Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Aesthetica February/March Issue Out Today


This issue is centered on exploration and re-examination. We start with the blockbuster retrospective Cindy Sherman show opening at MoMA, which brings together over 180 photographs tracing the artist’s career from the 1970s to the present day. The idea of “innovation in the modern age” is surveyed in the V&A’s British Design 1948-2012 show, which opens this spring.

Lifelike opens at the Walker Art Center and examines artworks based on commonplace objects and situations that question authenticity. This Will Have Been: Art, Love and Politics in the 1980s opens at MCA Chicago, and is a timely re-appraisal of the tumultuous decade from a social, economic and political angle. IMMA Dublin opens Conversations, and we showcase a selection of works from this fascinating show, as well as looking at three photographer’s new series of works.

In film, the Chemical Brothers release Don’t Think, directed by Adam Smith and Marcus Lyall, which skillfully records their performance at Fuji Rocks, Japan. There is also a Q&A with Jes Benstock, director of The British Guide to Showing Off, which brings the Alternative Miss World pageant to the big screen.

In music, we look at Intelligent Dance Music and discuss the love-hate relationship with the term. We also chat with the Staves about being in a band with your sisters and singing backing vocals for Tom Jones. In performance, we look at the rise of puppetry in theatre with the Manipulate Festival.

Finally, Shilpa Gupta discusses her interdisciplinary approach in her new show, Someone Else, which opens at Arnolfini in March.

Pick up your copy today online or from one of our stockists.