Aesthetica Issue 94 by Aesthetica Magazine

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Aesthetica

THE ART & CULTURE MAGAZINE

www.aestheticamagazine.com

Issue 94 April / May 2020

IDENTITY AND EXCHANGE

ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE

CREATING A PLATFORM

INTERIOR EVOLUTION

A new generation of photographers explores what it means to be African

Studio Gang references the natural world through undulating façades

Circulation(s) festival celebrates emerging European practitioners

Vitra Design Museum looks at how domestic life has changed

Welcome

UK £5.95 Europe €11.95 USA $15.49

Editor’s Note

On the Cover Piet Mondrian’s colour-blocking influence has spread far and wide into the 21st century, where bold set designs make use of striking compositions and saturated styling. Tropico Photo’s images run with the idea of painted backgrounds as well as fluid dots, circles and lines. (p.38) Cover Image: Models: Alex Belle and Isis Valentino of St.Beauty. Photography and Art Direction by Tropico Photo, the collaborative work of Forrest Aguar and Michelle Norris.

It goes without saying that these are unprecedent times. However, there is something to remember, and we should hold onto it – the human spirit! Great art changes lives. It takes you to new places and introduces you to a wealth of ideas. This issue of Aesthetica is a true celebration of humankind’s resilience. I set up this company with Dale Donley in 2003 when I was 23 years old. I am an entrepreneur – since starting to publish this magazine, the Aesthetica brand has grown to include an Art Prize, Creative Writing Award, Symposium and a BAFTA-Qualifying film festival. All of this has been such a rewarding experience. I am truly honoured to have spent so many years surrounded by so many creative people. Independent publishing has faced many challenges with digital, but we bucked the trend with print, using platforms like Instagram to reach new readers. We’re a bit like vinyl – tactile and tangible – something that people still love. It’s true, we have seen so many things happen over the last few years. The world has changed irreovcably since the noughties. There have been major societal shifts including a recession and the invention of the iPhone, widespread streaming and global social media use, as well as the rise of AI, VR and AR. We started working on this issue when coronavirus was largely on the periphery, but it has become ever-present in our lives. It’s dramatically changing the course of history, but I know we will be strong. This issue is about pushing forward with ideas, together. Inside, there is a selection of in-depth features and interviews, alongside some of the most exciting practitioners who are redefining the boundaries of contemporary art. Ekow Eshun’s latest project, Africa State of Mind, is a publication that showcases work by over 50 contemporary photographers from the continent and its wider diaspora. Vitra Design Museum presents Home Stories, which surveys the last 100 years of interior design – looking at how the house has evolved into a home. This issue is bursting with inspiration. We could all use a bit of joy at the moment, so I hope you find some here. Cherie Federico

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contents

Art 12 Regulars The first major UK survey of Zanele Muholi; the Sony World Photography Awards winners; Design Museum's first music-themed exhibition.

22 A Sense of Community Michael Oliver Love's images are an outburst of colour, texture and energy. They dismantle preconceptions of masculinity and femininity.

32 Creating a Platform Audrey Hoareau has been appointed as Artistic Director of this year's Circulation(s), which makes the space for emerging European practitioners.

38 Vibrant Expression Michelle Norris and Forrest Aguar make up the collaborative duo, Tropico Photo. Bold set designs use striking compositions and saturated styling.

50 Organic Architecture Successful design is systematic and methodical. Studio Gang considers the kinds of buildings we need in the future, referencing natural forms.

56 States of Introspection Gabriel Isak taps into a complex pool of ideas and philosophies, digging into the subconscious through dreamscapes that are rich in symbolism.

66 Identity and Exchange Ekow Eshun’s latest project taps into a broader kaleidoscopic view of Africa, showcasing over 50 artists from the continent and its diaspora.

72 Surreal Locations Studio Enter explores the boundaries between surrealism and reality, constructing graphic sets. The images are at once inviting and unsettling.

82 The Role of Activism What does it mean to be an activist? Houston Center for Photography celebrates the legacy of Kwame Brathwaite and his wider influence.

88 Pairing and Accents The golden hour both opens and closes the day. Romain Laprade captures angular buildings and languid portraits with complementary colours.

98 Interior Evolution Vitra Design Museum considers how the home has developed over the last century, responding to rising technological demands and trends.

104 Journey into Midnight Liam Wong’s Tokyo series is deeply influenced by the visual identities of video games, utilising open landscapes and cyberpunk imagery.

Exhibitions

Film

Music

116 Gallery Reviews Reviews include Cerith Wyn Evans at White Cube Bermondsey and Cao Fei at Serpentine Galleries, London, as well as Dawoud Bey at SFMOMA.

120 A Collection of Stories In 2019, a callout came for stories that reflected the UK's turbulent geopolitical situation. The Uncertain Kingdom brings these films together.

122 Drawing from Society For the band's third album, Fassine examines real stories from the fringes of society, documenting unsung lives with striking electronic soundtracks.

Books

Artists’ Directory

Last Words

124 Aspiration and Innovation When André Fu completed the Upper House in Hong Kong 10 years ago, he became a sensation. Thames & Hudson gives an overview of his career.

136 Inside this Issue Practitioners in this edition respond to the present moment. Featuring thoughtful, performative and self-reflective works across multiple media.

146 Francesca Gavin Somerset House's latest exhibition, Mushrooms: The Art, Design and Future of Fungi, offers a vital reminder to reconnect with the organic world.

Aesthetica Magazine is trade marked worldwide. © Aesthetica Magazine Ltd 2020.

The Aesthetica Team: Editor: Cherie Federico Assistant Editor: Kate Simpson Digital Content Writer: Eleanor Sutherland Digital Assistant: Saffron Ward

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Published by Cherie Federico and Dale Donley. Aesthetica Magazine PO Box 371, York, YO23 1WL, UK (0044) (0)844 568 2001

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Jennifer Steinkamp, Blind Eye, 1, 2018. Video Installation, 2.77 minutes, © the artist 2020. Courtesy greengrassi, London, Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong. Photo by Jennifer Steinkamp.

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A Return to Nature AMONG THE TREES In the climate crisis, we need to think global and act local. – challenging ideas about environmental stewardship, owner- “Southbank Centre has However, it’s not just about curbing unnecessary travel and ship and citizenship. The goal? To expand our appreciation of programmed a timely show that explores our banning over-consumption of plastic – focusing on what trees – organisms that are essential to our wellbeing. Many of the pieces draw attention to the sheer scale and relationship with trees, we shouldn’t do – but coming up with positive, large-scale solutions to reach carbon neutral. In other words, it’s not history of trees – comparing their legacy with humanity’s transporting viewers just about reaching the single consumer and changing their short-lived and destructive footprint. For example, Ugo Ron- around the world habits in the supermarket – though this is crucial. It’s about dinone (b. 1964) has produced a cast of a 2,000-year-old to key sites – from tree from southern Italy. The impressive sculpture Wind Colombian rainforests mass policy-making and intergovernmental agreements. Tree planting is one of the largest and cheapest ways to Moon (2017) is made of aluminium, lacquered with white and remote Japanese take on the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, clearing the enamel as a lasting symbol of longevity and purity, having islands to olive air with trillions of pounds of oxygen. In 2019, it was found lived nearly 28 times as long as the average human. Mean- orchards in Israel.” that there is, in fact, nearly two hectares of empty land – while, Jennifer Steinkamp’s video installation Blind Eye equivalent to the size of China and the USA combined (Tree (2018, featured above) deconstructs and re-engineers nature Planting Has "Mind-Blowing Potential" To Tackle Climate Crisis, through existing animation code, blending organic and artiThe Guardian, July 2019). Forests are absolutely key to the ficial worlds in a synthesis of branches, leaves and flowers. As part of the show’s wider programming, Southbank has solution. There’s a reason why the Congo Basin has its name. Southbank Centre, London, has programmed a timely organised a number of associated talks. Practising artists show that explores our relationship with trees, transporting and academics present case studies, projects and lectures on viewers around the world to key sites – from Colombian key topics surrounding our relationship with nature. Mariele rainforests and remote Japanese islands to olive orchards in Neudecker discusses the trajectory from micro to macro Israel. The group exhibition brings together some of today’s – from full-scale models of woodlands to fish-tank-sized Hayward Gallery, most respected names such as Tacita Dean, Steve McQueen, sculptures where miniature forests are submerged in water. Southbank Centre, London Sally Mann, Thomas Struth, Jeff Wall, William Kentridge and Artist Johanna Calle (b. 1956) and Goldsmiths Lecturer Ros Until 17 May Jimmie Durham. An impressive list of 30 artists invites viewers Gray consider land rights in Colombia – a country that has to change the way they see and experience geological time competing interests over the secure tenure of land. southbankcentre.co.uk

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Heritage and Landmarks MAT COLLISHAW ture in the tumultuous wake of the Brexit campaigns in 2016. “Collishaw’s piece The tree evokes ideas about national identity and nostalgia uses laser scanning to – notions which were used within political rhetoric to encour- map an almost lifeage individuals to vote Leave. Now the tree is left haunting size image of the tree, and skeletal – reduced to a shadow of its former self. rotating and glowing Other installations include a rendition of The Centrifugal from out of the screen. Soul (2016). The piece was inspired by a quotation from evo- The piece provides lutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller (b. 1965), who noted a larger metaphor that “we put too much of ourselves into our product façades, for UK culture in spinning too much mass to our outer edges where we hope the tumultuous it is both publicly visible and instantly loveable. There’s not wake of the Brexit much of ourselves left for lovers or friends to discover in the campaigns in 2016.” long term. This could be called the centrifugal-soul effect.” The ambitious sculpture references Victorian zoetropes – pre-film devices that produced the illusion of motion through rapid rotation. The Centrifugal Soul builds on the performances of Bowerbirds – animals known for their unique mating rituals. Collishaw has arranged brightly coloured birds and flowers in circular rows, drawing attention to our need for self-promotion and constant visual stimulation. The installation provides a necessary reflection on the idea Lakeside Arts Centre, of “visual supremacy” – acting in a way that attracts the most Nottingham attention. The exhibition, as a whole, considers the current Until 7 June climate of oversaturation and political instability, digging into our instincts and drivers as human beings. lakesidearts.org.uk

Mat Collishaw, Albion, 2017. Courtesy the artist and BlainSouthern. Image: © Peter Mallet.

Mat Collishaw (b. 1966) emerged from Goldsmiths College in the late 1980s as part of the Young British Artists (YBA) movement alongside other notable figures such as Damien Hurst (b. 1965), Tracey Emin (b. 1963), Sarah Lucas (b. 1962) and Michael Landy (b. 1963). This distinctive phase in contemporary art was branded through an entrepreneurial spirit – creating and marketing pieces through ambitious exhibitions such as the momentous Freeze (organised by Hirst in July 1988 at Surrey Docks). Collishaw has since become a master of lens-based media, making reference to scientific and natural worlds through photography and video. Djanogly Gallery, Nottingham (part of the Lakeside Arts Centre), presents Collishaw’s first major solo exhibition in Nottingham, where the artist was born. He responds to the idea of heritage with Albion (2017), a ghostly projection of The Major Oak – the largest oak tree in Britain, which is nestled deep in the Sherwood Forest. The tree weighs an estimated 23 tonnes with a girth of 10 metres and is a cultural landmark over 1,000 years old. At its core, the oak has a hollow, rotten trunk. From the outside, it’s propped up by chains and metal supports as part of the wider preservation of British wildlife, protected by the Woodland Trust. Collishaw’s piece uses laser scanning to map an almost life-size image of the tree, rotating and glowing from out of the screen. The piece provides a larger metaphor for UK cul-

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Valeriy Melnyk, Maryinsky Park in Kiev, Ukraine, 2020. © Valeriy Melnyk, Ukraine, entry, Open, Architecture, 2020 Sony World Photography Awards.

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Celebrating the Image SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS Over 345,000 images were submitted to this year’s Sony sites across the Dutch landscape. The shortlisted images use “Shrubs and trees World Photography Awards. This is the highest number of artificial light to illuminate studies of migratory bird ecology, are clipped into entries to date, reflecting the medium’s increasing appeal agriculture and environmental economics – drawing atten- ornamental shapes, and accessibility. This year’s finalists – who are celebrated tion to fragile landscapes. Maximilian Mann’s work further standing symmetrically at Somerset House, London – offer a compelling overview highlights diminishing landforms – namely Lake Urmia in in front of a pastel of contemporary image-making. Selected works shed light Iran. “Just 10 years ago, waves splashed against the walls of blue and white painted on critical issues whilst telling personal stories from around the villages here,” Mann notes. “Now the turquoise water has building. Melnyk the world. Produced by the World Photography Organisa- been replaced by an almost endless desert. Within a few years draws attention to the relationship between tion, the free-to-enter competition has recognised the world’s the surface area of this body of water has shrunk by 80%.” Shown above is Valeriy Melnyk’s saturated vision of Mary- humans and plants.” most influential artists – including Martin Parr, William Eggleston, Candida Höfer and Nadav Kander. For the 13th edition, insky Park in Kiev, Ukraine, which is featured in the Architecthe awards introduce a new Environment category to nine ex- ture category. Shrubs and trees are clipped into ornamental isting genres: Architecture; Creative; Discovery; Documentary; shapes, standing symmetrically in front of a pastel blue and Landscape; Natural World & Wildlife; Portraiture; Sport and white painted building. Melnyk draws attention to an increasStill Life. This new strand responds to the climate crisis and its ingly curated and controlled landscape. These ideas connect to the work of Yan Wang Preston, one of ever-changing visual representation. It's now more important than ever to document and disseminate images of the planet four Sony Professional Grant recipients, who each take away from a global perspective. We need to raise awareness of $7,000. Preston investigates the complexities of nature in modern societies. Taken in different ecology-recovery areas ecological and financial challenges and pull together. By 2050, the population is estimated to be at nearly 10 in China, black and white snapshots explore questions surbillion. Italian finalist Luca Locatelli captures high-tech farm- rounding the rejuvination of wildernesses. Elsewhere, vibrant ing systems, exploring how technological innovation could forms and textures are the subjects of abstract structural Somerset House revolutionise food production to meet growing populations. images by Spanish finalist José De Rocco, whilst UK-based Opens 17 April In a similar way, Netherlands-based photographer Eddo Jonathan Walland’s Structures record minimalist black and Hartmann combines art and science, documenting research white constructions, reduced to skeletal configurations. worldphoto.org

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An Underwater World THE IMAGINARY SEA

The ocean covers more than 70% of the Earth's surface. More life was recorded using a rudimentary waterproof case for his “The ocean covers than 80% of this area is unmapped. Fondation Carmignac camera. Close-up shots zero in on seahorses – crossing the more than 70% of the Earth's surface. builds on these statistics to spark viewers’ imaginations – boundaries between documentary and avant-garde art. transforming its exhibition space into an underwater history Yet this otherworldly exhibition has a deeper message. We More than 80% of museum. The show’s curator, Chris Sharp, was inspired by the must be aware that oceans are home to more than just or- this area is unmapped. iconic architecture of the building, which sits amongst a listed ganic life. We are amidst a climate crisis. The Great Pacific Fondation Carmignac national park on the Mediterranean island of Porquerolles, Garbage Patch is the world’s largest collection of floating builds on these France. Its ceiling is a bright blue pool. The reservoir is sus- waste – comprising 79,000 metric tons of plastic. The Im- statistics to spark pended above the building, which presents a range of works aginary Sea questions the relationships between civilisation viewers' imagination – from the collection. Bruce Nauman’s fountain is home to 100 and the aquatic world. Many marine creatures and organ- transforming the space bronze fish. Jeff Koons balances a lobster on a chair. Miquel isms have been placed under threat or even extinction due into an underwater Barceló invites visitors into a marine cave. to human activity. Rising sea levels and manmade interven- history museum.” A total 90% of the seabed – and the species that inhabit it tions are affecting every part of our shared world. Fondation – are still completely unknown to us. The sheer scale of this Carmignac’s presentation is marked by a sense of sadness space is hard to comprehend. The Imaginary Sea feeds into – a feeling of “eco-anxiety” that the Australian philosopher this curiosity, positioning the ocean as a precious resource Glenn Albrecht has coined “solastalgia.” It is a sense of help“swarming with known and unknown lives, opened to won- lessness and distress caused by the inexorable loss of nature. drous, strange and unexpected things, and whose immenNevertheless, The Imaginary Sea looks optimistically to sity has always fed our imagination.” Audiences are invited the future. “Artists have foreseen a paradigmatic change. Huon a dreamlike journey – starting with a walk through the manity may no longer necessarily be the dominant species woods that then plunges into a world of art. Attendees pass but an integral part of wildlife,” the Fondation notes. “[They Fondation Carmignac, by enthralling creatures by Jean-Marie Appriou and Allison will be] a fragment in a community of living beings constant- Porquerolles Katz, as well as strange fish from Michael E. Smith and Yves ly interrelated with other ecosystems.” The show pulls away Opens 25 April Klein’s surrealist blue sponges. 20th century photographer from any notions of superiority, instead offering a vision of fondationcarmignac.com and filmmaker Jean Painlevé’s moving imagery of marine the world where people and nature are as one.

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Zanele Muholi, Julile I, Parktown, Johannesburg, 2016. Courtesy of the artist and Tate.

