In the June/July/August issue of frieze, three contemporary novelists look at the ways personal and historic memory shape the present. Quoted on the cover, Lucy Ives looks back on the summer of the moon landing, reflecting on what it meant to survive a decade of such dashed promise. César Aira recalls his childhood in Coronel Pringles, and the cruelty of his hometown’s self-designated curator: his mother. And Heike Geißler delves into the imbrication of writing and mortality in our exasperated age of news cycles, scandal and movement.
Marked Men
“What you needed to survive in 1969 was, apparently, not the straight and narrow. What you needed was fiction. And guilt.” 50 years on, American writer Lucy Ives takes a close look at how guilt and fiction played into the narratives of survival and space travel that followed in the wake of the Apollo 11 landing.
Mamá & Culture
“My mother was an eagle-eyed talent scout; she could find them where others saw nothing more than a garden-variety neighbour.” César Aira reminisces on his mother’s overbearing fixation on cultural refinement as he reflects upon his yearnings for escape as a teenager.
Also featuring:
En Liang Khong contemplates the Golden Lion-winning Lithuanian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and how it refashions our planetary crisis. Denzil Forrester talks with Osei Bonsu about the evolution of his paintings, from London’s 1980s club scene to the beaches of Cornwall. Ian Bourland bears witness to six decades of probing the limits of utopian ideals inside Siah Armajani’s Minneapolis studio. Lilia Moritz Schwarcz considers how Jonathas de Andrade is conjuring thunderous noise from vulnerable populations in Brazil, habitually treated with official silence. And, as surveys of Miriam Cahn’s work open across Europe, writer Jörg Scheller and artist Juliette Blightman delve into her art and writing.
Columns and Reviews:
Evan Moffitt looks back on the Stonewall Riots, recognizing the contributions of lesbian activists; Lynne Tillman reflects on the comfort of re-watching her favourite movies and shows; Diana Hamilton reviews Trisha Low’s critical memoir, Socialist Realism; Ian F. Martin charts the unparalleled innovation of experimental musician and producer Haruomi Hosono; fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner reveals how literary elders, spiritual traditions and connections across the Black Atlantic have shaped her thinking; Susanne von Falkenhausen asks why “affect theory” has taken such a hold on the visual arts; artist Katie Paterson narrates her journey into astronomy; and Thomas McMullan asks, to what extent was modern architecture shaped by the 20th century’s obsession with tuberculosis?
Plus, 32 reviews from around the world, including reports on two shows in New York, charting Lincoln Kirstein’s legacy, and, concurrent exhibitions in London, showcasing Channa Horwitz and Emma Kunz’s play with reason and repetition.
Answering our questionnaire is Paola Pivi whose current exhibition at MAXXI, Rome, runs until September.
