The March issue of frieze is out now, with a tribute to the late David Bowie and his enduring influence on art students; plus features on Cheng Ran and Chinese video art; Betty Woodman; and the complex relationship between gallery and stage.
Hang on to Yourself: David Bowie as Art School
“His journey from Bromley to Berlin represented something crucial to many art students: otherworldly glamour shot through with approachable ordinariness.” Following the death of David Bowie in January, frieze co-editor Dan Fox reflects on how art students have instinctively understood Bowie as method.
Cheng Ran: Light Source
En Liang Khong looks at the relationship between visual and social transformation expressed in the work of Cheng Ran, coinciding with a new surge of contemporary Chinese video artists. “If Cheng’s predecessors watched as China’s post-socialist project passed them by, his generation has been caught in the mix, experiencing the aftershocks of the transition to capitalism.”
Also featuring:
Matthew McLean and Stephen Squibb ask: “What is an artist’s play and how does it differ from performance art?”; Amy Sherlock talks about ceramic histories and modern painting with Betty Woodman, ahead of the artist’s ICA London show; Jonathan P. Watts explores cultural paranoia and Bardic storytelling in the work of Bedwyr Williams; and, on the occasion of a major retrospective of his work at Kunstverein Dusseldorf, the artist Walter Swennen describes how painting remains a bizarre and impure practice, in conversation with fellow artist Peter Wächtler.
Columns & reviews:
New regular columnist Olivia Laing looks at the enduring symbolism of a sewn mouth, from the works of David Wojnarowicz to recent protests by refugees; British artist George Barber reveals the films that have influenced his practice; Kareem Estefan investigates how a team of artists, architects and activists is exposing state violence; and Alexander Provan discovers what it’s like to stand on the precipice of virtual reality.
Plus, 25 exhibition reviews from around the world; and a questionnaire from artist Joan La Barbara, whose work will be included in the exhibition This Is a Voice at the Wellcome Collection, London, from April 14 to July 31.
Subscribe today or download a sampler version of the frieze iPad app at digital.frieze.com.
frieze video:
An interview with the Italian artists Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi about their 25-year career as filmmakers.
On the blog:
In a new series of regular online features, Gemma Tipton offers her “Critic’s Guide” to Dublin; Lucy Stein reveals a “Portfolio” of images that have influenced her practice; and Bert Rebhandl reviews three of the latest film releases.
More from frieze:
Explore the frieze archive at frieze.com to find more than 20 years of the best writing on contemporary art and culture.