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Powerful Self-Portraits ZANELE MUHOLI Zanele Muholi (b. 1972) is a self-described visual activist “It is important to mark, map and preserve our mo(ve)ments “Many of the pieces whose most recent series, Somnyama Ngonyama, translates through visual histories for reference and posterity so that are about reclaiming space – both physically as “Hail the Dark Lionness.” The acclaimed body of work future generations will note that we were here.” At around the same time, Muholi started collating a visual and conceptually. One comprises powerful self-portraits – adopting different poses, characters and archetypes to address issues of race and rep- archive of portraits: Faces and Phases. This ever-growing such image is Melissa resentation. Scouring pads, latex gloves, rubber tyres and document represents black lesbian, transgender people Mbambo, Durban, cable ties become politically loaded props and costumes. and gender non-confirming individuals. Each participant which contains a The resulting high-contrast pieces explore themes of labour, looks directly at the camera – holding the viewer’s gaze. The city beach – racially racism, Eurocentrism and sexual politics, often commenting collection is often presented in a grid-like structure. “I think segregated during on events in South Africa’s history and Muholi’s personal ex- what's really stirring about seeing a grid like that is also the apartheid – as periences. The collection is on view at Tate Modern, London, absences,” says Tate’s Curator Kerryn Greenberg. “There its backdrop.” are often blank spaces indicative of somebody who might as part of the photographer’s first major UK show. Muholi’s career began in the early 2000s with images that have died or been killed. It is about acknowledging pain and told the stories of black lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer trauma, and trying to heal people through those images.” Many of the pieces are about reclaiming space – both and intersex lives in South Africa. During the 1990s, the country underwent major social and political changes. The physically and conceptually. One such image is Melissa 1996 post-apartheid constitution was the first in the world to Mbambo, Durban, which depicts a city beach – racially segoutlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. However, regated during apartheid – as its backdrop. Muholi’s Brave the region’s LGBTQIA+ communities remain under threat. Beauties is a series celebrating non-binary people and trans Muholi’s first body of work, Only Half the Picture (2006), ex- women, many of whom have won Miss Gay Beauty pageants. plores gender and sexuality. Poignant moments of love and For Greenberg, this is a piece of art that questions society’s intimacy are juxtaposed with scenes alluding to trauma and structures and links to the show's wider goals. Muholi contin- Tate Modern, London violence. “In the face of all the challenges our community en- ues to tell collective stories through the lens of individuals. Opens 29 April counters daily, I embarked on a journey of visual activism to “All I want to see is beauty,” the photographer has said. “And ensure that there is black queer visibility,” the artist explains. that doesn't mean you have to smile, or try harder. Just be.” tate.org.uk

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A Multi-Sensory Revolution FROM KRAFTWERK TO THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS Ideals – starting with revolutionary instruments such as the “Beyond the looping world’s first commercial synthesiser from Robert Moog and visuals, strobe lights the Roland TR-808 – one of the first drum machines to pro- and pulsing scores, gramme rhythms rather than using preset patterns. this show is ultimately Accompanying these archive items is a series of live AV and about evoking a sense multi-sensory installations that stimulate the body and en- of community – asking snare the senses. In one instance, audiences are transported questions about what into the psychedelic world of The Chemical Brothers, taking it means to come live stage elements from the No Geography Tour (May to together through the November 2019). Meanwhile, Aphex Twin’s surreal coded rhythm and melody music video Collapse is also on display, as created by video of the digital age.” designer Weirdcore. Legendary band Kraftwerk is also represented through a 30-minute three-dimensional experience. Electronic also creates crucial connections between music and wider culture – across design, fashion and art. Audiences are able to explore the design process behind the vinyl sleeves, fetish fashion by iconic queer designer Walter Van Beirendonck and objects from the Haçienda club – an iconic music venue in Manchester in the 1980s and 1990s that welcomed the likes of The Smiths, Madonna and more. Beyond the looping visuals, strobe lights and pulsing scores, this show is ultimately about evoking a sense of com- Design Museum, London munity – asking questions about what it means to come Opens 1 April together through the rhythm of the digital age. Audiences embark on a journey from warehouses to dancefloors. designmuseum.org

Jean-Christian Meyer, from the collection Lunacy, 1993. Courtesy of the artist and Design Museum.

“Sound is only part of the story when it comes to this category of music: it has built communities on and offline, democratised music technology and provided a safe space for free expression.” Design Museum’s, London, latest show plunges viewers into the lucid world of electronica, charting its origins and wider cultural legacy. Electronic: From Kraftwerk to The Chemical Brothers is the institution's first music-themed exhibition – a landmark show in the history of its programming. Design Museum asks audiences to plug in and let go – following along with the assigned hashtag #MixandRemix. The show is part of a wider resurgence in rave culture which has spanned the UK through major exhibitions. Saatchi Gallery’s comprehensive retrospective Sweet Harmony: Rave | Today (July to September 2019) welcomed over 18,000 attendees. The show included Spotify-curated playlists related to the sub-genres of Detroit Techno, Acid House, Happy Hardcore, UK Garage and Grime. In the same year, Frieze commissioned the major retrospective series Second Summer of Love – four films which celebrated the 30th anniversary of acid house, made with Gucci, Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller and Aesthetica Art Prize winner Jenn Nkiru. Design Museum’s Electronic is equally far-reaching, expansive and innovative, pushing the boundaries of exhibition programming. It is split into four sections – Man and Woman Machine; Dancefloor; Mix and Remix; and Utopian Dreams and

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10 to See RECOMMENDED EXHIBITIONS THIS SEASON

From analogue to digital, design to staged environments, these must-see shows span key issues and themes. Personal and collective identities, geo-politics and seminal retrospectives span cities including New York, Amsterdam, Tuscon, Atlanta, London, Gent and Boston.

Viviane Sassen Huis Marseille, Amsterdam | Until 31 May

huismarseille.nl Sassen’s (b. 1972) new series Venus & Mercury is inspired by accounts of the French royal court in the 17th and 18th centuries. The images bring visual histories into the present-day – juxtaposing period architecture with contemporary styling. The collection features three teenagers – Charline, Blanche and Leila – from the nearby town of Versailles, embracing one another against Baroque interiors. The works tap into themes of eroticism, power and intrigue through the female gaze, all whilst referencing royalty through reds, golds and blues.

Young, Gifted and Black Lehman College Art Gallery, New York | Until 2 May

lehmangallery.org Coinciding with Black History Month, Young, Gifted and Black considers themes of race, class and politics, as well as the importance of human dignity. It is curated by The New Black Vanguard ’s author Antwaun Sargent, who has selected 50 works from the LumpkinBoccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art. Lehman College was selected as the first venue due to the school’s diverse student body and its reputation for social mobility. The exhibition will then tour around several university galleries and other museums.

Vivian Maier Foam Amsterdam | 10 April – 28 June

foam.org Vivian Maier’s (1926-2009) photographs came to light after her death, when a box of negatives was discovered at a local auction house in Chicago. The collection comprised over 100,000 images – which later became world-renowned. Maier’s success initially came from black and white street photography and self-portraits. Foam highlights a lesser-known part of her career: colour works spanning 1956 to 1986. Notable images include an anonymous figure in an A-line dress, with arms behind her back – one hand open, one clenched into a fist.

The Qualities of Light Center for Creative Photography, Tuscon | Until 9 May

ccp.arizonza.edu In 1971, LIGHT Gallery was established in New York. It was the only space to be solely dedicated to photography. During its run – until1987 – the gallery supported and showcased the work of more than 20 artists who have since become household names. These included Ansel Adams, Harry Callahan, Aaron Siskind and Garry Winogrand. CCP, Tuscon, pays homage to the gallery with a comprehensive exhibition, exploring how the space helped to legitimise the medium of photography through sale, exhibition and representation.

30 Years of Women Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta | Until 11 April

jacksonfineart.com Every year, International Women’s Day is celebrated on 8 March. For 2020, the theme was I am Generation Equality: Realising Women’s Rights. The theme aligned with UN Women’s multigenerational campaign marking the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Coinciding with such important global events is Jackson Fine Arts’ 30 Years of Women – a show dedicated to representing some of today’s most important photographers such as Nan Goldin, Sally Mann, Shirin Neshat, Helen Levitt and Alex Prager.

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Cecil Beaton National Portrait Gallery, London | Until 7 June

npg.org.uk NPG’s latest exhibition is aptly titled Bright Young Things – plunging audiences into the intriguing, stylish and opulent world of the High Society. It features black and white portraits of Cecil Beaton’s (1904-1980) avant-garde friends, artists, designers and writers from the early 20th century. This essential exhibition charts Beaton’s journey from middle-class suburbia to the grandeur of the celebrated creative arts – becoming a renowned fashion and portrait photographer, as well as an Oscar-winning stage and costume designer.

Van Eyck’s Colours in Design Design Museum Gent | Until 6 September

designmuseumgent.be Jan Van Eyck (1390-1441) was a painter from Bruges – a pioneer in Early Northern Renaissance art. Using oils and transparent glazes, he achieved nuanced colours, clarity and saturation. His pieces have long since been revered. Design Museum Gent connects past with present, inviting 11 designers to respond to Van Eyck’s legacy. They explore how different colours can be seen, tasted and even heard. This innovative show leads audiences through textiles, ceramics and product design – offering a spectrum of experiences.

Reimagining Home Museum of Fine Arts, Boston | Until 12 July

mfa.org How do we define the notion of home? What happens when a house is left behind? How do buildings offer shelter and a sense of identity? Images by Bahman Jalali (1944-2010) and Gohar Dashti (b. 1980) can be translated into the current refugee crisis, at a time when over 65 million individuals are displaced. MFA Boston explores the links between two Iranian photographers who knew each other as teacher and student. They shared a rich history of incorporating surreal elements, infusing documentation with imagination.

Bags: Inside Out V&A, London | 25 April – 31 January

vam.ac.uk How and what we carry around with us tells us a lot about our identities. What do we deem essential items other than phones and wallets? These items move beyond fashion statements – they carry our most treasured and necessary possessions. V&A delves into the history of bags through design, function, status and craftsmanship, from high couture fashion houses to military-grade cases from WWII. This show comes at an important time in history as plastic carriers start to be banned. We must reconsider how to repurpose and reuse at all costs.

Tyler Mitchell ICP, New York | Until 18 May

icp.org In September 2018, Tyler Mitchell (b. 1995) exploded onto the scene as the first African American photographer to shoot the cover of Vogue, aged just 23. Mitchell broke the magazine’s 125-year history through an editorial with Beyoncé, set against a country house just outside of London. Images from this series have since been acquired by the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Mitchell’s first solo presentation, I Can Make You Feel Good, opened in April 2019 at Foam Amsterdam. The show has now travelled to the USA at ICP, New York.

1. Blanche & Leïla, 2019. © Viviane Sassen. Courtesy of the artist and Huis Marseille. 2. Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Dark Room Mirror Study (0x5A1531), 2017. Archival pigment print, 51in x 34in. © Paul Mpagi Sepuya, courtesy of the artist and team (gallery, inc.), New York. 3. Location unknown, 1956 © Estate of Vivian Maier, Courtesy Maloof Collection and Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York. 4. Stephen Shore, Merced River, Yosemite, 1979. Chromogenic print, 20 x 25 cm. Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Gift of Irving W. Rose. © Stephen Shore. 5. Alex Prager, Francine, 2011. From the Elton John AIDS Foundation Photography Portfolio II. Copyright of the artist and courtesy of Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta. 6. Cecil Beaton, Nancy and Baba Beaton, 1926. © The Cecil Beaton Studio Archive. 7. Nick Verstand, ANIMA. In collaboration with Salvador Breed and onformative. Courtesy of the artist and Gent Design Museum. 8. Gohar Dashti, Untitled, from the Home series, 2017. Courtesy of the artist. 9. Grace Kelly's departure from Hollywood. Photo by Allan Grant, The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images. The exhibition Bags: Inside Out, sponsored by Mulberry, runs at the V&A from 25 April 2020 - 31 January 2021. Tickets from £12 at vam.ac.uk 10. Tyler Mitchell, Boys of Walthamstow, 2018. © Tyler Mitchell.

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A Sense of Community Michael Oliver Love

Michael Oliver Love is a South African photographer living in Cape Town. He is also the Founder of Pansy Magazine – an online menswear publication that dismantles the preconceived categories of masculinity and femininity, creating a space for free and unaffected expression. Love’s images provide an outburst of colour, texture and energy. Faces pop out from cut-out paper; blocks are painted onto cheeks; oranges are thrown into the air; groups of people cross an undulating red rock. These pictures complement and enhance one another as a celebration of movement and community – forms expanding fluidly across the page. Each composition demonstrates a return to simplicity, favouring primary colours and experimentation with irregular shapes. Blues, reds and yellows appear like punctuation marks within a new and exciting visual vocabulary. Love is represented by Hero Creative Management. pansymag.com | instagram.com/michaeloliverlove.

Michael Oliver Love, Rock Solid. Courtesy of the artist.

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Michael Oliver Love, Red Hands in the Sky. Courtesy of the artist.

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Michael Oliver Love, Naartjies. Courtesy of the artist.

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Michael Oliver Love, Holes. Courtesy of the artist.

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Michael Oliver Love, Shapely. Courtesy of the artist.

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Michael Oliver Love, Yellow. Courtesy of the artist.

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Michael Oliver Love, Sun Kissed. Courtesy of the artist.

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Michael Oliver Love, Ginger. Courtesy of the artist.

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Michael Oliver Love, Pansy. Courtesy of the artist.

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Creating A Platform Circulation(s) NEW EUROPEAN PHOTOGRAPHERS ARE PART OF A VITAL RECONSTRUCTION OF VISUAL NARRATIVES, EXPLORING THEMES OF OVERCONSUMPTION, SURVEILLANCE AND LIBERATION.

Footfall for photography exhibitions is up year on year. Global events like Photo London and Paris Photo are experiencing surges in audience numbers. Photography has never been so present in daily life; it is the vernacular of our times and the most immediate form of communication. Since its inception in 2011, Circulation(s) Festival has showcased the work of over 382 artists and attracted over 300,000 visitors. It is a hub of creative talent from across Europe, providing a stepping-stone for artists to interact, collaborate and present their work to thousands of attendees through various platforms and strands. For 2020, its 10th anniversary edition, Circulations(s) presents 39 projects, 45 artists and 16 nationalities across an exhibition space spanning 2,000m2. Audrey Hoareau has been appointed as the Artistic Director, to make the space for these exciting new names. A: Why is it so important to showcase the works of young, emerging photographers – especially when we’re approaching a tipping point across geopolitical summits and global conversations about the future? AH: As we all know, the status of an artist is precarious. Circulation(s) acts as a springboard to support young visionaries, offering visibility in Paris. Today, in an age of tension and apprehension, it is important to believe in young people. The cultural industry brings in more money than the automobile industry (I read that in France it contributed seven times more to its GDP!) Even if its profitability is not immediately noticeable, it is time for society to understand that art and culture is necessary – balancing palliative added

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value. Young artists are at the forefront of the changing world, looking ahead to tomorrow. Much of our programme looks at these pressing current and future socio-political issues, thinking about how we can change perspectives. A: Young generations are at the crux of difficult conversations – often forced into roles of activism, driven by an inherent passion to protect the planet. They endure the weight of older generations’ actions – their consumption habits and conflicts. What do you think these artists can teach us about the world? AH: Commitment is key. One does not become an artist if you one doesn't have anything to say, to claim or convey. Art is a form of activism. Ecology and the environment is often the starting point – providing new modes of reflection. Young artists show great adaptability. Their work is not ever disconnected from the current world and its surrounding concerns, but it must find its place. How do you produce something new when you feel like everything has already been done or discussed? The task is difficult, but this year’s artists provide incredibly original takes on the subjects. They teach us to look at the world through their experiences – their images and research. I am surprised by the investigative nature of today's practitioners. Each of the featured series offers accomplished, concerned and deep work. By going through the festival, you can learn a lot about the world through factual, well-researched projects, from the massive over-production and consumption of pigs in Denmark (Felix von der Osten), to the existence of immortal human cells (Maija Tammi),

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Physiognomy, process of exclusion, 2017. © Alba Zari. Courtesy of the artist.

“The quality of the project, for me, lies in the images, and will always be this. I need to be seized – to be taken aback – by the entire project. There needs to be a sense of balance between intention and result.”

Previous Page: Marinka Masséus, from the series Chosen [not] to be. Courtesy of the artist. Left: Marinka Masséus, from the series Chosen [not] to be. Courtesy of the artist.

to the current status and wider perceived roles of women within Tadzhikistan (Shore Mehrdju). A: How do you decide which works to include from the application process? What do you look for in a series? AH: This year, we received over 850 applications, containing statements alongside images. I admit that I always start with reviewing the photographic side. The quality of the project, for me, lies in the images, and will always be this. I need to be seized – to be taken aback – by the entire project. There needs to be a sense of balance between intention and result. Meaning and consistency are qualities that we seek out, because these are the elements that we feel instantly. A: How are techniques changing towards portraiture? How are artists utilising new ways to document the self, through cross-disciplinary or multimedia methods? AH: The portrait issue is interesting. Today, in my opinion, it is the most difficult genre to reinvent and to renew. My mind is drawn to Anton Shebetko, who presents a six by four metre installation, using several layers of prints. Portraits are pasted on top of each other and then painstakingly torn up. The piece, titled Common People, considers the experience of LGTBQ+ communities in Ukraine. It is estimated that these groups make up around 10% of the population. However, due to social hostility, many of these individuals will never come out for fear that it will damage their careers, as well as their private and public lives. Shebetko cuts and imposes dozens of “impersonal” portraits, where the faces are destroyed and attacked, therefore imposing silence as a nod to the intolerance and discrimination rife in the country.

In contrast to classic forms of portraiture, we can count on the omnipresence of the digital world to move the genre into new realms. We are increasingly moving away from paper, favouring more installation-friendly alternatives. Chiara Caterina, for example, works on algorithms in a sort of "cadavre exquis" where several tablets question and then respond to each other. As for Alba Zari, she has utilised digital physiognomony exercises to create a virtual avatar of her father, whom she has never known. A: How are practitioners responding to the idea of community, despite living in countries fragmented by surveillance culture and geopolitical divides? AH: For the festival’s opening, we invite all 45 artists to join us. It's a special moment as they are delighted to see their work on the wall and to discover the projects from everyone else. This is part of a larger connective network; a community is created. Each individual considers the other artists’ journeys and larger ambitions – which encourages a culturally enriching mix of ideas. The artists often stay connected with each other after the festival via social media platforms, which is wonderful to see. Circulation(s) knows how to concrete these networks between artists, which fulfils an essential part of the festival’s ethos. Without measuring the shortcomings, I like to believe that the digital world brings us closer rather than further away – provided you use it well. For an artist, events like Circulation(s) will always be necessary in terms of physically seeing works within a wider professional environment based on talent development. The fact that these individuals come from 16 different countries further expands on the idea of sharing and exchange.

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Marinka Masséus, from the series Chosen [not] to be. Courtesy of the artist.

