November 1, 2024
Amid the hustle and bustle of the post-pandemic economy, we find ourselves contending with the multilayered, complex madness of the world today. We live in an era of deepfakes, echo chambers, rabbit holes, and disappearing histories. To what degree then might art serve as a conduit, a vehicle, or even a mouthpiece for our collective desires, or as a way to understand, or even escape, the chaos, and find elements of reality that we can grasp?
For our cover feature this issue, ArtAsiaPacific scrapes back the myriad layers of political engagement and deep historical resonances that are built up—both literally and figuratively—on the large canvases of painter and performance artist Mandy El-Sayegh. By way of the late sociopolitical theorist Frantz Fanon’s notion of “violence which is just under the skin,” assistant editor Anna Lentchner sees a connection between El-Sayegh’s own health struggles and her efforts to tie together the philosophies that underscore the continued repression of the powerless.
History as a mirror that reflects both our present and our future is how Thai artist Pratchaya Phinthong views the world, as Singapore-based writer Yvonne Wang discovers in our second feature. Phinthong, whose work has explored epidemics, military coups, and the legacy of war, has been described as an “alchemist” of conceptual art who creates works that serve as portals to diverse places, ideas, and objects.
One of the artists featured in Up Close also embraces the ramifications of spurious global machinations. Inside the black box of Hong Kong’s Empty Gallery, James T. Hong’s seven-hour long, three-channel video installation Apologies (2012– ) compiled the screentime of numerous politicians performing scripted mea culpa after mea culpa in a deadening supercut. Meanwhile, Nguyen Trinh Thi’s newly commissioned post-cinematic sound installation merges footage from classic films with actual field recordings of Vietnam’s highlands and music by Indigenous musicians. Also riffing on classic film tropes, this time from the horror genre, is the latest film work of Heecheon Kim. Inside Burger Collection dives into the multidisciplinary practice of the Hong Kong-based artist Wu Jiaru, whose work looks at everything from the digital realm to cultural shifts in the cities of the Pearl River Delta. In Profiles, we spotlight Anicka Yi, amid her major exhibition at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, and the Hong Kong-based filmmaker Chan Hau Chun, whose works capture people living on the margins of the fast-paced city.
This issue, our new column Legacy examines the enduring Japanese photographer Eikoh Hosoe, who passed away in September at the age of 91. With his singular ability to capture the human body, as space of performance and site of the erotic, Hosoe infamously photographed numerous postwar, countercultural luminaries, including butoh founder Tatsumi Hijikata and controversial author Yukio Mishima. In Dispatch, Sheau Yun Lim explores the artistic legacies of Penang and discovers its contemporary precedents. The Point explores sacred spaces in Tokyo that serve as points of creative refuge for local queer communities. For New Currents we turn our attention toward emerging artists that are set to feature in the 11th Asia Pacific Triennial at the Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, including Brisbane-based artist Sancintya Mohini Simpson and Mumbai-based Rithika Merchant.
From Gwangju to Hong Kong, Barcelona to Paris, our Reviews this issue take in Ayoung Kim’s latest commission, Art Labor’s solo exhibition at Para Site, Wu Tsang’s new video work, and a survey of the late David Medalla, while critic Richard Vine sends a barbed missive from the 15th Gwangju Biennale. And last but not least, for Where I Work, Brian Haman pays a visit to the Vienna studio of Chinese sculptor Ma Jia.
A digital edition of the full AAP issue 141 is now available for purchase on Zinio, Google Play, iTunes, and Magzter.