frieze issue 163 out now
Featuring a specially commissioned artist’s project by Cally Spooner
In the May issue of frieze
Mergers & Acquisitions: Following a major retrospective at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, Colin Chinnery charts the ingenious career of Xu Zhen and his cultural production organization, MadeIn Company: ‘By dissolving his artistic identity into that of a commercial company, Xu Zhen could produce anything he wanted.’
My Influences: Paloma Varga Weisz discusses the evolution of her pictorial language, from her father’s illustrations of Jean Cocteau’s poetry to Lucas Cranach, Giorgio de Chirico and Gerhard Merz: ‘Creating a sculpture is like a journey that can take me to surprising places; I can swerve and end up in a totally different world.’
Also Featured
Dan Fox visits Michael Smith in New York, as the master of tragicomedy prepares for his first UK solo show at Glasgow’s Tramway. Accompanying a specially commissioned project by the artist, Alice Butler explores the work of Cally Spooner to discover how new media is making performers of us all. On the 20th anniversary of Derek Jarman’s death, Simon Fisher Turner talks about composing the music for his films. And we ask six international artists and writers to respond to the question: ‘What does it mean to make queer art now?’
Columns & Reviews
Jordan Wolfson reveals how Ingmar Bergman’s films and Jeff Koons’s sculptures have influenced him; Ross Simonini looks at combustion and digestion in Matthew Barney’s new film opera, RIVER OF FUNDAMENT; and Christy Lange asks, what makes a war story true?
Plus 33 reviews from around the world, including: Richard Hamilton at Alan Cristea Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Arts and Tate Modern in London; Dance Machines at Moderna Museet in Stockholm; and Dhaka Art Summit at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.
Frieze Video
Where Are We Now?: In the latest frieze film, Jennifer Higgie visits the 5th Marrakech Biennale and considers its stated mission ‘to build bridges between cultures through the arts.’
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