A: Brexit is on the tip of everyone’s tongues this year. How are festivals like this responding positively to the idea of crossing borders and standing together? AH: In the process of programming, the boundaries become much more blurred. Brexit – or any other political event of this type – deeply influences what we display. Of course, we take into account the idea of a “geographic Europe” and not the newly assigned political borders of the European Union. Artists from Switzerland, Russia and Turkey are considered to take part. In any case, it is in art and culture that we know how to break down boundaries. Borders, for us, are low-value. We favour the idea of community. Circulation(s) lives up to its name and offers a dissemination of thought and imagery – making this the priority. Cultural events should be committed to this – to offer spaces for expression and avoid being tools for the the wider instrumentalisation of power. A: For the 10th anniversary, time, history, memory and legacy are important notions to consider. How are artists delving into an archive to offer new narratives? AH: Whether contemporary or historic, image banks provide an incredible base of information. I am always intrigued by projects that question the millions of images that surround us in the world wide web. It seems essential to me to work with this material because it's immediately available. These images teach us so much about society. Norman Behrendt is one such artist who has done this for the festival. Through an impressive polyptych of 175 cyanotypes, he collected materials from YouTube channels, Facebook profiles and micro-party blogs to create an incredibly complex installation on the representation of politics in Germany.

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A: This year, there are five chapters to the festival. How did these manifest and what do they each offer? AH: These chapters come to us quite naturally when composing the wider programme. The themes kind of jump from the applications. Those We Do Not See, for example, brings together individuals who wish to highlight underrepresented causes. Marinka Masséus works with young women with Down's Syndrome, engaging with them in a real process of rehabilitation. Tomorrow’s World anticipates what the future might hold. This strand includes extremely diverse subjects, from farming industries in Denmark, to the overexploitation of coral for pharmaceutical companies. Image in Excess comprises projects that revolve around the status of the image. Self-Quest offers an intimate space to summon ideas about identities, digging further into the lived experience and raise questions about the self. Photographic Explorations, based in a large outdoor hall, demonstrates how the medium is evolving rapidly into installation, moving works from the wall into three-dimensional spaces. A: There’s also a strand that focuses on new talent from Belarus. What can we expect to see from the country? AH: The situation of Belarus – its culture and history – leads artists to wonder about post-communism, defence and security. Masha Svyatogor, for example, produces handmade photomontages from Soviet-era propaganda magazines. Meanwhile, Maxym Sarichau reflects upon police violence and repression, largely using documentary research. These artists are part of the larger fabric of Circulation(s). It’s really in the DNA of the festival to create an atmosphere that connects the dots as an "organised melting pot!"

Right: Marinka Masséus, from the series Chosen [not] to be. Courtesy of the artist.

Words Kate Simpson

Circulation(s) Festival, Le Centquatre Paris, until 10 May, festival-circulations.com/en

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Vibrant Expression Tropico Photo

The inception of colour blocking is widely associated with Dutch painter Piet Mondrian (18721944). During an expansive career as one of the pioneers of 20th century abstract art, he composed grids with oblong shapes in yellows, blues, reds, whites and blacks. These infamous compositions were integral to the De Stijl movement – also known as Neoplasticism – which utilised the minimal strength of line and primary colour. Mondrian’s influence has spread far and wide into the 21st century, where bold set designs make use of striking compositions and saturated styling. Tropico Photo’s images run with the idea of block painted backgrounds as well as fluid dots, circles and lines. This is the collaborative work of Forrest Aguar (b. 1988) and Michelle Norris (b. 1991). The duo met whilst studying photography at the University of Georgia and have since moved to Atlanta where they embark on various creative projects. Together, they make work that draws on the feeling of an ambiguous time and place. tropicophoto.com.

Big Sun. All Photography and Art Direction by Tropico Photo, the collaborative work of Forrest Aguar and Michelle Norris. Starring: Aris Hill, Camille Lewis, and Cymone Sanders. Modeling Agency: Select Model Management; Set Painting: Max Beeching and Matt Evans; Hair: Lashae Myart; Make-up: Piper Von Hoene; Wardrobe Styling: Kimberly Coulton; Prop Stylist: Alycia Linke; Clothing: Megan Huntz; Image Retouching: We Monsters .

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All Photography and Art Direction by Tropico Photo, the collaborative work of Forrest Aguar and Michelle Norris. Client: Allbirds; Model: Madolyn Ropell.

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Color Factory. All Photography and Art Direction by Tropico Photo, the collaborative work of Forrest Aguar and Michelle Norris. Client: Color Factory; Editing and Colouring: We Monsters; Starring Valeria Perez and Cam Bacon; Set Building: Ryan Bradburn; Clothing and Prop Styling: Alycia Linke.

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All Photography and Art Direction by Tropico Photo, the collaborative work of Forrest Aguar and Michelle Norris. Client: Allbirds; Model: Madolyn Ropell.

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Organic Architecture Studio Gang DESIGN IS SYSTEMATIC AND METHODICAL; IT IS CREATIVE AND COLLABORATIVE. STUDIO GANG CONSIDERS THE KINDS OF BUILDINGS WE NEED FOR THE NEAR-FUTURE.

Overlooking Lake Michigan, Studio Gang’s Aqua Tower ripples alongside the water. It’s a concrete block that looks as if it has been beaten by waves. The high-rise, completed in 2010, has become something of a calling card for the studio. It’s located in Chicago – a city in which right angles reign supreme – but it is also where Jeanne Gang has steadily been developing a new, fluid philosophy of architecture that faces the increasing challenges of the 21st century. “It has often been said that our work resists stylisation,” she notes. There’s certainly some truth to this characterisation; projects slip between Buildings-with-a-capital-B and community-led installations – with complex glass hybrids and masonry techniques. Ultimately, though, Aqua Tower and its strange, undulating façade encapsulates much of the studio’s approach: design that meets the organic world. In part, it’s an ambition born of the Anthropocene. It’s hard to ignore nature knocking at the door. “In the past half-decade alone, we have seen major shifts in international power structures; the migration of millions of people; the entrenchment of economic disparity; and exponential, human-caused environmental disruption,” states Gang. “Looking at the extent of humanity’s self-inflicted wounds, it’s more critical than ever to ask ourselves how architecture can respond. How might we leverage this creative and collaborative profession to build a more balanced and thriving planet? For me, the sustainable environmental approach begins before we even think about form. It’s the first step in every one of our projects – to analyse what the energy drivers will be, what renewable resources exist, and what can be

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done to reduce the project’s carbon footprint. We start with passive strategies, like the orientation of the building, that can easily reduce energy use, before we get into more technical systems. I am endlessly curious about forms found in nature and how they relate to both climate and to function.” In aesthetic terms, Aqua Tower certainly questions how architecture might respond to mass planetary disruption. Indeed, it looks as though it was formed by organic forces, drawing on the eroded limestone of the Great Lakes region as well as ripples in sand carved by wind and water. There’s also something hive-like in its irregular bumps and hollows, as if its balconies have been pressed into place by the legs of a million termites. Studio Gang modelled the exterior of Aqua Tower in response to a variety of elemental factors – how to provide shade, to break up strong winds, and maximise sightlines with specific Chicago landmarks. Writing in New York Magazine, architecture critic Justin Davidson described Studio Gang’s philosophical ethos as an “ongoing negotiation with nature.” Negotiation is the key word here. Throughout Studio Gang: Architecture (published May 2020 with Phaidon), there is a constant back-andforth in how the studio operates between the city and the elements, whether it’s responding to noisy infrastructure or the flight paths of birds. Gang pins down the studio’s process around this as “actionable idealism,” which embodies the challenge of articulating big ideas whilst finding ways to practically achieve them. After all, there is something fundamentally manmade in the act of taking resources and erecting a building, no matter how “organic” it might appear.

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Studio Gang, Aqua Tower, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 2010. Image: © Chicago History Museum, Hedrich Blessing Collection.

“‘Buildings – more Studio Gang reconciles this tension by building in a way than any other product that fosters a degree of porousness – a sense of interaction of a creative process – and connection with a structure’s surrounding. “Above all, are manifestations of we want to live in a world where humans not only coexist, societal values,’ Gang but also actively support one another as part of our planet’s states. The attention greater network. We are very interested in how we can design to public spaces; their spaces to coax out positive social exchange.” flow; the access to light, Aqua Tower is a useful case study for how these grand point to an attitude ideas are made physical. The building’s terraces offer views where buildings are of Chicago’s landmarks, as well as other terraces – the innot isolated blocks.” tention being that neighbours socialise in these outdoor

Previous Page: Studio Gang, Aqua Tower, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 2010. Image: Steve Hall, © Hall + Merrick. Left: Studio Gang, Aqua Tower, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 2010. Image: Steve Hall, © Hall + Merrick.

spaces. Broadening a building’s field of interaction is an approach that repeatedly pops up in Studio Gang’s projects. City Hyde Park Complex (2016), for example, has balconies that project outwards in a number of different configurations, emphasising sightlines with neighbours, described by the studio as a “leaf-like” design around central “stems.” The MIRA residential skyscraper in San Francisco, on the other hand, which is due to be completed later this year, glitches its windows into an array of incremental bays, giving each apartment a corner with multidirectional views, eeking out visibility within an increasingly dense urban landscape. The book categorises Studio Gang’s projects into chapters like Rhythm and Flow. These are vague, somewhat openended themes, but they go some way to explaining the studio’s diverse inspirations. Readers can bounce between ecology, engineering, dance, visual art and music. Eadweard Muybridge’s photograph of a rower in motion provides a touchpoint for the angular roofs of the Chicago River Boathouses. Ancient geological formations are referenced in the cavernous, fluid walls and walkways of an upcoming exten-

sion to the American Museum of Natural History. The flow of light and bodies is particularly prevalent in Solar Carve Tower (2019). The building is situated alongside New York’s High Line park. Crystalline chunks seem to have been cleaved from the glass façade, chiseled in such a way that maximises the amount of light. The low reflectivity of the glass also reduces the risk of birds flying into the windows. This is yet another negotiation between natural and built environments – one that gives some priority to ensuring the public space of the High Line receives natural sunlight, as well as an uninterrupted flow of wildlife. Residential tower Solstice on the Park (2018) is similarly designed to control the amount of natural light that reaches its rooms. One side of the building is constructed with glass windows angled at 72 degrees – the same angle of the sun in Chicago during the summer solstice. This helps to shade the apartments in the summer months and increases passive solar warming during the winter, cutting down the need for artificial cooling and heating, bolstering the project’s energy performance. Elsewhere, the Vista Tower (currently under construction) is set to be the tallest structure in the world designed by a woman – three conjoined “stems” stand between a park and the Chicago River. What could otherwise be a vast glass barricade is turned into a public connector at ground level, thanks to a design that means the central stem is raised, making room for a walkway beneath. Footfall is allowed to pass through. “Buildings – more than any other product of a creative process – are manifestations of societal values,” Gang states. The attention to public spaces – their flow, the access to light – point to an attitude where buildings are not isolated blocks.

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Studio Gang, City Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 2016. Image: Steve Hall, © Hall + Merrick.

They are parts of a wider ecosystem. “From my earliest work, I have studied how animals shape their homes – nests, hives, beaver dams – by working with the constraints of particular climates and with other species for mutual benefit,” she continues. “Applying this understanding to design yields an architecture that responds to its site; uses minimal energy and appropriate materials; serves the needs of its inhabitants; and engages a network of others who will encounter it.” Studio Gang is not alone in its interest in biological networks. Bio-integrated architecture is a rapidly developing field, with scientists and designers collaborating on new ways to weave living systems into our homes and offices. Professor Marcos Cruz from the Bartlett School of Architecture in London, for example, has been working for some time on bio-receptive concrete, carbonated to have a lower pH level in order to nurture spore-based plants on exteriors, which could provide natural insulation or even small amounts of extractable energy as the plants photosynthesise. Algae covered buildings – as well as internal walls made of microbial fuel cells – have been designed by a number of firms and researchers, though these projects remain largely in the experimental stages. They speak to a deeper shift in how humanity thinks about the lines between walls and nature – less hermetic, more permeable. Studio Gang has yet to harvest energy from algae, but its philosophy is very much in line with this broader ethos that is spreading through design. In one of the book’s chapters, Towards Terrestrial, Gang writes of a mode to “bring architecture and its inhabitants into closer proximity with their surroundings, both physically and intellectually.” When building the Nature Boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo, the

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studio took a 20th century pond and removed its edges to Right: Studio Gang, MIRA, San Francisco, create a functioning ecosystem, with an adjacent pavilion California, USA. Image: © Jason O’Rear. taking its structural cues from Milkweed pods. A lush rooftop garden on Studio Gang’s Chicago headquarters (2015), has become a prairie ecosystem and, through partnerships with scientists and the local community, a testbed for how elevated urban green spaces can create diverse habits. It’s also a testament to the sturdiness of the Art Deco-era building, with trees growing above the columns. We are living in a climate emergency. Temperatures are rising, forest fires are raging, floods and hurricanes are happening at an unprecedented rate. In these turbulent times, it may be more tempting than ever to shut nature out, but Gang’s projects optimistically look to nature for a route forward. Aqua Tower may look “organic,” but the building’s real success is in how it puts these elemental forms to use – from managing sunlight to ensuring there are wider spaces for community. At the same time, it is always a negotiation. Construction is an environmentally demanding act. Aqua Tower’s concrete balconies give the high-rise its identity, but the cement industry is also a major contributor to worldwide carbon dioxide emission. Low reflective glass on Solar Carve might reduce the amount of birds that smack into the side of the building, but there would be even fewer collisions if Words there were no building at all. These are difficult, existen- Thomas McMullan tial quandaries that all architects face. Studio Gang’s work doesn’t necessarily have all the answers, but its willingness to respond to what Jeanne Gang calls “21st century impera- Studio Gang is tives and possibilities” is encouraging. The studio provides a published by Phaidon. philosophy of care and connection, which will become esphaidon.com sential if we are to thrive in the next two decades to come.

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States of Introspection Gabriel Isak

There are many levels of consciousness in the human mind, whether physical, spiritual or esoteric. Philosophers, scientists and artists have long tried to understand these varying states – categorising and calculating our responses to wider environmental stimuli. In an age of Artificial Intelligence, these questions are more pertinent than ever, deciphering the experience of “being.” What constitutes the wider idea of the self? How do we discern our true motives? Can identities be reduced to a series of electrical signals? Gabriel Isak (b. 1990) is a Swedish photographer who taps into this complex pool of ideas and philosophies, digging into the subconscious through dreamscapes that are rich in symbolism. Every composition is melancholic and introspective – anonymous figures are trapped on isolated shores or in Black Mirror-esque rooms. Isak has exhibited at Cannery Gallery, San Francisco; Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm; and M Contemporary, Sydney. gabrielisak.com.

Gabriel Isak, Into the Black. Courtesy of the artist.

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Gabriel Isak, Duality. Courtesy of the artist.

Gabriel Isak, Two Moons. Courtesy of the artist.

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Gabriel Isak, Duality. Courtesy of the artist.

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Gabriel Isak, The Girl and the shadow. Courtesy of the artist.

Gabriel Isak, Prisoner. Courtesy of the artist.

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Gabriel Isak, The Flight. Courtesy of the artist.

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Identity and Exchange Africa State of Mind EKOW ESHUN’S PROJECT OFFERS A KALEIDOSCOPIC VIEW OF AFRICA, FOREGROUNDING OVER 50 CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHERS FROM THE CONTINENT AND ITS DIASPORA.

“In the last 10 years there has been a real increase in exceptional photographers either based on the continent or of African origin. It’s incredibly interesting to see them exploring what it feels and looks like to live in Africa today.” Ekow Eshun (b. 1968) is a British writer, journalist, broadcaster and former director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. His most recent project, Africa State of Mind, is a large, ambitious book with plans to be an exhibition at Rencontres d’Arles this summer (29 June to 20 September). The publication collects a wide range of images as a platform for expression and exchange around the continent, boasting over 50 exciting names. These next generation artists are providing unique insights into Africa, or, rather, they each offer one of many perspectives. As Eshun points out, there can be no monolithic view. “In the past there were attempts to corral Africans. It’s important to take a broader, much more kaleidoscopic approach. The book presents an overview of recent photographic practice – all the works included were shot in the 21st century, mostly in the last decade. It is an exploration of how contemporary artists of African origin are interrogating ideas of “Africanness” by highly subjective renderings of place, belonging, memory and identity that reveal the continent to be a psychological space – a state of mind – as much as a physical territory.” That psychological state is complex. Eshun looks back – to the distinguished history of Malick Sidibé (1935-2016) and Seydou Keïta (1921-2001), and even further back to pioneers such as Francis W. Joaque (1845-1900), but also back to the much less illustrious history of photography

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as practised in Africa by European colonisers. Carving up Africa at the same time photography was being invented, these invaders used images to take stock of what they had seized – via dubious ethnographic studies – and also to create a picture of a “dark continent” that “lent rationale to the apparently civilising mission of Empire.” That rationale still contributes to the 21st century image of Africa, says Eshun, from white adventurer movies like Congo (1995), Kong: Skull Island (2017) and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) to “the footage of famine-swollen bellies and fly-covered faces that punctuates charity telethons.” This colonial history and resulting hangover of public perception is something with which photographers must engage. “Every time you pick up the camera you are dealing with the legacy of the African figure,” argues Eshun. “That context and history mean that the images aren’t passive. If you’re photographing someone in Africa, you have to ask yourself ‘How is it I think about what it is to do that?’ because you are now in some sort of dialogue with those earlier images.” However, this extra layer of thought also points to the finesse and refinement in these pictures, he adds – concepts which have always been part of the African experience, though reductive western conceptions have attempted to deny it. There’s often an assumption that these image-makers are somehow catching up with the west, he points out: in fact, Africa has always been “fundamentally cosmopolitan.” “The west hasn’t historically acknowledged that when you live in Africa, you grow up with this real sense of sophistication, not isolation,” he says. “The art world is opening up, belatedly,

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Sebashilo Ukuthi Basilindile II, 2017. © Sethembile Msezane.

“Every time you pick up the camera, you are dealing with the legacy of the African figure. That context and history mean that the images aren't passive. You have to ask yourself: how is it I think about what it is to do that?”

Previous Page: Detail, Untitled, 2012. © Nobukho Nqaba.

