Cosmologies: Aperture 244

Aperture magazine's fall issue explores the idea of cosmologies, featuring interviews with Deana Lawson, Judith Joy Ross, Michael Schmidt, Feng Li, Ashley James, Casey Gerald, and Pico Iyer. The issue focuses on artists who create their own cosmologies, tracing their lineages and locations in space, time, and history.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 136 pages
Publication date: 09 September 2021
Publisher: Aperture

Aperture magazine is set to release a captivating issue this fall, delving into the realm of cosmologies—the origins, histories, and local universes that artists create for themselves. In an exclusive interview, renowned art critic Greg Tate sits down with Deana Lawson, a visionary artist known for her monumental staged portraits that trace the cosmologies of the African diaspora. Lawson's work, which is set to feature in major solo exhibitions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston this year, combines mythology, religion, empirical data, and dreams, creating a rich tapestry of artistic expression.

In another insightful profile, Rebecca Bengal explores the work of Judith Joy Ross, a renowned portrait artist who brings together a constellation of strangers through her precise, empathetic gaze. Bengal delves into Ross's belief in the individual and her ability to capture the essence of her subjects. A portfolio of Michael Schmidt's acutely observed work from the 1970s and 80s reveals the realms within realms of a once divided Berlin, while Feng Li's stunning black-and-white snapshots zigzag between absurdist dramas in various Chinese cities. Ashley James distills the surreal visions of Awol Erizkus still lifes and tableaux, Casey Gerald contributes a sweeping ode to Baldwin Lee's stirring 1980s portraits of Black Southern subjects, and Pico Iyer meditates on Tom Sandberg's grayscale works marked by both absence and reverence.

Throughout "Cosmologies," artists cast their attention on the great mysteries of both personal and shared lineages, tracking their locations in space, time, and history, and reminding us of the elegant enigmas that can be unraveled close to home. This issue of Aperture magazine is a testament to the power of art to explore the depths of human existence and connect us to the broader universe.

Weight: 862g
Dimension: 326 x 305 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781597115056