

However, most scientific research and artistic discourse on climate change consistently neglects African diasporic, Latin American and Native American views. A new book from Thames & Hudson provides an alternative narrative.

Black Earth Rising opens with an interrogation of the Anthropocene, a term used to describe how human activity has caused geological change. Author Ekow Eshun proffers an alternative: Plantationocene, which foregrounds the lasting effect of colonialism and slavery on humanity and the planet, declaring “we still live in its shadow.”

The volume features over 150 contemporary artists who trace the links between climate change, colonialism, and racial and environmental justice. Artists like Dawoud

Bey and Joscelyn Gardner reframe instances of oppression and cruelty. Bey’s In This Here Place (2019) depicts former sites of plantations, though the landscapes show little indication of their previous function. Gardner’s portraits return agency and identity to enslaved women, whilst Xaviera Simmons looks towards a more equitable future. Simmons' photograph Denver features a Black woman standing ankle-deep in a river. It is a testament to the freedom in reclaiming a relationship with nature.

This is a landmark publication that is sure to stay with readers long after they close the book. Here, communities that have been wrongfully relegated to the sidelines of conversations are placed at the heart of the story.

Black Earth Rising showcases vibrant and moving artworks that are profound in their unflinching insights into both centuries-long, and contemporary, racial injustices.

Words Emma Jacob

Thames & Hudson thamesandhudson.com

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The Destination for Art and Culture

Subscribe & Save 40% 12 months from £24.95 + p&p.

Available in both print and digital formats.

www.aestheticamagazine.com/subscribe Aesthetica 139

artists’ directory

Anastasia Yanchuk

anne Harkness

Anastasia Yanchuk, also known as Nati, is a contemporary artist based in Italy. Liberta’ dei Colori from the Abstract series features deep black tones and flowing golden streaks, evoking a sense of mystery. The main intention is to create a captivating visual experience.

The exploration of line and design is key for artist Anne Harkness – a keen eye for observation is used to capture light and texture in everyday scenes. She holds a BFA in Graphic Design from the Maryland Institute College of Art and her work is featured in a variety of publications.

anastasia_nati anastasiayanchuk.com

Anya Glik

barry martin

Anya Glik is a London-based artist and designer. In her practice she explores the crossover between memory, architectural artefacts and historical narratives through sculpture and spatial interventions – embracing emotional aspects put into clean form.

Barry Martin studied at Goldsmiths’ College and Saint Martin’s School of Art, specialising in fine art and sculpture. His work is included in public and private collections including Tate Britain, the V&A, English Heritage, the British Council and the Henry Moore Institute, amongst others.

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anyaglik

annephark anneharkness.com

barrymartin.co.uk

brett dyer

Chirsty Bennett

Brett Dyer is the Dean of Gallery, Theatre & Live Event Operations at Dallas College. His widelyexhibited work combines figures with evocative colours and patterns – revealing complexities of the human spirit. Dyer is represented by Kush Art Gallery, Fort Worth, as a featured artist.

Chirsty Bennett is a paper artist based in the Scottish Highlands – she is inspired by her local environment and heritage to create intricate yet bold designs. After recent studies at DJCAD she has developed a keen interest in depicting architecture, nature and text.

brettleedyer brettdyerart.com

Daria Martinoni

Jane Gottlieb

An urban photographer with a background in geography, Daria Martinoni currently explores the impact of behaviour and consumerism on the environment via conceptual images. She transforms often-overlooked subjects into works that spark conversations about current issues.

Jane Gottlieb uses her original photography taken over a lifetime of world travels and combines it with the magic of Adobe Photoshop to create idyllic, colourful and mysterious artworks. These are inspired by a variety of architectural masterpieces such as monuments, museums and cathedrals.

_urban.sketches dariamartinoni.com

For submission enquiries regarding the Artists’ Directory, contact directory@aestheticamagazine.com

ciorstaidh.b

janegottlieb.com

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artists’ directory

Hanx Liu

New York-based artist Hanx Liu explores political critique through unconventional mediums.

