The May issue of frieze is out now. Features include a profile of Rei Kawakubo, whose current survey exhibition at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is only the second in the institution’s history to be dedicated to a living designer; monographs on Phyllida Barlow and Mark Bradford, who represent the UK and the US respectively at this year’s Venice Biennale; and a think piece on Ian Cheng’s ongoing investigation into computer-simulated worlds.
The Clothes Maker: Rei Kawakubo
Curator and costume historian Judith Clark explores the art of pioneering designer Rei Kawakubo and considers the question of fashion’s legitimacy within the art museum. “Kawakubo’s exploration of the principles of dress and the body in space, and her questioning of what constitutes inside and outside, is an endless renegotiation of seemingly inconceivable equations.”
Phyllida Barlow: As Real as It Can Be
Design historian and writer Tanya Harrod visits the London studio of Phyllida Barlow to preview the artist’s installation for this year’s Venice Biennale: “Barlow has been reflecting on the particular nature of the British Pavilion, with its jewel-box neoclassicalism and its faintly laughable formality. Her decision to name her installation folly might be a clue to her present thoughts on nationhood.”
Also featuring:
Contributing editor Magalí Arriola interviews artist Yoshua Okón on the eve of his first survey exhibition at MUAC, Mexico City; Jace Clayton discovers hyper-intelligent dogs and violent humans in Ian Cheng’s film trilogy, “Emissaries”; Ben Fergusson profiles documenta 14 artist Hiwa K, whose practice draws on Western misconceptions of Middle Eastern history; co-editor Dan Fox looks at the assemblage works of this year’s US Venice Biennale artist Mark Bradford, which bear witness to social change; and Ellen Mara De Wachter examines the practices of a group of artists visualizing a world in which we are no longer defined by borders.
Columns & reviews:
Tim Smith-Laing offers a brief history of the Venice Biennale; Gary Zhexi Zhang envisions the dawn of the “Chinese century”; Dominikus Müller asks whether we can compare our current political moment to the tumultuous 1930s; Laurie Taylor reviews the New Documents catalogue which, published 50 years after the exhibition, captures the moment snapshot photography became fine art; Daniel Baumann investigates what the grotesque can teach us about absurdity in life and art; and Negar Azimi looks at the global modernity of Egyptian surrealism.
Plus, 39 exhibition reviews from around the world, with a special focus on the US including Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and Raymond Pettibon at the New Museum, New York; while artist Charles Atlas answers our questionnaire.
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frieze video: In “What to Wear to an Exhibition?,” frieze associate editor Paul Clinton talks to costume historian and exhibition designer Judith Clark about the challenges of curating fashion and dress in the museum.
frieze.com: Visit our redesigned website for daily updated content, including: exhibition reviews, art-world news and critics’ guides to current art and culture highlights from around the globe. Also, browse our “On View” platform: the definitive guide to exhibitions at leading international galleries and museums.
