In the September issue of frieze, Valeska Soares reveals the influences that have shaped her thinking; Susanne von Falkenhausen reports on the impasse of the international art biennial; and Joanna Piotrowska presents “The Haunted Garden,” a series of specially commissioned photographs the artist created after being accused of being a spy.
My Influences: Valeska Soares
“I like living in limbo. I don’t belong anywhere.” On the occasion of her survey exhibition at the Pinacoteca São Paulo, sculptor Valeska Soares discusses Roland Barthes, the idea that art is a politics of love, the iconography of Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s sweets, the darker side of perfume, the sensitivity of Arte Povera and “the messier side of minimalism.”
Biennials at an Impasse: Susanne von Falkenhausen
“Art is a vague enough category already without vague projections of ‘about-ness’.” Susanne von Falkenhausen scrutinizes the ways that international art exhibitions are engaging in identity politics, focusing specifically on the 10th Berlin Biennale and Manifesta 12 Palermo.
Also featuring:
Novelist Wayétu Moore’s specially commissioned short story inspired by the work of artist Charles White; Media Farzin delves into Jumana Manna’s historical investigations; Hettie Judah surveys three artists—Caragh Thuring, Phoebe Unwin and Clare Woods—whose paintings mine the tension between physical and imagined worlds; Isobel Harbison re-visits a sketch for a stained-glass window that was commissioned by the Irish Government in 1926 and rejected for courting “undesirable public controversy”; and Alvin Li reflects on Beijing-based artist Tao Hui’s films and the fraught ethics of belonging in a hyper-mediatized reality.
Columns & reviews:
Brian Dillon pens a fan letter to British music critic Ian Penman; Negar Azimi celebrates the discomfort of art as a rebuke to escapism; ICA Director Stefan Kalmár questions the role of museums today; Olivia Laing ruminates on the ethical implications of witnessing violence; Alice Rawsthorn reports on the design activism of Brave New Alps and their work with migrant communities in southern Italy; and Glasgow-based filmmaker Margaret Salmon narrates her life in movies.
Plus, 46 exhibition reviews from around the world, including reports on the Liverpool Biennial, Manifesta 12 and the Baltic Triennial. Answering our questionnaire in this issue is Mika Rottenberg, whose first solo exhibition in London for the inaugural show at Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art opens this month.
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frieze.com: Visit our 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.
