This issue considers the revitalization of pastoral narratives in contemporary art and recent artist contributions to radical theories regarding the so-called “end of nature.” Featuring: Dena Yago, Peter Nadin, Lawren Harris, Hayley Silverman, The sea in Cuban art, Charles Lim, The architecture of seasteading, Julia Tcharfas & Arseny Zhilyaev, Darren Bader,
Mark von Schlegell,
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster,
Ed Fornieles...
As architect and theorist Martti Kalliala suggests in his contribution to this issue, “If 2011, with its uprisings, protests and riots was the year of #voice, 2015 might be remembered as the year of #exit.” Confronted with political secessionist movements, mass exoduses from the global south, the continued proliferation of extra-state zones and sci-fi-inspired dreams about outer space as a potential destination for humanity, artists and cultural producers seem to be responsible for channeling these collective escape attempts into an ultimate exit. However, given that the earth is the only habitable space from which we might escape, the fundamental question remains: Where to?
This issue explores spatial and geographic destinations upon which terms like “frontier” and “terrae incognita” are posited in creative production. Considered as both fictional and real, these departures from anthropic and urbanized environments mostly confirm to three corresponding macroscopic scenarios: inlands, oceans and outer space. While pastoralism has traditionally considered nature as the sole alternative for escaping urban strife, we aim to question how the pastoral genre might account for nature's lack of promise and to revisit its conception of escape when such a scenario is no longer a desire but a necessity.
Flash Art is a contemporary art and culture magazine (and a
publishing platform) founded in 1967. Within a decade, it became an indispensable point of reference for artists, critics, collectors, galleries, and institutions. In 2020,
Flash Art became a quarterly publication, at the same time increasing its trim size and updating its graphic identity. The magazine offers a fresh perspective on the visual arts, covering a range of transdisciplinary approaches and fostering in-depth analyses of artist practices and new cultural directions. Today,
Flash Art remains required reading for all who navigate the international art scene.
Flash Art is known for it covers featuring artists who subsequently become leading figures in the art world. The magazine includes photoshoots, productions, critical essays, monographic profiles, conversations with emerging and established artists, and a range of ongoing and thematic columns that change every few years. The long history of the magazine is also highlighted by pivotal texts from the archive that are included in the publication time to time. Finally, every issue offers a highly curated selection of the best institutional exhibitions on the global scene.
See also
Flash Art Volumes.