Left: Mutjope Kavari, Kunene Region, Namibia, 2015. © Kyle Weeks.

to the quality of artists outside the west. Take Zanele Muholi in Germany with Turkish people. Ultimately, she’s using (b. 1972) – the first African photographer to have a major them as a totemic symbol, using them not just in terms of solo show at Tate Modern – something that has nothing to the relationship that she, as an African woman, has to them, do with anything other than the calibre of the work. Muholi's but as how some of these dialogues recur around the world practice explores issues of identity, of how individuals can with different sets of people. “These items are a marker of choose to self-identify. Hassan Hajjaj (b. 1961) is a similar marginalisation, and these images therefore have an impliexample but from a very different place [he’s from Morocco, cation of the globalisation of capital, or production taking Muholi from South Africa]. He also uses dynamic portraits place around the world – there’s a much bigger picture that as a way of looking at cosmopolitanism and globalisation, she’s trying to speak to and interrogate.” Zakaria Wakrim (b. 1988) is from Morocco. Eshun picks up gender, identity, masculinity – many different things.” Eshun traces similar themes in other photographers’ work. on a similar sense of “cosmopolitanism” in his work, and in He points to Sethembile Msezane (b. 1991), who uses self- particular an image showing a red-robed individual looking portraiture to address the lack of positive representation of out over the North African coast. The photograph hints at black women in South Africa, and recognition for their part the paths of migration – and forced migration – but also in the country’s liberation. A Zulu woman, Msezane photo- evokes western art history, in its similarity to Casper David graphed herself dressed as the Zimbabwe Bird in front of Friedrich’s Romantic painting Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog a statue of Cecil Rhodes – the Victorian businessman and (c. 1818). In fact, other images in Wakrim’s series depict the mining magnate who once ruled South Africa (and else- same figure looking over the Atlas Mountains and Sahara where). This image works in the context of the Rhodes Must Desert. The artist has another westerner in mind – Antoine Fall protests of 2015, Eshun adds, in which statues of the de Saint Exupéry, the aviator and author who drew on his colonial ruler were removed. “She is inherently very inter- own experience of crash-landing in the Sahara when writing ested in dynamics of power and representation – how we The Little Prince (1943). “We come back to the decision to shoot an image,” comments Eshun. “These photographers recognise history, point of view and power.” He also picks out Nobukho Nqaba (b. 1992), another are weighing up their portfolios and placing them within a South African who works with self-portraiture, but whose broader political, cultural and social context.” Kyle Weeks’ (b. 1992) practice, meanwhile, engages with images are most recognisable because of their adornment of cheap, checked bags. “One of her points is that these what it means be a white Namibian taking pictures of young, bags are associated with migration and people on low black Himba men. Africa State of Mind includes pieces from income, and they are global,” points out Eshun. “They’re the series Palm Wine, which shows men following the ancient made in China, and in South Africa they’re known as ‘China practice of tapping palm trees for sap; it follows another bags,’ but in the USA they’re associated with Mexicans and project with Himba men, in which Weeks set up a portrait

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Untitled, 2014. © Zakaria Wakrim.

studio which allowed them to take photographs of themselves “to give agency to the people in the photographs, and acknowledge his own complicated position … His work highlights the complicated notion of a visual representation of African people,” comments Eshun. “There’s no passive relationship between photographer and subject and context.” Thinking through these complex ideas, Eshun noticed four themes that seemed to crop up repeatedly. These then became the key chapters of the publication – Hybrid Cities; Zones of Freedom; Myth and Memory; and Inner Landscapes. Hybrid Cities looks at the idea of the metropolis, on a continent that includes three megacities – Lagos, Cairo and Kinshasa – and includes artists such as Thabiso Sekgala, George Osodi, Emeka Okereke and Guy Tillim. Zones of Freedom considers sexual freedom and identity, and features work by Eric Gyamfi, Hassan Hajjaj, Sabelo Mlangeni, Zanele Muholi and Ruth Ossai. Myth and Memory looks at work that draws on and subverts existing aesthetic traditions, and includes pieces by Omar Victor Diop, Lalla Essaydi, Kiluanji Kia Henda, Pieter Hugo, Namsa Leuba, Sethembile Msezane and Lina Iris Viktor. Inner Landscape focuses in on pictures of people that emphasise the personal and subjective, and highlights names such as Leila Alaoui, Atong Atem, Lebohang Kganye, Youssef Nabil, Nobukho Nqaba, Zakaria Wakrim and Kyle Weeks. This decision to organise the book by theme rather than geography is interesting, for at least a couple of reasons. First, it raises the idea that these artists are important because of what they have to say, not because of where they come from. As Eshun puts it, whilst he’s “not averse” to exhibitions and books that focus on particular locations (after

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all, he has just created one), he doesn’t want it to be the only Right: 2012. place to see their work. Instead, he hopes that by throwing ©Untitled, Nobukho Nqaba. the spotlight on under-represented names, this project will help them take their rightful place in the wider canon – as has already happened with Muholi, and with Kiluanji Kia Henda (b. 1979), whose work is currently on show at the Barbican’s, London, Masculinities show, until 17 May. The second reason for the book’s order hints at Eshun’s own position within this project. He is a London-based man of Ghanaian heritage. Eshun was nominated for the Orwell Prize for the memoir Black Gold of the Sun: Searching for Home in England and Africa (2005) – which deals with a return trip to Ghana, Ghanaian history and issues of identity and race. He isn’t based in Africa, but says that’s not the point. “There is no singular, authentic version of the continent; there are multiple, individual perspectives,” he expands. “Africa encompasses 54 countries! My perspective comes from being of African origin and living in London. I have an inevitably diasporic point of view, but I think it’s valid. I’m not claiming to take a singular fixed view, and I don’t claim to come from some singular version of truth.” “I want to get away from the idea that ‘This is Africa.’” he continues. “I want to give as much room to the photographers as Words possible, putting together a book and a show that sees from Diane Smyth their point of view. I’m interested in how individual artists, or how I, as a writer, can explore notions and ideas. The photographers are world-present – most of them travel quite often, Africa State of Mind or, if they don’t, they have an artistic approach and reach that is published by allows them to expand out internationally. It’s not necessar- Thames & Hudson. ily accurate to think of it as ‘me here, them there’ – it’s more about the flow and exchange of ideas, images and influences.” thamesandhudson.com

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Surreal Locations Daphne Westland

Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978) was an Italian painter and writer who founded the Metaphysical art movement – a style of painting that typified dream-like views and eerie illogical constructs. Emerging from 19th century Romanticism, the school favoured sharp contrasts, deserted squares and drawn out shadows, with saturated skylines that were both alluring and threatening. Chirico’s disquieting influence can be seen in the following images. Arcades, columns and archways sit against contemporary furniture design, blurring the lines between worlds. The images are at once inviting and unsettling, with open rooms that extend out into an unfamiliar terrain. Studio Enter was founded in Amsterdam by Daphne Westland. Through creative direction and set design, Westland explores the boundaries between surrealism and the everyday, constructing graphic sets and visual storytelling. Her collaborators include Elle Decoration, H&M, L’Oréal, Tommy Hilfiger and more. studioenter.nl.

From the series Palace of your dreams for Elle Decoration Netherlands, 2019. Concept and Art Direction: Daphne Westland; Spatial Design and Visualisation: Shali Moodley Visual Citizens; Photography and Postproduction: Carlfried Verwaayen; Styling: Femke Hofhuis.

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art

The Role of Activism Tools of Revolution WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AN ACTIVIST? HOW CAN WE USE SOCIAL MEDIA? IN THE AGE OF INSTAGRAM, HOUSTON CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY CONSIDERS VISUAL IDENTITIES.

Documentary photographer. Radical Activist. Cultural Pioneer. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Kwame Brathwaite (b. 1938) – with the support of his brother Elmobe Brath and the African Jazz Arts Society and Studios (AJASS) – created monumental shifts, sparking the phrase “Black Is Beautiful.” Brathwaite’s movement inspired communities to embrace their heritage and visual identity, resisting the standards of a Eurocentric fashion industry. The work developed beyond concerts, exhibitions and events, developing into merchandise and successful advertising campaigns urging communities to “Buy Black” and “Think Black.” With the help of the Grandassa Models – a group of women that became icons of empowerment – the message was clear: to reclaim the self. Houston Center for Photography (HCP) celebrates Brathwaite’s legacy and wider reputation as an activist and influencer – challenging mainstream ideals and popular imagery. Tools of Revolution showcases the work of three innovative contemporary artists that “construct, elevate and celebrate” the black body. Arielle Bobb-Willis, Micaiah Carter and Dana Scruggs offer new narratives, creating modes of communication through the power of the image. Ashlyn Davis, HCP’s Executive Director and Curator, discusses the relevance of the show today and how these exciting new names push the boundaries of physicality and visual representation. A: How did you begin planning this show? Why did you decide on using three photographers? AD: I was keen on bringing Kwame Brathwaite’s work to the Houston community – largely because it sits at the intersec-

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tion of fashion, music, identity, politics and the Civil Rights Movement. The exhibition provides numerous entry points to engage with Brathwaite’s powerful body of work – one that has largely been overlooked by the broader arts community. At the same time, I felt it was important to expand the narrative of his career by rooting the discussion in the contemporary moment. This includes showcasing the portfolios of three young photographers who work in similar inventive ways – at the nexus of fashion and activism. For the curation, we limited our selections to Brathwaite’s work alongside three contemporary photographers. It is important to illustrate each artist’s broader practice and create context for the work they create in detail. If this was a more expansive group exhibition – with only one or two pieces from many practitioners – it would be easy to read that work in isolation rather than as a whole. Each of the young photographers selected – Micaiah Carter, Dana Scruggs and Arielle BobbWillis – is prolific in their practice. They each have very personal inspirations that motivate their work, and these are key to how they operate in the wider world. A: How do their works connect and contrast with one another in the space? How have you organised the exhibition – structurally, thematically or formally? AD: The exhibition begins with Brathwaite’s work, which is hung loosely in chronological order, from the 1963 photograph of the Wigs Parisian protest to the 1970s portrait of Marvin Gaye, in order to illustrate the cultural context of the more widely seen studio portraits of the Grandassa Models.

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Micaiah Carter, Jeremy O. Harris for GQ, March 2019. Styling: Mobalaji Dawodu. Inkjet print, 20in x 26in. Courtesy of the artist.

“We are putting Brathwaite's work in conversation with a new generation of photographers who are similarly pushing back against the status quo and breaking down barriers in the fashion and editoiral industries.”

Previous Page: Detail, Micaiah Carter, Nike NSW Collection featuring Sloane Stephens, Jazzelle, Miles Chamely, Alton Mason, Jada Renee and Mona Matusoka, shot in Brooklyn, NY, 2018. Inkjet print, 30in x 40in. Courtesy of the artist. Left: Micaiah Carter, Jamila Woods for Vogue, June 2018. Inkjet print, 30in x 40in. Courtesy of the artist.

Whilst Micaiah Carter’s aesthetic influence stems from his father’s scrapbook from the 1970s, there are echoes of Brathwaite’s work that are exciting to include in the same gallery space – as if the two generations are speaking directly to one another. The middle gallery contains Carter’s new video, Baby Boy, which is projected on a wall opposite images by Arielle Bobb-Willis and Dana Scruggs. Bobb-Willis and Scruggs are both focused on gestural, emotive bodies. Bobb-Willis’ figures highlight the multiplicity of the subject and the tension between what is presented to the world and what is felt inside. Scruggs’ portfolio celebrates the nude form in dancer-like compositions. The viewer moves from a very historical creative context into very contemporary interpretation of visibility and artistic output – from the editorial to the conceptual. A: Though Brathwaite has been widely revered for his work, it was not until May 2019 that his images were brought together with a major book and exhibition release with Aperture Foundation. How does Tools of Revolution sit within this timeline? Why is the show particularly important at this point now? AD: Tools of Revolution is part of a wider attempt to expand on this important publication and retrospective exhibition. We are putting Brathwaite’s work in conversation with a new generation of photographers who are similarly pushing back against the status quo and breaking down barriers in the fashion and editorial industries. Brathwaite’s legacy is not over, and that’s important to understand. It’s easy to look at historical photographs and reflect on how far we think we have come. However, when we consider these images and really interrogate the present moment, it becomes clear what

work there still is to do, and, more importantly, that this work will never end as we continue to grow and shift as a society. A: How are Bobb-Willis, Carter and Scruggs responding to Brathwaite’s legacy – offering new ways of decolonising fashion and the image and engaging with political rhetoric across both personal and editorial projects? AD: All the artists in Tools of Revolution are reclaiming the construction and portrayal of the black body to the black gaze – a place of collaboration between the black photographer and the black subject. Carter’s work is the most obvious in its political nature – in part because many of his subjects are well-known activists in the fashion industry, such as Ebonee Davis and Devin-Norelle. Bobb-Willis has a unique approach that feels collage-like in its composition – which can be interpreted in many ways. For me, it speaks to notions of intersectionality and the multiplicity of identity – the tension between that which is public and that which is private. She looks at what we project outwards and what we keep inwards. Her practice charts its own path, rather than presenting viewers with something familiar. Meanwhile, Scruggs presents a clever defiance of the industry. She found it difficult to get editors to notice her images, so she started producing an eponymous publication. By doing this, she was able to speak to representatives as a fellow member of the press – giving herself a platform to be seen. The images on display are embodied with that assertive willpower. A: Scruggs was has shot covers for Rolling Stone and ESPN's The Body Issue – featuring bodies in motion. How does this exhibition mark the idea of the physical self?

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Kwame Brathwaite, Untitled (Garvey Day, Deedee in Car), c.1965, printed 2019. Archival pigment print, 26.5in x 40in. Courtesy of the artist and Philip Martin Gallery.

AD: I would not say this exhibition marks the idea of the physical self, per se; however, it does highlight the power and importance of self-presentation as a form of resistance and the body as a site for political expression. A: Carter’s images directly relate to the Black Power movement and its legacy overseas in the 1970s – taking influence from his father’s scrapbook during the Vietnam War. How can we see this inspiration in his works? How do Carter’s works sit within the contemporary world – with rising social and political tensions? AD: It’s difficult for me to speak on behalf of Carter in this regard, as his father’s scrapbook of photographs is deeply personal. Carter cites the book as a major influence, partly because of the sense of openness and vulnerability of the subject in front of the lens. The images offer an intimate connection between the photographer and the subject – which is, in turn, a thread which runs throughout all the pieces in this exhibition. It’s one thing to portray blackness. It’s another to portray blackness through the black gaze, which is what Tools of Revolution achieves. This show is about reclaiming one’s image, and that reclamation is not constructed for a white gaze; it’s more complicated and more authentic. A: How do you think these photographers demonstrate the power and potential of the image – through an online presence and physically within the gallery? AD: All of these artists have built far-reaching platforms for themselves online – these have become a way to circulate their portfolios and build connections. Especially on the revolutionary application of Instagram, the image is para-

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mount – viewers either respond to it or they don’t, and then they move on. In a gallery space, however, there’s a unique opportunity to present pieces in a way that encourages a slower process of looking – because of the physical relationship between the photograph and the viewer. Audiences cannot quickly make the image disappear with a swipe of a screen. The most successful images, regardless of their subject matter, are those that lure viewers in through their formal capacities – colour, line, shape and light – and hold these elements in a conversation with the subject matter and what it represents. Especially in this exhibition – which is vibrating with colour, gesture, gaze, and a sense of music and movement – it’s difficult to want to look away at all. The wider collection becomes so alluring that the viewer wants to find out more and to dig deeper. For me, that’s one of the hallmarks of a powerful image, or indeed, exhibition. A: What, for you, are some of the most important works in Tools of Revolution? How do they stand out to you? AD: I would have to say Brathwaite’s portrait of his wife, Untitled (Sikolo Brathwaite with Headpiece designed by Carolee Prince) from 1968. It is commanding in its gripping sense of beauty as well as its relationship to community collaboration. Also, Micaiah Carter’s Armoni Boone and Darron Clarke for Kenneth Nicholson (May 2017) has such power. Two sets of eyes stare back at us from different moments in time. A: What do you hope audiences take away from the show? AD: Fashion is about visibility. Visibility is political. Activism comes in many forms – from the wider organisation of communities to the decisions made when we get dressed daily.

Right: Micaiah Carter, Playboi Carti for THE FADER, June 2019. Inkjet print, 16in x 24in. Courtesy of the artist.

Words Kate Simpson

Tools of Revolution, Houston Center for Photography, until 10 May. hcponline.org

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Pairing and Accents Romain Laprade

The golden hour opens and closes the day. Rays of sunlight pour through the atmosphere and diffuse – soft and warm – against their subjects. The following images are connected by this low passing light; shadows stretch out across walls. Romain Laprade captures rolling hills, angular buildings and languid portraits, underpinned by complementary colours. Billowing curtains and painted doors provide moments of vibrancy against subdued landscapes. Orange accents pop out against balmy blues. Laprade’s diverse portfolio extends from micro to macro – from focused product shoots and still life compositions to sweeping coastlines and travel series. He has shot many large-scale campaigns and editorials across the globe in Spain, Switzerland, Canada, France, Morocco, Argentina and more. His images have been widely published in Vogue Paris, Monocle, AD France and Apollo. He has been commissioned numerous times by Kinfolk. romainlaprade.com.

KINFOLK N°34. Photography: Romain Laprade; Styling: Camille-Joséphine Teisseire; Models: Anders Hayward and Johanna Defant; Grooming: Taan Doan; Art Direction: Christian Møller Andersen.

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KINFOLK N°31. Photography: Romain Laprade; Styling: Camille-Joséphine Teisseire; Model: Rafael Mieses; Grooming: Taan Doan; Art Direction: Christian Møller Andersen.

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KINFOLK N°34. Photography: Romain Laprade; Styling: Camille-Joséphine Teisseire; Models : Anders Hayward and Johanna Defant; Grooming: Taan Doan; Art Direction: Christian Møller Andersen.

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Romain Laprade, Ace Hotel, Palm Springs, California. Courtesy of the artist.

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KINFOLK N°34. Photography: Romain Laprade; Styling: Camille-Joséphine Teisseire; Models : Anders Hayward and Johanna Defant; Grooming: Taan Doan; Art Direction: Christian Møller Andersen.

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KINFOLK N°31. Photography: Romain Laprade; Styling: Camille-Joséphine Teisseire; Model: Rafael Mieses; Grooming: Taan Doan; Art Direction: Christian Møller Andersen.

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Romain Laprade, Balcony, Barcelone. Courtesy of the artist.

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Romain Laprade, MURALLA ROJA, Spain. Architecture by Ricardo Bofill. Courtesy of the artist.

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KINFOLK N°34. Photography: Romain Laprade; Styling: Camille-Joséphine Teisseire; Models : Anders Hayward and Johanna Defant; Grooming: Taan Doan; Art Direction: Christian Møller Andersen.

art

Interior Evolution Home Stories A MONUMENTAL SHOW SPANS THE LAST CENTURY OF DESIGN, EXAMINING CHANGING INTERIORS AND WHAT THEY INDICATE ABOUT HOW SOCIETY LIVES, WORKS AND CONSUMES.