In his latest series Mass Within Calibers he replaces brushes with firearms, creating calligraphic compositions using bullet holes instead of ink. He notes: “By merging the elegance of Eastern calligraphy with the calculated violence of modern weaponry, my process – both destructive and creative – creates striking artistic tension.” The work is part of a solo exhibition at The Blanc gallery, New York, and visually explores macroeconomic mechanisms in our current era, critiquing neocolonialism and economic imperialism.

Liu challenges the viewer to reconsider how power structures shape the modern world.

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hanx_liu hanxliu.com

artists’ directory

JR CHUO

Krytzia Dabdoub

JR CHUO is a contemporary paper cut artist whose work explores the notion of façades in a society that conceal harsh realities, with a particular focus on the impacts of climate change on coral reefs. JR CHUO has exhibited internationally and is a Forbes 30 Under 30 – Europe honouree.

Krytzia Dabdoub’s work conveys her conviction for causes such as human rights, diversity and environmental protection. She often expresses herself through large canvases and installations.

Dabdoub has exhibited work in Mexico City, New York, Paris, Madrid, London and Prague.

jrchuo jrchuo.com

krytzia.dm krytzia.com

kim yeowoon

Kim Yeowoon studied painting at university and has since expanded into installation art to explore how it has the potential to deeply move a viewer and help inspire social change. She reflects upon human nature and coexistence, and envisions a world where “restored humanity fosters solidarity”. Yeowoon’s work is included in the Seongnam Cube Art Museum, Seongnam, South Korea.

For submission enquiries regarding the Artists’ Directory, contact directory@aestheticamagazine.com

kimyeowoon

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Loren Snyk

Loren Snyk is a multidisciplinary creative whose career spans high fashion, cybersecurity and fine art. She made her start in the fashion industry, modelling and assisting global bloggers in coordinating interviews with brands such as Chanel and Hermès. Her journey evolved into photography, art and design, where she developed a distinctive visual language and a strong passion for storytelling. Snyk’s latest work is a raw exploration of the human soul, blending contemporary and classical aesthetics. She primarily uses deep wood panels, employing cold wax and muted palettes to create layered, emotionally deep and thought-provoking compositions that invite introspection.

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lorensnyk lorensnyk.com

artists’ directory

Maria Rabinky

Mark Baranowski

Maria Rabinky, founder of Rabinky Art LLC, brings imagination to life through illustrations and renderings. Traditional and digital techniques are used to create maps, cityscapes and architectural visions. Her works appear in corporate marketing materials, puzzles and collections worldwide.

Mark Baranowski is a former filmmaker and musician who now explores the possibilities that can be found in mixed media art. His ambition remains steadfast: to offer an alternative to mainstream entertainment and decor with a distinctively nostalgic style and provocative creative vision.

RabinkyArt.com IllustratedMaps.com

max werner

Scarlett Lingwood

Ghent-born Max Werner studied at the Byam Saw School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art, London. He has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout the world and his work is featured in numerous private collections and museums. Werner lives and works in the USA.

New York-based Scarlett Lingwood has developed a visual artistic language based upon extensive travels. A trip to Koh Mak, Thailand provided key inspiration – the blue waters and starry nights form the backdrop to works that are imbued with a sense of adventure, expanse and quiet inner comfort.

maxwernerart.com

onmarkprods marquisbrothel.com

s.l.nyc

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Fire Masks, Downshire Hill, London, England (1941) by Lee Miller. © Lee Miller Archives, England 2025. All rights reserved, www.leemiller.co.uk.

last words

Anne Ruygt Curator, FOMU

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"Women with Fire Masks, Downshire Hill, London (1941) exemplifies how Lee Miller combined fashion photography and surrealist experimentation, even in wartime. This staged image, taken in the garden of her partner Roland Penrose’s London home during the Blitz, shows two women seated before an airraid shelter. The eerie composition reveals Miller’s ability to create powerful images in extraordinary circumstances. I am inspired by how she reinvented herself – first as a model, then a fashion photographer, experimenting with surrealist ideas, becoming a war correspondent, and later, a chef. This exhibition examines her oeuvre through the lens of print. It offers new insight into the vision and ingenuity that made her one of the most fascinating 20th century photographers." Lee Miller in Print, FOMU Antwerp, until 8 June. fomu.be

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