“Today, interior design sustains a giant, global economy households against changing technological demands. “Arof furniture, textiles and decoration. Both past and present chitecture and interior design parted ways at some point. The trends feed an entire branch of the media, including maga- latter is now mostly dealt with in a superficial manner,” says zines, television programming, blogs and social media chan- Chief Curator Jochen Eisenbrand. “We wanted to ask why, nels. However, the interior is increasingly lacking in serious and use this exhibition to trigger a new conversation.” One of the case studies is Granby Four Streets in Liverdiscourse. It is time to review the design of our homes.” Houses are an expression of how we live – from everyday pool – a neighbourhood in Toxteth which has been one of routines to work, rest, entertainment and well-being. They the UK’s most economically deprived areas since the 1970s. also offer private locations for dreaming, aspiring, organis- It is mostly made up of terraces that were built in the miding, recuperating, archiving and collecting. Homes provide 19th century, with many lying abandoned. However, Granby storage for what we deem most important, but they are also Four Streets Community Land Trust and the London-based indicative of the outside world and its wider societal shifts. architecture firm Assemble fought off demolition and transWhere the human population becomes increasingly discon- formed dilapidated Victorian houses into desirable homes. nected and more technologically dependent, homes are Assemble gutted and redesigned the interiors, rethinking following suit through the introduction of smart surveillance, the space in response to contemporary needs. The firm esthermostats triggered by voice recognition and Bluetooth tablished a workshop that reuses building materials to create technology that collects data throughout the day. new furnishings. Fireplaces were made out of rubble from the Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, recently opened skip. Bathroom cabinets were constructed from refuse mateHome Stories – a show that initiates a conversation about rial. This sense of resourcefulness and DIY spirit was recogcontemporary interiors and their evolution. The exhibition nised by Europe’s most prestigious contemporary visual art explores the subject of private versus public through 20 case award when the project won the Turner Prize in 2015. The studies from the last 100 years, including groundbreaking accolade demonstrated the importance of interior design in principles from key architects like Adolf Loos and Lina Bo reclaiming both domestic and community spaces. “The proBardi, as well as artists such as Andy Warhol and Cecil Beaton. ject repurposed the space. In many cases, it is more efficient These 20 examples are separated into four thematic to adapt what is already there, rather than adding more to strands: The Birth of the Modern Interior (1920-1940); Nature the carbon footprint of a building,” Eisenbrand notes. and Technology (1940-1960); Rethinking the Interior (1960Repurposing existing buildings is a recurring theme in 1980); and Space, Economy and Atmosphere (2000 to Today). Home Stories. When Andy Warhol opened up the Silver FacThe driving force behind Home Stories was to re-examine tory in New York (1964), he showed what was possible with a

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Noritaka Minami, A504 I (Nakagin Capsule Tower, Tokyo, Japan), 2012. © Noritaka Minami.

“Houses are an expression of how we live – from everyday routines to work, rest, entertainment and well-being. They also offer private locations for dreaming, aspiring, organising, recuperating, archiving and collecting.”

Previous Page: Michael Graves, Reinhold Apartment, New York, USA, 1979-81. © Peter Aaron/ OTTO. Left: elii [oficina de arquitectura], Yojigen Poketto Apartment (kitchenette and sleeping area), Madrid, Spain, 2017. © elii [oficina de arquitectura]. Photo: Imagen Subliminal – Miguel de Guzmán + Rocío Romero.

converted loft space. He demonstrated how the studio could be an ideal combination of living and working in one openplan area. “In the 1960s, Manhattan was going through a time of urban development. Industry was moving out and all these warehouses were empty. Artists moved in and used the spaces, as well as living there,” Eisenbrand expands. Turning domestic spaces into workstations is no longer a new concept. The work / life divide has been blurred forever with the invention of the smartphone. The home is a place of constant connectivity due to public demand to always be switched on and plugged in. In 2018, The Telegraph reported that UK citizens spend more than a day a week on their phones (Charles Hymas, A Decade of Smartphones). As technology becomes ever more pervasive, smart home surveillance is also normalised. There are now more than 100 million Amazon Alexa-enabled devices in our homes. Everything – from lightbulbs to thermostats – is collecting data. The feeling of being constantly monitored is also perpetuated by platforms like Instagram and Pinterest. These channels have changed the perception and understanding of bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens and offices – turning them into potential showrooms. Meanwhile, Airbnb has encouraged entrepreneurialism, with individuals capitalising on their spare rooms. “If you rent a space out, it is designed to attract the clientele, not yourself,” Eisenbrand comments. “Airbnb teaches people how to photograph their home and create the best mise-en-scène – so that they have a competitive advantage.” These online platforms have a real impact on aesthetic trends. Beyond traditional forms of advertisement, there’s a constant feed of information and aspiration at our fingertips. “These social media sites have democratised our approach to

interiors. Everyone can post instantaneously. You can go to Pinterest to find ideas for what to do with the space under the stairway. On the other hand, it means things look more alike because you so quickly get an overview and appetite for how others live. Inevitably, consumers try something similar.” These fast-paced trends demonstrate how far we have come from distinct design eras such as the 1960s or the 1980s. Items are cheaper, and with the rise of social media influencers, ideas are easier to replicate, and more quickly. Trends feed down at an unprecedented rate, from high-end fashion brands onto the high street – from showrooms at Milan Design Week to Primark. In 2018, “Hygge” became a widely circulated word, marketing a new Danish trend of “cosiness.” In 2020, the word has relatively disappeared from the internet. Due to this accelerated world, high-profile companies like the Memphis Group (founded by Ettore Sottsass in 1980) wouldn’t have the same impact today. Memphis was part of a postmodernist revolution where angular furniture and graphic patterns went against the popularity of streamlined style. The radical group broke away from tradition and showed that the Reagan-era rebellion could be expressed even in the home. However, the limited availability and steep prices became an elitist symbol, so the designs were harder to circulate and disappeared quickly into history. “It was less about function and more about seeing object-as-trophy,” explains Eisenbrand. Vitra’s exhibition illustrates this important but short-lived movement through one of its passionate collectors, Karl Lagerfeld. The fashion designer turned his Monte Carlo apartment into a Memphis showroom. Many of Home Stories’ other case studies broke the perceived “rules” of design. Elsie de Wolfe (1865-1950) – an

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Karl Lagerfeld’s Monte Carlo Apartment (with designs by Memphis), Monaco, ca. 1983. © Jacques Schumacher.

actress and prominent social figure – was cited to have invented the profession of interior design through her book The House in Good Taste (1913). The text looked at replacing heavy Victorian style with light, intimate and clean layouts. Further into the 1920s, architects reinvented the versatility and distribution of the domestic space. Open-plan living was introduced by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), whilst Adolf Loos (1870-1933) showed what could be possible with multi-level floors of different heights. The optimisation of interior spaces is also linked to rising property prices and a shortage of affordable housing. Vitra shows examples of micro-housing that make limited space look desirable. One example is the 2017 project Yojigen Poketto (which translates to “4D pocket”) created by architecture studio Elii. The Madrid-based firm produced a functional layout for the 350 square foot space, where movable stairs double as storage and seating, whilst the sunken shower doubles as a bath. In the 1970s, architect Kisho Kurokawa (1934-2007) created the Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo as part of the Japanese Metabolism movement, which focused on flexible approaches to urban planning. The Tower comprises 140 removable capsules that were designed to be replaced every 25 years to accommodate shifting needs. Ingvar Kamprad’s (1926-2018) now-iconic company, IKEA, must also be referenced here. The company launched an agenda to provide modern products to the masses. It has since contributed to a complete revolution. Historically, objects were passed down from generation to generation. Now, these items are short-lived and disposable. They respond to a culture of fast ideals. They respond to our changing and fluctuating habits. In this way, Home Stories taps into global

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issues of over-consumption “There are two sides to it. IKEA claims to have democratised design, making it affordable to a larger population. However, furniture is now a commodity; we used to inherit items, but now they’re throwaway products. This is a problem, as it amasses waste.” Sustainability is the uniting force in design right now. IKEA is just one of the companies responding. Its 2020 initiatives include less than 15% of store wastage going into landfill, and energy consuming products are now on average 50% more efficient than they were a decade ago. “It is much more important that manufacturers think more about what will happen to their products when they're not used anymore, rather than following a trend,” says Eisenbrand. Indeed, the industry has a huge role to play, not least because it contributes so many material products to an already over-polluted world. Vitra highlights how interior design is a lot more about autonomy and reaching the individual consumer. We are now all creators and followers of visual trends, coming up with bold, individual ideas that tap into a growing consciousness surrounding the planet. Even though new design principles are created daily on Instagram, there’s a resurgence in positive decision-making. Zero waste and plastic-free alternatives are matched with sharing, upcycling, swapping and updating. So how might Home Stories encourage viewers to reflect on their homes in a responsible way? Eisenbrand summarises: “I hope the exhibition opens your eyes. Many of these projects have a liberating feeling to them – they have tried to break free from existing and established patterns. In that spirit, I would ask you to think about your space.” Now, more than ever, consumers need to think globally – considering the home within a wider context of space and resources.

Right: Karl Lagerfeld’s Monte Carlo Apartment (with designs by Memphis), Monaco, ca. 1983. © Jacques Schumacher.

Words Alexandra Genova

Home Stories is at Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, until 23 August. design-museum.de/en

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art

Journey into Midnight Liam Wong

A sea of umbrellas gathers around a pedestrian crossing. Puddles sparkle with artificial pinks and blues. Advertisements glare from the sides of buildings. Liam Wong’s (b. 1987) photographs are deeply influenced by the visual identities of video games, utilising vibrant colours, open landscapes and cyberpunk imagery. Japanese films such as Akira (1988) and Ghost in the Shell (1995) provide reference points for the neon-soaked alleyways. Wong wanders through Tokyo’s city streets, seeking moments of isolation amongst the tireless bustle. Lanterns are left swinging in the early hours of the morning and empty train tracks snake around open bends. Wong is also a world-renowned art director and game designer, having been the youngest director to work with Ubisoft on Far Cry 4 (2014). In 2017, he was named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30. His latest monograph, TO:KY:OO, is available from Thames & Hudson. thamesandhudson.com | liamwong.com.

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Â© Liam Wong. Rapture / 00: 24: 56.

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ÂŠ Liam Wong. Kimono Glitch / 01:51:19.

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Â© Liam Wong. Neon Noir / 23:50:20.

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ÂŠ Liam Wong.Gtlich City / 00:33:11.

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Â© Liam Wong, Youth /23:11:00.

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reviews

Exhibition Reviews Aesthetica provides coverage of recent shows from key institutions, including the first VR artwork from renowned Chinese artist Cao Fei, and a series of site-specific installations commissioned by East Contemporary Visual Arts Network.

1Blueprints CAO FEI

Blueprints transports visitors from London to Beijing, where an information desk, folding chairs and ticket stubs set the scene of a disused theatre. Located in the manufacturing heartland of the Jiuxianqiao district – where the first Chinese computer was invented – the theatre is now the studio of Chinese multimedia artist Cao Fei (b. 1978). Cao addresses human sacrifice in the name of technological advancement, giving voice to the dreams of factory workers and tales of romance and heartache from the VR platform Second Life. Blueprints marks Cao’s third collaboration with the Serpentine and her first large-scale solo exhibition in a UK museum. Since the artist's last venture in 2008, her international standing has soared. Returning to London, she presents key films, photographs and instal-

lations that have shaped her career, and two profound new works which are the result of five years of research into the history of the Hongxia Theatre and the Jiuxianqiao district. Cao’s feature length film, Nova (2019), follows the uncanny story of a secret project to turn humans into digital bodies. A child is lost in cyberspace as a doomed spectre of binary code when the experiment fails. With its epic score and glowing palette, Cao’s film takes inspiration from Soviet science fiction. Both real and imagined landscapes are in flux as the boundaries of time and space disintegrate. Nova overflows into Cao’s first VR artwork, The Eternal Wave (2020), which turns visitors into parallel ghosts, doomed to haunt the Serpentine in search of human connection. Cao forges a narrative of Iliad-like proportions.

Words Claire Phillips

Serpentine Galleries, London 4 March – 17 May serpentinegalleries.org

2Dawoud Bey

AN AMERICAN PROJECT

Dawoud Bey’s (b. 1953) latest project, Night Coming Tenderly, Black (2018) illustrates the imagined journey of a fugitive slave along the Underground Railroad. Whilst marking a shift from Bey’s portrait-centric documentary approach, these landscapes offer similar concerns of race and history that have characterised his career. The series takes its title from the closing couplet of Langston Hughes’ poem Dream Variations (1926), in which darkness is not to be feared, but rather, embraced. These large-scale images (44 x 55 inches, or 112 x 140 centimetres) also mark a return to black-and-white, gelatin silver prints after a break of more than two decades. Some of the images present unconventional views, with vertical or horizontal barriers filling a significant part of the space, such as

the picket fence in Untitled #1 (Picket Fence and Farmhouse). These obstacles could also have served as hiding places or markers for enslaved African Americans on the run using secret routes and safe houses in the 19th century to flee to free states and Canada. Spanning Bey’s 40-year career, SFMOMA’s survey features nearly 80 works, which depict traditionally underrepresented communities, from street portraits in Harlem in the 1970s to large-scale colour Polaroids and collaborative portraits of high school students. Bey’s hard turn toward historical subjects began with The Birmingham Project (2012), a series of double portraits he made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 bombing at the Alabama city’s 16th Street Baptist Church, on 15 September.

Words Olivia Hampton

SFMOMA, San Francisco 15 February - 25 May sfmoma.org

3No Realm of Thought… No Field of Vision CERITH WYN EVANS

Cerith Wyn Evans’ (b. 1958) suspended mises en scènes have returned to White Cube Bermondsey. This latest show provides a spatial world of neon poetry. Evans’ renowned experimentation of chandelier-like structures is combined with European influences of philosophy and design. In the North Galleries, 9 x 9 x 9, fig. (0) (2020) hangs from the ceiling like the ghost of a machine, dominating the space through structural illumination. Viewers gaze upwards at the gently swaying spectacle. Referencing the first helicopter designed in 1907 by Paul Cornu, the object is mesmerising both from afar and on close inspection. Flickers of blue gas appear, writhing like electric larvae. The show also asks wider questions about how we perceive – referencing the 1945 text Phénoménologie de la

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perception by Maurice Merleau-Ponty. In South Gallery II, F=O=U=N=T=A=I=N (2020) sprawls in a pale glow of Japanese Kyra typography. The text is extracted from Marcel Proust’s Sodom and Gomorrah (1921), the fourth volume of the novel À la recherche du temps perdu. Proust examines an 18th century fountain painted by Hubert Robert, looking at how it is simultaneously still and cascading – another example of how perception is layered. Evans’ interest in 20th century mechanics and sculpture also takes inspiration from Marcel Duchamp. Folds… in shade (also light and shade) (2020) could be the granddaughter to Duchamp’s The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (1915-1923). Immersive in its minimalism, the show flits between states of anxiety, awe and reflection.

Words Robyn Sian Cusworth

White Cube Bermondsey 7 February – 19 April whitecube.com

1a. Cao Fei, Nova, 2019. Video, 109min. Courtesy the artist, Vitamin Creative Space and Sprüth Magers. 1b. Cao Fei, Nova, 2019. Video, 109min. Courtesy the artist, Vitamin Creative Space and Sprüth Magers. 2. Dawoud Bey, Alva, New York, NY, 1992; Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, gift of the artist, 1998.10; © Dawoud Bey. 3. Cerith Wyn Evans, No realm of thought... No field of vision. White Cube Bermondsey, 7 February - 19 April 2020. © Cerith Wyn Evans. Photo: © White Cube (Ollie Hammick).

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4. Imran Perretta, the destructors, 2019. Production still, two-channel video installation. Courtesy of the artist. Photo: Max McClure. the destructors is produced by Chisenhale Gallery and Spike Island, Bristol, and commissioned by Chisenhale Gallery; Spike Island; the Whitworth, The University of Manchester; and BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead. 5. Tseng Kwong Chi, Grand Canyon, Arizona, 1987. ÂŠ Muna Tseng Dance Projects, Inc. Courtesy of the Estate of Tseng Kwong Chi and Yancey Richardson. 6a & 6b.Studio Morison, MOTHERâ&#x20AC;Ś, 2020. Photo: Charles Emerson, Courtesy of Wysing Arts Centre and National Trust for New Geographies.

4The Destructors IMRAN PERRETTA

Imran Perretta’s new moving-image work, The Destructors, takes its title from a 1954 short story by Graham Greene. Set in post-war London, Greene’s narrative follows a group of young people who plan to destroy an elderly neighbour’s house. It explores a generation of men and their relationship to society – looking at the capacity for violence and destruction in a world of austerity and disparity. Perretta’s piece brings this story up to date. It reflects on the period following 9/11 – a time marked by the War on Terror and Islamophobia. The film, set within the Bangladeshi community of Tower Hamlets, East London, centres around young Muslim men living in the UK. The Destructors’ script is informed by conversations between these individuals – highlighting the issues that continue to affect them. Perretta also draws on personal experiences of marginalisation and oppression, meditating on the complexities of ado-

lescence and coming of age in Britain today. Each scene navigates the social pressures of growing up in an environment defined by prejudice and government surveillance. Immersive surround sound and obscured camera angles create a sense of tension and anonymity. In the trailer, three men beat their thighs at an increasingly fast pace. The screen is split – one side documenting the rhythm whilst the other zooms in on a lone figure. He removes his shoes and slowly stands up to face them. His face is concealed. These single characters deliver poetic monologues – reflecting on their experiences of inequality and targeted abuse. The film is shot at a former secondary school – now functioning as a youth centre and care facility. Its ageing architecture is key, drawing attention to the deterioration of public spaces for the working classes. This powerful work comments on the impact of state power and biopolitics.

Words Eleanor Sutherland

Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead 14 March – 28 June baltic.art

5East Meets West TSENG KWONG CHI

In the 1970s, Tseng Kwong Chi (1950-1990) donned ting on a ledge overlooking the vast expanse. It’s a nod a Mao suit and took on the personality of an unknown to 19th century landscape painter Caspar David Friedrich’s Chinese dignitary. He proceeded to photograph himself (1744-1840) Rückenfigur (“person seen from behind”), but at major tourist sites across the USA. The resulting series with the irony and playfulness of pop and postmodern art. of portraits, East Meets West (1979-1989), collapses the Tseng was far ahead of his time, fashioning selfies decboundaries between performance and photography, whilst ades before they became omnipresent. He also used his establishing pointed political commentary at western ste- suit – adorned with a self-fabricated ID badge reading reotypes of Asian people and their communities. “visitor” in English and French – to crash high-profile social As a peripatetic traveller, Tseng fashioned his own 20th gatherings like the Met Gala. A separate project emerged century version of a “Grand Tour” – the global rite of pas- from the resulting encounters, Costumes at the Met (1980). sage for affluent young men in centuries past. A selection After moving to Manhattan in 1978, Tseng quickly found of these images at Yancey Richardson, New York, focuses his place in the downtown art scene, befriending Keith on the American sites, from the Empire State Building Haring, whose work he documented extensively. He was to the Golden Gate Bridge. Ingenious in their composi- never able to return to his native Hong Kong, dying of an tion, they are filled with art historical references. In Grand AIDS-related illness just a month after Haring in 1990, part Canyon, Arizona (1987), the artist is seen from behind, sit- of a wave of artists who tragically died in the epidemic.

Words Olivia Hampton

Yancey Richardson, New York 13 February – 4 April yanceyrichardson.com

6MOTHER… NEW GEOGRAPHIES

The environmentalist Roger Deakin once described the East Anglian coast as a “numinous otherworld.” New Geographies, launched by the East Contemporary Visual Arts Network (ECVAN), is a series of site-specific installations that engages with this so-called “otherworld” and its elusive dimensions. In 2017, ECVAN asked the wider public to nominate forgotten or lesser-known places across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. After an overwhelming 270 nominations, the second phase included an open call which invited artists to respond and and resurface these locations, revealing their storied past. As part of the series, Cambridge’s Wysing Arts Centre commissioned Heather and Ivan Morison of Studio Morison to create MOTHER…, a thatched hut in the Wicken Fen Nature Reserve. Inspired by Richard Mabey’s book Nature Cure (2005), Studio Morison collaborated with a master

thatcher to create a structure that resembles the hayricks of East Anglia’s heritage. The ellipsis after “mother” invites audiences to fill in the blank: is this a mothership? To where? Is it an ode to mother earth? How do we connect with her? As a work that asks viewers to meditate on the evolution of the landscape, MOTHER… feels indebted to the haystacks of Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh. Once viewers step inside the enclosure, however, it becomes a frame for seeing the surrounding fenland through a barn owl’s eyes. With embrasure-like entrance-ways and an overhead oculus, the building recalls James Turrell’s Skyspaces and Richard Serra’s experiments with Corten steel. Despite its wider affinities with land art, Studio Morison has not lost touch with the locality of place. In an essay on huts, the Cambridge poet J.H. Prynne writes that these simple structures help us “dwell not somewhere else but where we are.” MOTHER… does just this.

Words Hunter Dukes

Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge Ongoing wysingartscentre.org

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Guy Jenkin, still from Death Meets Lisolette. Courtesy of The Uncertain Kingdom.

film

A Collection of Stories THE UNCERTAIN KINGDOM Since 2016, when Britain first voted in favour of exiting the resolute loneliness. Jason Bradbury’s Isaac and the Ram is “In 2019, a callout European Union to stand independently, the landscape of confined to the flat of a troubled security guard and a tenta- came for stories that filmmaking began to shift. Stories about displaced identities tive night spent housing a young, homeless gay man, whilst reflected the turbulent and divided interests manifested onto our screens, quietly Ray Panthaki directs Paul Kaye in Ernie, a short drama about times that the nation was enduring whilst at first, but these voices only seem to be getting louder, and a caretaker driven to desperate means after suffering loss. Some interpretations take place outside the realms of con- imagining what the The Uncertain Kingdom – a new short filmmaking initiative – ventional narrative; Rebecca Lloyd-Evans explores female future would hold wants to hear what they’re saying. In 2019, a callout came for stories that reflected the turbu- sexuality in the sensory short Grit/Oyster, and The Level- following Brexit. lent times that the nation was enduring, whilst imagining what ling’s director Hope Dickson Leach documents anger and The brief was loose the future would hold following Brexit. The brief was loose, injustice through the visually astute, cathartic Strong is Better and encouraged and encouraged interpretations of all narrative forms. The Than Angry. Non-fiction also brings a strong thread to the interpretations to take goal was to reflect the rich, robust voices from every corner of programme: Ellen Evans splices conversations with deported all narrative forms.” Britain, making it as much a celebration of inclusivity as it was Jamaican-Brits and sumptuous scenery. Dominika Ożyńska follows up the gorgeously fluid animation The Law of the Sea a cinematic pinpoint during a period of widespread disarray. The submissions flooded in, which resulted in 20 passion- with We Are Not The Problem, a poignant take on immigration. Perhaps the strongest of the catalogue, however, is The ately produced, vibrant and varied short films. These at once document the consequences of a heavy political manoeuvre Life Tree, a fantastical, sorrowful piece of fiction that sees the or else use its significance as a foundation for thoughtfully cleaner of a faceless, white co-working office stumble across crafted fictional tales of deals with death, knotty relation- a medicinal tree that could bring good health to her ailing ships and gallows humour. The initiative also garnered the son. The mythical quality of the film hits hard, a note-perfect attention of home-grown names, like Mark Addy, who takes story that offers all the qualities of a sad folk song which is Words patriotism to dramatic lengths in Sophie King’s deadpan beautifully shot from frame to frame. The future of Britain re- Beth Webb comedy Swan, whilst Alice Lowe plays a galling casting di- mains clouded and uncontrolled, but this band of galvanised filmmakers has presented through The Uncertain Kingdom a rector in David Proud’s bone dry short film Verisimilitude. There is an underlying theme of stunted relationships and myriad of possibilities of what that might look like. theuncertainkingdom.co.uk

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Examining the Hierarchy MOFFIE of horror). It also serves as a marker for how far we’ve come “Moments of beauty in terms of discussing mental illness (we are reminded of this – namely the tender by a sharp, shocking insight into the squadron’s asylum). The touches and glances South African setting brings racial tension to Moffie – another between lovers – are systematic target for hatred and alienation. cast sparingly into Hermanus makes these gaping societal flaws a primary a sea of confusion theme. Moments of beauty – namely the tender touches and loneliness, set and glances between lovers – are cast sparingly into a sea against a backdrop of confusion and loneliness, set against a backdrop of the of the Angolan Angolan border conflict. Dialogue is sparse and light, with border conflict.” the majority of the story carried through a pristine, polished aesthetic. Crisp portraits of the soldiers are startling against the thick humid air of the camp: scenes with torrential downpour sounds like rapid fire; a nightclub bathroom casts a lucid, spiritual glow over Nicholas and his comrade. Based on the autobiography novel of Andre Carl van der Merwe, the film presents an accomplished and brutal tale of endurance about one’s ability to adapt as a means of selfsacrifice. The enemy that Nicholas is trained to fight isn’t nearly as present in the film as the countless enemies around Words him who want to see his real identity beaten down to an ide- Beth Webb alised version of ordinary. It’s an important, sumptuously and occasionally savagely executed film that, strangely, leaves a message of hope for a future that can learn from this Curzon Artificial Eye historical, deeply damaging example of institutionalised fear. curzonartificialeye.com

Oliver Hermanus, still from Moffie. Courtesy Curzon Artificial Eye.

The military has always been something of a fascinating – though seldom comforting – concept in cinema that breeds hypermasculinity through a confined, claustrophobic corridor of reality. It strips years of institutionalised gender politics down to its bare bones, highlighting the insecurities, hierarchy and conformity bound by a unified, often delusional, sometimes rejected ideal of serving the greater good. In Oliver Hermanus’ Moffie, hypermasculinity is a near-physical presence, hanging in the air of its Apartheid-era South African setting – a thick fug of whisky, blood and sweat. The boys who have been drafted are in a constant state of agitation. There is a natural hierarchy in which the squad’s more ruthless, rage-fuelled soldiers rule, though care is taken to show that this doesn’t mean that they are content in their surroundings. Thrown into the fold is Nicholas (Kai Luke Brummer, expertly cast) a pensive, introverted young man with sunken eyes and delicate features. An easy target for the boys, Nicholas tentatively takes his place on the bottom rung, adapting to the angry, rigorous rhythm of the place. Through flashback and stolen chance encounters with a fellow soldier, Nicholas’ secret, authentic identity is fortified and left to the mercy of the surrounding scenes. Moffie is tied to a period in history where there was little to no dialogue for homosexuality (a flashback shows Nicholas’ younger self wrenched from an early encounter, met with varying degrees

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Image: © Jimmy King.

music

Drawing from Society FASSINE For the third album of cinematic alt-pop, London trio Fassine likely the average millennial will know her, but decades on “For the third album decided to explore real-life stories of people on the fringes of from Too Long A Winter (and its 1989 follow-up, A Winter of cinematic altsociety, casting unsung lives against deft, versatile and strik- Too Many), Hauxwell’s extraordinary strength deserves to pop, London trio ing electronic soundtracks. Sonically, there’s a real sense of be lauded, says Palmer. “As soon as I heard her speak, I was Fassine decided to chiaroscuro on Forge – swelling, airy moments of light that transfixed; she was the most accepting, peaceful and unas- explore real-life battle and merge with grainy undercurrents of shadows and suming woman that, to me, should be revered. Her simple stories of people on doom – a sense of constant, unending friction. Lead single notions – an appreciation for nature, wildlife, family, hard- the fringes of society, Bloom is a standout in this regard, all crashing, spiralling gui- graft, being accepting of one’s responsibilities – made me casting unsung lives fall in love. In a world that is often so flippant, fast-paced and against deft electronic tars and a sense of teetering sanity. It’s a fitting bedrock for the characters that make up Forge. superficial, her humanity is something we should learn from.” soundtracks.” Whilst Hauxwell is framed lovingly, songs like the eponyIf these muses seem historic, or stuck precariously in the past, its intentionally so. “This album touches on older, maybe mous album track give voice to messier, complicated figures, more traditional ways of life,” explains vocalist Sarah Palmer. people whose opinions and politics chafe against modern sensibilities – specifically, voices who feel side-lined, silenced “Theae are in flux – roles, class, beauty, pride and dignity.” As with the working women of WWI and WWII, whose lives and rendered obsolete by today’s progressive politics. “Their inform the angelic organ tones of Hellsto, these everyday ways of working and living are changing,” explains Palmer. heroes are so often forgotten, their thankless contributions “Either they’re drying up or being sold off, and this is causing eclipsed by history’s marquee names. The closest to an people to burn with frustration whilst also causing them to exception on Forge is Hannah Hauxwell, the muse behind double-down on their strengths. Forge is about listening to Perfectly Planned. Hauxwell, a hardworking Yorkshire farmer everyone around us, no matter how un uncomfortable.” who led a challenging, poverty-stricken and isolated exist- “The song is ultimately about anger,” agrees bandmate Words ence – caring for elderly relatives whilst single-handedly Laurie Langan, “from those who feel overlooked.” Fass- Charlotte R-A running her farm – became an overnight celebrity after ap- ine were careful to avoid sounding didactic on Forge, says Langan; instead, they’re extending an invitation to engage pearing in an ITV documentary, Too Long A Winter, in 1972. The nation was captivated by Hauxwell’s fortitude. It’s un- with collective as a whole. “[‘Forge’] is simply a reflection.” fassine.com

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A Return to Poetry MENTRIX

“Rad left Iran aged eight, moving to France with her family to escape the tail-end of the Iran–Iraq war. There, she wrote her first poem, aged nine. At 14, she moved back to Iran, and had to relearn her Farsi mother tongue.”

Words Charlotte R-A

mentrixmusic.com

Mentrix. Image: © Kathy Le Sant.

For Iranian artist Mentrix – born Samar Rad – music is a spir- “Ney” (a wooden flute), the “Tombak” (a goblet-shaped drum) itual practice rather than a career. My Enemy, My Love (out and the “Kamancheh” (a bowed string instrument), creating 3 April) is a striking proposition, offering up expansive and an alchemy of potent and panoramic proportions. The true beguiling music inspired by the Persian poetry and Sufi pulse of Mentrix’s music is the “Daf” – a large hand drum teachings of her homeland. “Sufism is in the blood of Iranian with metal ringlets, beating a transcendental line throughout. “In Sufism, the Daf is a calling for the soul to awaken,” expeople,” she explains. “It is part of our culture. Our poets were inspired by the teachings of Islam and Sufism, and were often plains Rad. “It makes that big sound because it’s empty, which devoted seekers, scientists, mathematicians and astronomers.” signifies two things. On the lower level, someone who is empty Rad left Iran aged eight, moving to France with her family to and seemingly has nothing to offer can actually generate a escape the tail-end of the Iran–Iraq war. There, she wrote her lot of noise. On a higher level, when you are truly empty of first poem, aged nine. At 14, she moved back to Iran, and had the world, the entire universe can resonate within you. It's the to relearn her Farsi mother tongue almost from scratch, going dark and bright sides of the moon in one instrument." It might be tempting, in this era of streaming, algorithms from studying Latin and French literature to Arabic and the Quran. As an adult, she spent time in the UK before moving and targeted advertising, to dub Mentrix an “Iranian take on to Berlin (“for love”), where she is now based. But her mother- The Knife or Zola Jesus,” and she certainly cites these influland, and the complex relationship she has with it, continues ences. But to do so offers Rad a disservice. Comparing Mentrix to western artists, we place her in a lineage that eclipses her to inform both her identity and musical practice. My Enemy, My Love – named for the “contrasting worlds” roots (the west has been borrowing liberally from eastern esoRad inhabits and the “existential wanderings” she is given terica for decades) and the multiplicity of the album. Besides, Rad’s motive means that the usual ambitions – to – merges east and west deftly, drawing on both the pop canon (censored during her childhood in Iran) and traditional fame, recognition, wealth – are not necessarily driving factors. Middle Eastern modes: Iranian mourning chants; Sufi medita- “I don’t seek fame; it is an empty room. I certainly want suction chants; and “dastgāh” (a complex musical modal system). cess and to see my hard work rewarded. However, this can be Synths, drum machines, echoing vocals and sparse electric measured in many ways. Music is the core of my universe; it is guitars thrum alongside traditional Iranian instruments: the the centre around which everything else revolves.”

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K11 Artus by André Fu, Hong Kong.

books

Aspiration and Innovation CROSSING CULTURES WITH DESIGN When André Fu completed The Upper House hotel in Hong Kong 10 years ago, he quickly became an overnight sensation. The Chinese interior designer, who has worked with Louis Vuitton, The Berkeley in London and Waldorf hotels, is recognised for breaking away from opulent interiors typically associated with hospitality. Instead, he opts for a fresh, contemporary mix of simple forms and clean lines, redefining contemporary notions of modern luxury. The eponymous book, Crossing Cultures with Design, offers an insight into the architect’s complex creative process, presenting 18 recent projects, complete with over 300 colour illustrations and original hand-drawn sketches, ranging from a Louis Vuitton conversation chair to guest rooms made up of a few brief brush strokes. Describing design as a “highly organic, natural process,” the book is loosely organised to reflect common themes, such as cultural filtering; relaxed luxury; and modernity versus classicism. “Creating this book has given me a fresh insight not only into the past but also into the future, by allowing me to reflect on the influences and development of my design language,” says Fu. The book cites the Bauhaus School as one of the designer’s main inspirations, especially its abstract geometric forms. Other defining influences include the avant-garde architect Mies van der Rohe, whose modernist designs were made to maximise the experience of movement between spaces.

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Whilst this has led some critics to label Fu’s work as eastmeets-west, such labels would be reductive. Less about combining one style with another, Fu’s success lies in his ability to merge designs with the culture that surrounds them. A prime example of this is the Villa La Coste, which translates the bright light and dry landscape of Provence into an airy, streamlined design, using rustic materials made of natural stone and rough-edged timber. Another example is The Mitsui Kyoto, a hotel located in front of the ancient Japanese capital’s Nijo Castle, where the walls are decorated with hand woven coverings that evoke the traditional craft of kimono. Some commentators have been quick to shelve Fu’s interiors under the “minimalist” lexicon – presumably because many of his designs feature indistinct, open-plan layouts and floor-to-ceiling windows, which he punctuates with understated, modernist furniture and sculptural elements. Yet the devil is in the details. Looking beyond the sleek, restrained forms and silhouettes reveals a careful layering of textures, colours, patterns. Despite appearing “simple," viewers find that Fu's designers are indeed anything but. It’s this very precision that makes Crossing Cultures with Design such a delight to read. There’s a warmth and comfort to Fu’s interiors that come from a fine-tuned sense of balance and what works together, meaning that the closer you look, the more eclectic his taste seems to become.

“When André Fu completed The Upper House hotel in Hong Kong 10 years ago, he quickly became an overnight sensation. The Chinese interior designer is recognised for breaking away from opulent interiors.”

Words Gunseli Yalcinkaya

Thames & Hudson thamesandhudson.com

The Virtual Stage TEAMLAB: CONTINUITY

Forest of Flowers and People - Lost, Immersed and Reborn. 2017/2020. By teamLab, (Japanese, est. 2001) Sound by Hideaki Takahashi (b. 1967) Interactive digital installation.

In Continuity, an exhibition at Asian Art Museum, San Fran- ary between humans and nature. Everything exists in a long, “Whether it's through cisco, (opening 8 May) Tokyo art collective teamLab invites fragile, yet miraculous continuity of life.” Instagram face filters, Still, the members of teamLab are not strangers to how dig- visual avatars or visitors to enter a small, dark space. It seems as though it’s an empty room. As they stand still for a few moments, audiences ital art has been perceived through history. The book refer- digital fashion, the might begin to notice colourful butterflies spilling out onto ences articles from critical theorists, charting the rise of such human population the walls, travelling across flat screens and over ceilings. Sud- platforms and their place within the canon of art. Once such inserts themselves denly, the entire space is brimming with digitally rendered text is Walter Benjamin’s Art in the Age of Mechanical Repro- into technology every creatures. When audiences try to touch them – willed by au- duction (1935). In the piece, Benjamin argues that the aura day, so it's only of a “traditional” work of art lies in its authenticity, original- natural that artworks tonomy and interaction – they drift lifelessly onto the floor. Flutter of Butterflies Beyond Borders, Ephemeral Life is just ity and uniqueness. This, he argues, is fundamentally elimi- should follow suit.” one of the many installations in Continuity, a publication that nated when the piece reproduced. “By replicating the work, coincides with the show. With a strong focus on the develop- it substitutes mass existence for unique existence,” he writes. What teamLab does, however, is offer a response to this ment of ideas rather than finalised projects, the text offers interviews with members of the collective, which includes more argument, pointing out that Benjamin’s text – written in the than 400 architects, animators, designers and programmers. 1930s – doesn’t reflect the contemporary age. Now, userFounded nearly a decade ago, teamLab is known for its generated reproductions are on every social media feed and interconnected, “borderless” installations – the largest of phone screen. “Perhaps what Benjamin saw as degradation – which spans over 1,200 square meters. These digital ex- a work of art that went from a unique mass existence when reperiences push the boundaries of contemporary art and produced – is replaced with a sort of amplification when the its narrative within the gallery space. The subject matter is medium is inscribed with its own reproducibility,” they argue. Words inspired by traditional Japanese works, and almost always In this age of digital interactivity – where VR and AR are the Gunseli Yalcinkaya points to nature – whether or not we can replicate or control norm – projects are not just objects to be looked at anymore. it. Think wading through knee-high water whilst gazing down Whether it’s through Instagram face filters, virtual avatars or at projected images of swimming fish, or giant renders of digital fashion, we insert ourselves into technology every asianart.org Japanese pop-culture characters. “teamLab sees no bound- day, so it’s only natural that our artworks follow suit. teamlab.art

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film reviews

Les Misérables LADJ LY

Malian director Ladj Ly offers a searing feature film debut. With a titular allusion to Victor Hugo’s 19th century novel, Les Misérables (the film) highlights the continued experience of poverty and social inequality for the residents of Montfermeil some 150 years after that book was written. The film echoes similar themes, but Ly’s narrative doesn’t imitate Hugo’s epic tale. Rather, it’s informed by the director’s own experience of life in Les Bosquets. His focus is the reality of Montfermeil’s disenfranchised residents – a multicultural community of African and Arabic origin – who live on dilapidated housing estates and endure frequent harassment by the police. The opening sequence includes a long, stretching shot down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. It’s crowded with individuals celebrating the French World Cup win and awash with the Tricolours. Despite this evocation of na-

tional unity, it's inflected with riotous foreboding. When a group of burly Roma threaten the Major of a largely black neighbourhood – convinced one of his number has stolen their lion cub – the Street Crime Unit (SCU) steps in. New recruit Stéphane, laid-back local Gwada and hot-tempered squad-leader Chris try to de-escalate matters, but their overbearing approach backfires and they're filmed apprehending and accidentally shooting the thief. Handheld camerawork documents the SCU’s daily patrols, capturing the nervy energy of every encounter, whilst stunning aerial shots heighten the oppressive drama. The abduction of the lion cub provides an extended metaphor of sorts. The film’s gripping conclusion recalls the words of ex-convict Salah to Stéphane that, when a lion roars, he is saying, “may he who is benevolent be protected from my claws.”

Words Daniel Pateman

Altitude altitudefilment.com

Fire Will Come OLIVER LAXE

Oliver Laxe’s third feature-length film Fire Will Come follows the reticent Amador Coro as he attempts to reintegrate himself into the small Galician village where his mother, Benedicta, lives. We are given few details about Amador’s life but what we do know is that he has returned to the community following a prison sentence for arson. A brief scene in the local police station comes at the beginning of the film. Amador is described as a “pyromaniac” and “he who set the whole mountain on fire,” which gives us some – but not many – clues about the crime. Amador’s crime is particularly perverse given that Galicia is a region already beset by wildfires. Yet, as the film continues to focus on Amador and Benedicta’s relationship and their shared, simple daily routine, we begin to glimpse an altogether separate portrait of Amador – one that is tender, honest and kind-hearted. When

Amador meets Elena – a local veterinarian who has also returned recently to the area – it looks as though he finally has the chance to rebuild a life and look ahead. This opportunity, though, is soon threatened by the prospect of yet another wildfire, which, this time around, Amador appears to know absolutely nothing about. Fire Will Come not only provides a subtle narrative about how a small community deals with impending natural disaster, it’s also a visual homage to one of the most beautiful landscapes in Spain – a place that largely operates outside the global tourist economy. The powerful, restrained performances from Amador Arias and Benedicta Sánchez perfectly complement Mauro Herce’s patient documentary style of cinematography, which lovingly captures the Galician terrain both before and after its complete devastation.

Words Christopher Webb

New Wave Films newwavefilms.co.uk

Proxima ALICE WINOCOUR

Alice Winocour’s third film, Proxima, is an ambitious, accomplished drama. It offers the story of an astronaut as she prepares for a year-long mission to the International Space Station. Alongside Damien Chazelle’s biopic First Man, it’s one of the most accurate cinematic representations of reaching for the stars. However, Proxima isn’t so much interested in zero gravity as the emotional pull that comes with isolation, and the gnawing feelings that incur – guilt, loneliness and separation anxiety. Eva Green plays Sarah, who begins the story by travelling to the European Astronaut Center near Cologne. Her young daughter Stella (Zélie Boulant) must live with Sarah’s ex, Thomas (Lars Eidinger), an astrophysicist (so supportive, you have to wonder exactly why they split up). Already, when Stella cries that her cat won’t like the move, it’s a childish cry for help. But Sarah suffers just as

much, a feeling that intensifies when she continues onwards to Star City, the training centre in Moscow Oblast. Here, she meets fellow astronauts, Mike (Matt Dillon) and Anton (Aleksey Fateev), and must endure the former’s casual sexism. But Winocour – who previously made period psychiatry drama Augustine (2012) and the misjudged PTSD tale Disorder (2015) – never lets the film float towards the expected. Green is terrific in her best role in years, a reminder of just how unimaginatively she has been used in most of her Hollywood outings. Rich with technical detail, Winocour has an impressive ability to place viewers in Sarah’s rarefied world. The action – particularly an underwater exercise – is claustrophobic. What’s really compelling is the internal maelstrom. The final act does stretch credulity, with one melodramatic plot turn, but Wincour keeps the film on course.

Words James Mottram

Picturehouse picturehouses.com

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music reviews

Kiss, Cuddle & Torture Vol II THE HEMPOLICS

The Hempolics – a lo-fi reggae soul outfit self-described as "mash-up music" – return with a second volume that soars and sways, flowing like a soup of mid-1990s influence. Deeply soaked in harmless nostalgia, this varied collection of songs is built for live pop and smoked out festival reggae. There’s scratching, multiple mentions of “good vibes” and sporadic smatterings of rap. Kiss, Cuddle & Torture Vol II offers everything you might want from a background scene in a noughties romcom – one in which the protagonist finds themself out of place in a downtown New York club where everyone is wearing visors. Stand-out single Forever is almost off-piste for the band – with a more syncopated drum pattern, looped harmonic vocals which are soulful and emotion-filled. Get it Right is the most dub-infused song of the set, not unlike Fine Young Cannibals. It really works. Place Is Here

feels closer to The Magic Numbers than Bob Marley, with big happy piano riffing and floaty chirpy backing vocals. The choppy bop of Gotta Thing is unexpected, but welcome. It feels like a Fatboy Slim jump-up hit nestled amongst an art school collage of an album – pieced with swaggy vocals and infectious breakbeats. With this second volume / album, The Hempolics proudly flutter their peacock feathers and showcase a collective of clearly really skilled musicians at the top of their game, wildly enjoying the process of writing – whatever genre that may be. So tangibly do they evoke the feeling of being knee deep into an unidentifiable time on day three at Glastonbury, that one can picture the tent filled with wavy swaying. It is the perfect addition to playlists over the next few weeks for cultural respite and tapping into memories of summer nostalgia.

Words Kyle Bryony

Kartel Music hempolics.com

Suitcase Full Of Sins EMPARA MI

Mini-album Suitcase Full Of Sins is a collection of Empara / orchestral opening which shifts, evolves and then sits on Mi’s critically acclaimed previous songs as well as ad- the periphery of the beats throughout the track. Blood In ditional new material. The record unites pop, hip-hop The Water is a bold electronic symphony of sound against and R&B alongside striking visual aesthetics to develop silence whilst Wygd is driven by an impressively dark a distinct and unique identity. Since emerging in 2016, vocal that springs forth into a majestically gargantuan Empara Mi has gone on to clock up millions of streams chorus. There is also a hint of what to expect from Empara on Spotify alone, collaborating with Kojey Radical on Mi in the future with the exploratory new songs Shout and Spoon and worked with Andrew Dawson (Kanye West, No More. The connecting thread – that draws occasionally Jay-Z, Tyler, The Creator) and James Fauntleroy (Drake, disparate strands together – is the voice. It’s rich, vibrant Frank Ocean, Kendrick Lamar). Taking inspiration from and compelling both in tone and depth. If truth is the new beauty, Suitcase Full Of Sins is a portal the likes of Portishead, Gorillaz, Dr. Dre and Sade, films also influence the songwriting process, with each track to the universe of Empara Mi, where the edges blur and a truly authentic identity has been forged. Based on the mapped out in the form of a movie sequence. Debut single Wanderlust features alongside a cluster of evidence here, the singer's future musical direction seems tracks moving in a dramatic and emotional new direction likely to be intoxicating yet rewardingly uncertain, conincluding the propulsive Ditch, featuring a stunning choral tinuing to be filled with drama and mystique.

Words Matt Swain

Spinning Circle Records emparami.com

Jacqueline JACKIE LYNN

On this ambitious, nostalgia-laden project, singer / songwriter Haley Fohr weaves an intelligent concept album as fictional alter ego Jackie Lynn – a femme long-haul truck driver. Each song details a day in her life. Backed by bandmates Cooper Crain, Rob Frye and Dan Quinlivan, this motley crew is assembled from various other outfits and has fashioned a nocturnal, trippy, dusty epic. Previously known for popular indie folk alter ego Circuit des Yeux, here Fohr proudly lets her imagination run amok with a very modest nine songs. These are cinematic, retro head-nodders. Jacqueline is a slowly jolting Ferris wheel of electronic feels, with opener Casino Queen matching Lynn’s low tone with reverberating synthesisers ideally suited to the neon-lit freeway night drive it was created for. The beautiful Dream St. is almost a Massive Attack trip hop,

with a looped jazz breakbeat and emotive rolling strings, feeling like another deep breath in this descriptive and dusty dirt road of an album. The slow-driving and undulating Odessa is a pleasurable virtual reality experience of a song, with pinging space sounds and flying, echoing vocals, before the far more grounded guitars of Traveler’s Code of Conduct anchors the listeners back down to earth. Meanwhile, the deep bleeps of Diamond Glue and rousing denouement of Control have an effortless pathos, with almost low operatic vocals existing in a Blade Runner style, a 1980s vision of a post-apocalyptic future. A successful experimentation into sound, and worthy of a longer tracklisting, Fohr, aka Jackie Lynn, would do well to find herself inspired to tell more stories, dipping into the narrative form even further.

Words Kyle Bryony

Drag City dragcity.com

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book reviews

Natural Palettes SASHA DUERR

“Rivers are drenched in the chemical residues of last consider the wider impact of production and consumpseason’s colours and landfills continue to pile up and tion. Natural Palettes encourages readers to look around, exponentially overflow.” In Natural Palettes, Sasha Duerr put down their smartphones and be at one with their suroutlines some of fast fashion’s unsettling realities. It is an roundings. Slow living is at the heart of Duerr’s text, herindustry marked by a negative environmental and social alding a return to craftsmanship and a reduction in waste. This gentle approach deepens the senses and slows impact. This book envisions a new approach – welcoming an age defined by fresh, modern colours drawn from the pace. Duerr describes this as an “immersive process” the natural world. From the bright oranges of marigold that builds both personal creativity and wider ecologiflowers to soft pastel pinks and purples from roses, it pre- cal understanding. The time spent creating each hue is sents 500 swatches from plants both familiar and unu- a period of meditation. Scent and sight come together sual. These organic dyes can be applied to a range of – earthy-smelling sandalwood produces warm browns disciplines, including sustainable textiles, fine art, floral and greys whilst zesty orange yields bright yellows. She reflects: “I fell in love with the magic of making pinks and design, food, gardening, interior design and more. This volume offers poetic language, calming visuals mauves from slowly simmering sweet gum leaves just and instructive texts. It is a manual and a destination for collected from a storm and, when on the stove, smelling visual and creative inspiration, whilst inspiring readers to like nutmeg from in amongst November rain.”

Words Eleanor Sutherland

Princeton Architectural Press papress.com

Working Title TOM KUNDIG

Tom Kundig’s (b. 1954) Working Title opens with the transcript of a speech at the University of Washington’s Department of Architecture. The Seattle-based architect shared his vision of a “meaningful” kind of architecture – the kind “that works at all levels and stands the test of time.” What makes specific projects successful, he explains, is that “they succeed at the second or third look. The nuance is at the nano level … the human level” which is beyond Pinterest or Instagram documentation, but the reaction which lives beyond first impressions. Kundig (and his studio Olson Kundig) is best known for design that integrates technical and anthropocentric structures in demanding environments. Each project constitutes a new challenge with site-specific or client-specific demands. Each of the 29 “titles” is part of a global collection of residential, commercial, cultural and public

projects which comprise wineries, restaurants and private holiday homes – all emboyding Kundig’s wide-ranging practice and pluralistic aesthetic vision. Perhaps the most characteristic project from Working Title is the Triptych House – an incredibly dynamic private home in Yarrow Point, Washington, that simultaneously functions as an art museum and an event space. Triptych House includes familiar devices often found in Kundig’s projects – pivoting doors and hand-powered cranks, most notably. Due to its open plan, there are floor-to-ceiling glass windows and a reliance on raw materials, which constitutes a true manifesto of the symbiosis between interior and exterior. Working Title is a welcome addition to Kundig’s bibliography, which already includes two monographs published under his supervision. This collection provides enthusiasts with never-before-published works.

Words Louis Soulard

Abrams & Chronicle abramsandchronicle.co.uk

Movements in Art Since 1945 EDWARD LUCIE-SMITH

Art is stitched into human life. We have always craved to understand the fragmented world, a lineage of exprescreativity to negotiate sociopolitical events and express sive markmaking and fantasy narratives took place. Fast ourselves. As such, history contains a “network of art forward up to The Present and the Future – the final chapworlds,” which has different layers of stylistic and cultur- ter – which profiles performance artist Marina Abramović al references across movements. These knotty genres re- and self-exiled Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei. The book emerge and develop – reshaped by the next generation’s highlights how a plethora of new realities – born from the digital age and advancements in Artificial Intelliattempts to challenge previously accepted discourses. Thames & Hudson’s World of Art series is a testament gence – enliven our wider explorations of displacement, to diversity and exchange in the creative sector. One of identity and the human condition. The relaunch of World of Art responds to global shifts the titles from this ambitious collection is Movements in Art Since 1945, which comes at no better time. Notions in thinking. In the wider collection, topics include The of patriarchal “genius” and Eurocentricity are no longer Photograph as Contemporary Art and Modern Architecacceptable. The book – now in its fourth edition since the ture, which appear alongside reissued guides such as first in 1969 – takes a moment to pause and re-evaluate. Interior Design Since 1900. In a turbulent world, the series The publication begins at the end of WWII, when groups “stands both at the end and at the beginning of someof artists dived into Abstract Expressionism. In an attempt thing” in a time of radical transformation.

Words Saffron Ward

Thames & Hudson thamesandhudson.com

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artists’ directory

M-RAY BY MIKE RENARD Celebrated sculptor Mike Renard adheres to three specific principles in his practice. Firstly, that art should be beautiful, “even if it depicts something ugly, it should be done beautifully.” Secondly, that art must provoke emotions, “however, not all of them. The preferred ones are admiration and excitement. Disgust is forbidden.” Finally, art should make the viewer think. “It should make your brain and mind work both consciously and subconsciously.” His resulting bronze and gold sculptures are imaginative, satiric and unexpected. Shown here is a piece entitled Rhino Beetle, a three-dimensional depiction of environmental fragility, in which both small and large-scale life forms are in danger of extinction. A rhinoceros forms one side of the sculpture and a rhinoceros beetle is seen on the opposite side. The artist uses the same horn for both animals and the beetle’s abdomen is used as a base for the rhino’s body. Renard has exhibited at Red Dot Miami as part of Miami Art Week, as well as SOFA Chicago.

www.m-ray.wtf Instagram: @m_ray.art

RON COOPER Ron Cooper’s award-winning photographs celebrate humanity. The Colorado-based artist travels extensively, exploring diverse cultures and communities across the globe. Striking portraits from the Keepers of Tradition series will be shown at Photo London, 14-17 May. Cooper’s work has been featured in over 35 exhibitions across the USA and the UK. His book, We are Santa, will be released this year by Princeton Architectural Press.

www.ron-cooper.com | IG: @roncooperphotography

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PIA FORSBERG Stockholm-based Pia Forsberg is a highly renowned artist and educator. An expansive career has seen her design over 2,000 book covers as well as numerous logos and design elements. She has been principal and teacher at Forsbergs Skola since its founding in 1991. The artist’s personal practice is focused on painting. Her current works explore the idea of heritage and memory; as images are passed down from generation to generation, individuals turn into purely faces and names – all that remains is anonymity. An upcoming solo exhibition will be held at Erik Andersgården, Söderhamn, 22 July - 16 August.

www.piaforsberg.se

DEBORA BARNABA Milan-based artist Debora Barnaba originally studied drawing and painting. She later embraced photography, which became her primary form of expression, and for which she has won numerous prestigious awards.

DANIELLE BECKNELL Danielle Becknell is a Texas-based multidisciplinary artist exploring ceramics, photography, glass, steel and textile. Her eclectic and diverse practice is driven by personal experiences that become the narrative. The creation of each artwork is a healing gesture – an intuitive expression of physicality shaped from perspectives of nature and unprocessed elements intended to both release and replenish.

www.daniellebecknell.com I IG: @danielle_becknell

Since 2006 she has worked with renowned practitioners including Maurizio Montagna and Giovanni Gastel. A collaboration made with Oliviero Toscani about Florence was published in a catalogue entitled Santo Spirito. Her images express the power of self-portraits, with bodies that are controlled and subverted in favour of the photographic lens. Barnaba’s background can be seen in the formal construction of the shots and in her effort to aestheticise an idea, “tracing” it in the space of a single click.

www.dbartworks.it Instagram: @deborabarnabaartist

For submission enquiries regarding the Artists’ Directory, contact Katherine Smira on (0044) (0)844 568 2001 or directory@aestheticamagazine.com

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JULIJANA RAVBAR Slovenian painter Julijana Ravbar creates pieces that are abstractexpressionistic, leaving the viewer free to experience colour and texture as it appears in front of them. She notes that compositions such as Dream Big, shown here, reflect both her individual artistic aims and a personal journey through life. Brushstrokes glide across the surface, coming together through drops, lines and hardened shapes. Ravbarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s works are held in numerous private and corporate collections worldwide.

www.artfinder.com/julijana-ravbar I IG: @julijana_ravbar_art

S.F.BATCHELOR S.F.Batchelor is a London-based artist exploring the intersection between new technologies and traditional art. The resulting interactive, video and still works use the physical process of painting to reveal new perspectives on data.

www.sfbatchelor.com I Instagram: @sfbatchelor_

KIYOMI BAIRD Eden Sweeney is an Australia-born, London-based multimedia artist. She often uses alternate personas when examining themes such as the mundane, humour, fandom, self-portraiture and topics that may be considered taboo.

Kiyomi Baird creates kinetic compositions in multi-dimensional spaces that explode with energy. Collaged forms coalesce at the centre of each piece, provoking open-ended exploration. Colour and shadow move in synergy, offering a sense of mystery that borders on the spiritual. Currently based in Santa Fe, Baird has lived and exhibited work on three continents.

Instagram: @edensweeney_

www.kiyomibaird.com

EDEN SWEENEY

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Arantxa X. Rodríguez

Claudia Ungersbäck

Arantxa X. Rodríguez is a New York-based artist born in Mexico City. Her work can be interpreted as “paintings in space” and represent an introspective examination of her Mexican culture and Buddhist practice. She notes: "The colours and material of the pieces may reflect my origins, but the form of the installation indicates the form of my mind." www.axr-artist.com I Instagram: @axr_artist

Claudia Ungersbäck works between the fields of text, image, movement, painting and music. In doing so, she pushes the boundaries of sculpture, performance and spatial art, inviting the viewer to unlock the senses in visceral, experimental ways. Ungersbäck lives and works in Vienna, where she currently studies philosophy. Recent shows included Textkörper und Musikbilder at the Wienstation. www.claudiaungersbaeck.com

Diego Rey

elise wootten

Barcelona-based Diego Rey is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist. In The Narcissus Wall he explores surfaces as "elements that reflect the human being at its most despicable: walls and invisible borders are the expression of how the subject is understood and where it places others." Rey is currently part of the Ferran Adrià team at the elBulliFoundation. www.diegoreyvisualarts.wordpress.com I Instagram: @drey_vacios

UK-based Elise Wootten’s practice reflects an interest in the nature of photography – the visual and physical flatness of the print and the perspective determined by the lens. She embraces these elements as a way to create illusion, taking advantage of photography’s seeming veracity. The resulting work fluctuates between sculpture and image. www.elisewootten.cargo.site I Instagram: @elisewootten

Franco Salas Borquez

Heloisa Lodder

Originally from Chile, Franco Salas Borquez is currently based in France. His art evokes the ferocity and supremacy of the ocean; he draws attention to water as both a creative and destructive force, "where beauty is presented as the central point of this duality." Borquez's works are held in major collections throughout the world. www.franco-salas-borquez.com I www.absoluteartgallery.com

São Paulo-based artist Heloisa Lodder investigates human behaviour in relation to our given environments. Through the use of photography, sound construction and multimedia, she draws attention to different kinds of human vulnerabilities – isolating urban fragments in minimal compositions. Lodder was one of the winners of StreetProjections2018 during the European Month of Photography Berlin. www.heloisalodder.com

For submission enquiries regarding the Artists’ Directory, contact Katherine Smira on (0044) (0)844 568 2001 or directory@aestheticamagazine.com

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artists’ directory

ilze helgeland

katie webb

Ilze Helgeland's paintings emphasise simple structures to draw attention to sources of light. Key genres through which she expresses her focus include landscapes, portraiture and still lifes. For Helgeland, the compositions are about "noticing" – capturing the details of a moment in time as light shifts from one angle to the next. Originally from Latvia, she is based in London. www.ilzehelgeland.com I Instagram: @ilzehelgeland

Katie Webb's experiences of moving around her UK home have become an artistic way of creating a dialogue – confronting her disability. She plays with the concept of journeys: moments of movement, layering delicate "landscapes" alongside harsh intersections of manmade industrialism. Webb subtly places herself into this abstract, energetic space. Instagram: @Katie_art_1

Natalie Webb

Orsi Cowell-Lehoczky and Dr Sándor Pellet

Natalie Webb is a London-based ambidextrous artist. She strives to capture the essence of pace and movement. Her work is based on interaction with the environment, observation of human activity and spontaneity, and is produced in a variety of media. The film Art in Motion showcases her artist process. https://youtu.be/N7PHKR8iw9w www.loft35art.com I Instagram: @nataliewebbartist

Correlation is an exhibition and culmination of a mentoring relationship between artists Orsi Cowell-Lehoczky and Dr Sándor Pellet. It is a visual correspondence about how we perceive the environment – between generations, across borders and over decades. Two- and three-dimensional works in oil, acrylic and mixed media will be presented at The Fountain Gallery, London, 9-21 June. www.cowell-lehoczky.com I IG: @orsicowell

poggio di poggio Poggio Di Poggio is a Franco-Belgian artist based in Brussels. A key inspiration is water; through geometric paintings he expresses the spiritual nature of the universe, based upon experiences during his previous life as a Buddhist monk. Fragmented forms and repeated shapes combine with mixed media and acrylic to build up multiple layers – revealing texture, light and depth. www.poggiodipoggio.com I Instagram: @poggiodipoggio 140 Aesthetica

Sarita Franco-Swedish artist Sarita is working on a new language of design, connecting Nordic birch to painted abstraction. Her studio is located in a forested area of Sweden, where she explores the textures and shapes of local raw materials. The resulting sculptures are an expression of balance between nature's manifestations and the artist's meditative brushstrokes. www.saritaarte.com | Instagram: @sarita.arte

Sophie Berenika Broch

susie hartley

Sophie Berenika Broch is a Norwegian ceramic artist based in Tromsø. Her works embody a diversity of textures, shapes and colours inspired by lost and weathered objects; throughout her life, she has gathered a collection of curios which act as a point of reference. Through persistent processing of clay, shapes begin to emerge with expressions that speak to her. www.sophieberenikabroch.com I Instagram: @sophieberenika

Navigating shape, form and texture, Susie Hartley's sculptures represent and interpret the human form. Twisted and fragmented figures celebrate the strength and beauty of the female form. Through arching and stretching, the forms express tension and energy. Using the torso as the focal point, a sense of movement is captured in clay. www.susiehartley.com I Instagram: @susiehartleysculptures

Tamás Ábel

teti

Tamás Ábel is a Hungarian conceptual artist whose primary materials are glass and mirror. From smaller sculptures to large-scale, site-specific installations, his projects deal with equality, tolerance and diversity, using geometric forms and an array of colours and textures. Ábel has exhibited work in numerous shows throughout the USA, China and Europe. www.tamasabel.com I Instagram: @tamasabelglass

Teti is a Minsk-based multidisciplinary artist who has spent a number of years having an independent practice defined as "re-nouveau." She uses multiple layers of abstraction and experimentation to achieve an aesthetic balance whilst reflecting upon the most poignant issues of our time. Teti has participated in various international projects and exhibitions in London, Paris, Zurich, Moscow and Miami. www.works.io/julia-teti

Xenia Miltiadou

Yaroslava Liseeva

Xenia Miltiadou's work is about juxtaposition. Bold, colourful and textural works consider how two opposing forms can meet to create balance and cohesion. The artist plays with the boundaries of conscious decisionmaking, revelling in accidents and spontaneity. The pieces embody what it means to wander – to veer in and out of a task freely – much like that of a doodle. www.xeniamiltiadou.com | Instagram: @xeniamiltiadou_

Moscow-based Yaroslava Liseeva looks for interconnections between the forces and energy of nature. Her paintings depict a sense of flow, expressing the notion that nature is constantly moving and changing. The works are sensory, liberating and almost otherworldly. Liseeva notes: "It's important to stop and open our senses to the flow and discover the true meaning of reality." www.yarlis.org I Instagram: @yaroslavaliseeva2019

For submission enquiries regarding the Artists’ Directory, contact Katherine Smira on (0044) (0)844 568 2001 or directory@aestheticamagazine.com

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artists’ directory

Alex Colley

ariel ruby

The concepts of family and memory provide much of the foundation for London-based Alex Colley’s photographic practice. His work is often performative and rendered through images, video, sound and archival material. Many of his compositions are self-referential and involve reinterpreting memories and archival material within the present, informed by his own reservations about the future. www.alexcolley.co.uk

Ariel Ruby is an Australiabased artist whose experiential installations explore a liquid relationship between polarities: beauty and the grotesque; synthetic and natural; human and nonhuman. Ruby notes the highlystructured landscapes "embrace a synthetic aesthetic to emulate similar connections as sensuous experiences of ‘natural’ phenomena." www.arielruby.com Instagram: @arielruby

Caitlin Mary Margarett

Chan Suk On

Caitlin Mary Margarett is a Midwestern artist, born and raised between Minnesota and Iowa, USA. Using her art practice as a vehicle, she researches ethics, religion and gender studies; attempting to make sense of feminist spirituality, systems of flourishing and suffering. Shown here is a still from the film The Blessing, part of the Fortitude series. www.caitlinmarymargarett.com Instagram: @caitlin_mary_margarett

Chan Suk On holds an MA in Fine Arts from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. As an editor and photographer, she is inspired by everyday life experiences. The 2019 TT Portrait series encapsulates the fluctuating emotions felt by the artist during the anti-government demonstrations; photographic equipment is arranged to create facial expressions that represent sadness, anger and helplessness. www.httpschansukon.com

Iasonas Kampanis

Jad Oakes

The work of Athens-based Iasonas Kampanis unfolds a fragmented visual world, composed of abstracted or reinvented ideas, in a playful dialogue between classical and contemporary image-making. It is a world of reconciliations: between generations of artists, artistic disciplines, and high and low culture. Kampanis works with painting, photography and digital media. www.iasonaskampanis.com Instagram: @iasonas_kampanis

Jad Oakes explores the possibilities of photography and moving image for sculptural installations, prints and photopolymer gravures. Presented as collections, they are connected by their processes, themes and techniques. Oakes notes that each of these collections fuses digital and traditional disciplines threaded together by a fascination with memory and time. www.jadoakes.studio Instagram: @jado_studio

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Janusz Kawa

juliana bernal

Janusz Kawa has worked as a fashion and portrait photographer in Paris and New York. His images have appeared in publications such as Vogue and The New York Times. He has photographed Morgan Freeman, Placido Domingo and Daniel Day Lewis, amongst others. Kawa is faculty at the School of Visual Arts and at the International Center of Photography. He exhibits his work internationally. www.januszkawa.com Instagram: @januszkawa

Juliana Bernal's practice is based upon four key principles: folding, geometry, symmetry and colour. She notes: "It should be considered a simple act, but a fold produces a complex reaction." The Nest series utilises the simplicity of lines and planes, building on the properties of paper to express notions of security and shelter. They provide symbols of nurture and maternality. Bernal lives and works in Bogotá. Instagram: @julianabernalart

Karsten Thormaehlen

Keryn Huang

Karsten Thormaehlen is a Frankfurt-based photographer with a background in communication design. His portraits of centenarians have gained international recognition and will be displayed at exhibitions throughout 2020. The latest series, Streets of New York, focuses on the semantics of urban architecture – pedestrian crossings and sprayed concrete. www.karstenthormaehlen.com IG: @thormaehlen_photography

New York-based Keryn Huang's focus is still lifes and landscapes. Exploring colour and light, she creates painted backgrounds and then photographs living objects before they begin to decompose. The disappearance of plant species drives an aspiration for her art to serve as a valuable documentation. Huang exhibits internationally and accepts commission-based work. www.kerynhuang.com Instagram: @kerynhuangvisuals

Leila Godden

Lenworth Johnson

Leila Godden’s tranquil seascapes aim to evoke feelings and experiences personal to the viewer. Current exhibitions include Signet Contemporary Art, London; Bell Fine Art, Winchester; and The Seventh View in partnership with the ING Discerning Eye Exhibition at C24 Gallery, New York until 23 April. Based near the south coast of England, she is a member of the Free Painters and Sculptors (FPS). www.leilagodden.com

Lenworth Johnson is an American artist based in Houston. His practice is focused on amplifying positive impact with a mission to create unforgettable images. The use of colour, light, shadow and composition help to convey a dramatic style of photography that is bold and expressive. lenworthjohnsonphotography.com Instagram: @Lenworth.Johnson Twitter: @LJ_Photography1

marta promiŃska

Muriel Paraboni

Marta Promińska is an awardwinning painter and architect based in Warsaw. Using old masters' techniques – such as oil painting and sketching – combined with modern architectural inspiration, she translates traditional art through a "neoperceptive" lens. Promińska's work is featured in the 2018 book Arte Arcana. Instagram: @marta_prominska Facebook: martabajus hypnagogicpainting

Muriel Paraboni's multimedia works are defined by hybridism – experiments with narrative, poetry and abstraction through installation, film, photography and more. Each work forms a line between visual art and cinema, traversing landscapes and sensory experiences. Paraboni has exhibited in over 20 countries on three continents and won numerous awards. He currently lives in Milan. www.vesperavisualmedia.com www.vimeo.com/murielparaboni

natalya burgos

ninja d. evangelista

Natalya Burgos is based in the Texas countryside, where she is inspired by the surrounding fields, trees and a distant horizon. Themes of nature, fairytales and ancient myths emerge from portraits, landscapes and abstracted compositions. The paintings display deeply personal portrayals of nature, moving us to confront the inner shackles that bind us to one another. www.natalyaburgos.com Instagram: @NatalyaBurgos_Art

A London-based Austrian artist and fashion designer whose practice explores the moments between life and death, religion and culture. Praised for combining craftsmanship with technology, Evangelista was named one of the best emerging talents at UAL's Xhibit 2019. She also won a Procter & Gamble Better Lives MA Award, which harnesses fashion and art to drive social change. www.aeternum-jewel.com Instagram: @aeternum_jewel

For submission enquiries regarding the Artists’ Directory, contact Katherine Smira on (0044) (0)844 568 2001 or directory@aestheticamagazine.com

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artists’ directory

paul meyler

Rachael Docherty

London-based advertising photographer Paul Meyler produces colourful and engaging images for numerous clients. In his personal practice, Meyler is working on two projects: portraits of people living with Young Onset Parkinson's disease (YOPD), as well as portraits of cold-water swimmers – one of which was a British Journal of Photography Portrait of Britain finalist. www.paulmeyler.co.uk info@paulmeyler.co.uk

Rachael Docherty is a UK-based artist of Latvian heritage via her great-grandmother. She uses the act of translation as a way of confronting the complexities of collective memory, focusing on the erosion of fact into fiction. Her performative works feature elements of live sculptural interaction. The play Whatever Fire Maple questions identity and family histories. www.rachaeldocherty.com Instagram: @rachldoch

sari mansala

stephan crawford

Based in Central Finland, Sari Mansala calls upon the landscape as a central, abstract concept. Using acrylics, she experiments with texture and colour to make ethereal and sculptural paintings that are both transient and perplexing. The featured piece here is entitled Destination, an acrylic on canvas. Upcoming exhibitions include a group show at Wanha Woimala, Vaajakoski in June. www.sarimansala.com

Multidisciplinary artist Stephan Crawford is interested in reflecting on the natural world and our human interactions within it. Alongside his studio practice, Crawford founded The ClimateMusic Project – an arts/ science/technology collaborative whose powerful performances have garnered international media coverage, including profiles by the BBC and The New York Times. www.sc2arts.com www.climatemusic.org

Sumio Matsuoka

terry beard

Japan-based artist Sumio Matsuoka is interested in the viewer's journey. Although the works are inspired by personal experiences of struggle, the compositions feature light and colour to connote hope and new ideas. Matsuoka's wish is for the viewer to experience a variety of emotions, moving between shifting horizons. The art offers a sense of warmth and compassion, connecting audiences through creative output. sp9u6n49@watch.ocn.ne.jp

Terry Beard’s work is a response to the landscape and surroundings of her studio in Fenland, UK. She explores depth and form using abstract marks and making intuitive decisions during the development process. Beard has exhibited widely and her artworks can be found in numerous private and corporate collections. New compositions will be displayed at The Old Fire Engine House, Ely, 1 April - 31 May. www.terrybeardart.com

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Werner Roelandt

yande ren

Werner Roelandt is a Belgian fine art photographer. In The World from Above, he documents various locations from new angles, brought together by combining multiple images. For each work, photographs were taken from a same spot without the use of drone technology. Though realistic, the results appear as surreal compositions – both alien and familiar. www.theworldfromabove.be Instagram: @wernerroelandt

Yande Ren is a Chinese artist based in London. His works explore the development and symbolism of societies. The piece Attempt, shown here, is inspired by the Chinese idiom "to strike a stone with an egg." Ren notes that although to invite self-destruction and disaster is not ideal, "it's also a kind of courage to do what one knows not to do." www.renyande.com Instagram: @yande_ren

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Issue 94 April / May 2020

ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE

CREATING A PLATFORM

INTERIOR EVOLUTION

A new generation of photographers explores what it means to be African

Studio Gang references the natural world through undulating façades

Circulation(s) festival celebrates emerging European practitioners

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Sebastian Cox & Ninela Ivanova, Mycelium + Timber. ÂŠ Petr Krejci Photography.

last words

Francesca Gavin Curator, Somerset House

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Humanity is increasingly separated from nature. Life is now industrialised. Mushrooms are an amazing metaphor for how the organic world wants to force its way back into our consciousness. Mushrooms looks at the representation of fungi: why there has been a huge revival of interest in them, and how artists and designers are using them as material and a source of inspiration. John Cage, Carsten HĂśller, Cy Twombly and Takashi Murakami are just some of the names included. We also have a room devoted to designers like Jae Rhim Lee, Mae-Ling Lokko, Tom Dixon and Pentagram. In the context of the climate crisis, I hope this exhibition is a vital reminder of what we are losing, and where our focus should be. Mushrooms: The Art, Design and Future of Fungi, Somerset House, London, until 26 April. somersethouse.org.uk.

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