Art For The Future

A collective history of the 1980s anti-imperialist campaign In the early 1980s, a group of artists, writers and activists came together in New York City to form Artists Call Against US Intervention in Central America, a creative campaign that mobilized nationwide in an effort to bring attention to the US government's violent involvement in Latin American nations such as Nicaragua and El Salvador. Together the group staged over 200 exhibitions, concerts and other public events in a single year, raising awareness and funds for those disenfranchised by such political crises. Art for the Future illuminates the history of Artists Call with archival pieces and newly commissioned work in the spirit of the group's message. In Spanish and English, a wide selection of artists and organizers examine the group's history as well as the issues that were as urgent to Artists Call in 1984 as they are now: decolonization, Indigeneity, collectivity, human rights and self-determination. Artists include: Antena Aire, Benvenuto Chavajay, Leon Golub, Hans Haacke, Fredman Barahona & Christian Dietkus Lord, Sandra Monterroso, Carlos Motta, Claes Oldenburg, Gregory Sholette and Coosje van Bruggen, Maria Thereza Alves, Sabra Moore, Jerri Allyn, Dona Ann McAdams, Rudolf Baranik, Susan Meiselas, Alfredo Jaar, Martha Rosler, Jesús Romeo Galdámez and Jimmie Durham.

Museums of contemporary art are expanding and in crisis. They attract ever-larger audiences, architects constantly redesign them, and the growing number of artists is producing more massively than ever; at the same time museum funds are dwindling in the economic crisis and an overheated art market. This text gathers together interviews with international artists, architects and curators of the contemporary art world.

In 1831 Honoré de Balzac wrote a short story, “The Unknown Masterpiece,” in which he invented the abstract painting. Almost 200 years later, writer Ingo Niermann tries to follow in his footsteps to imagine a new epoch-making artwork. Together with the artist Erik Niedling he starts searching for the future of art and, seeking advice, meets key figures of the art world. Includes the DVD The Future of Art by Erik Niedling and Ingo Niermann (HD, 157 min.). Contributors Thomas Bayrle, Olaf Breuning, Genesis and Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge, Olafur Eliasson, Harald Falckenberg, Boris Groys, Damien Hirst, Gregor Jansen, Terence Koh, Gabriel von Loebell, Marcos Lutyens, Philomene Magers, Antje Majewski, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Thomas Olbricht, Friedrich Petzel, and Tobias Rehberger; and commentary by Chus Martínez

WHAT IF ALL THE LEGENDS ARE TRUE? Retired monster hunter Bridgette McGuire knows that they are. And when a group of Nationalists uncover the fabled scabbard of Excalibur in order to bring King Arthur back from the dead to reclaim England, she will be the only one who can stop them. In order to do so, she’ll need to pull her unsuspecting academic grandson, Duncan, into a deadly world of myth and prophecy. Their quest will lead them to confront the complicated history of their family, confront the deadly secrets of England’s past, and throw the Otherworld into shambles, allowing for new legends and characters to make their appearance--and bring a world of trouble along with them.

How do you begin to write an art history and what are the vital questions to ask? Which marks are most prominent in the visual culture of a particular place, and which are nearly invisible? In Future Possible (a riff on an Andy Jones monologue about how Newfoundlanders talk about their future, an attitude which he describes as "Future possible, possibly horrible"), Mireille Eagan and writers and artists such as Heather Igloliorte, Lisa Moore, Andy Jones, and Craig Francis Power navigate the tangled histories and cultures of Newfoundland and Labrador to investigate the visual output and to write the narrative that it has created. The result is an ambitious volume, arising from a two-part exhibition of the same name at The Rooms, that provides a multi-vocal, multi-faceted history spanning pre- and post-Confederation Newfoundland. Lavishly illustrated with 180 images of art and objects from the province's visual history, Future Possible features essays by curators and artists on topics such as pre-Confederation art; contemporary art, craft, and Indigenous culture; and outsider and folk art. This intriguing volume places artifacts from the province's history and work by iconic Newfoundland and Labrador artists such as David Blackwood and Helen Parsons Shepherd in conversation with works by contemporary artists like Jordan Bennett and Kym Greeley. Together they explore how history is told and retold through objects and images and how these objects and images, and the power structures that preserve them, define an understanding of place.

A groundbreaking study of visionary artist Hilma af Klint. When Swedish artist Hilma af Klint died in 1944 at the age of 81, she left behind more than a thousand paintings and works on paper that she kept largely private during her lifetime. Believing the world was not yet ready for her art, she stipulated that it should remain unseen for another 20 years. But only in recent decades has the public had a chance to reckon with af Klint's radically abstract painting practice - one which predates the work of Vasily Kandinsky and other artists widely considered trailblazers of modernist abstraction. Accompanying the first major survey exhibition of the artist's work in the United States, Hilma af Klint represents her groundbreaking painting series while expanding recent scholarship to present the fullest picture yet of the artist's life and work. Essays explore the social, intellectual, and artistic milieu of af Klint's 1906 break with figuration and her subsequent development, placing her in the context of Swedish modernism and folk art traditions, contemporary scientific discoveries, and spiritualist and occult movements. A roundtable discussion among contemporary artists, scholars, and curators considers af Klint's sources and relevance to art in the 21st century. The volume also delves into her unrealized plans for a spiral-shaped temple in which to display her art - a wish that finds a fortuitous answer in the Guggenheim Museum's rotunda, the site of the forthcoming exhibition.

The contemporary art world is increasingly global, with a larger population, wider territory, and greater number of nationalities than ever before. Its prevailing conversation, however, has yet to catch up. Art Cities of the Future: 21st Century Avant-Gardes uncovers twelve distinct avant-gardes that have surfaced in recent decades, exploring their artistic heritage, cultural climate, and contemporary milieu. The book's format is simple: for each of the twelve cities - Beirut, Bogotá, Cluj, Delhi, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Lagos, San Juan, São Paulo, Seoul, Singapore and Vancouver - a curator selected eight artists to represent the contemporary avant-garde. Though the artists work in a variety of media, including photography, painting, sculpture, installation, video, and performance art, all share two distinct qualities: a commitment to experimental art and a dedication to their local landscape. Lively, thought-provoking, comprehensive, and packed with more than 500 images, Art Cities of the Future is sure to widen the historical narrative, allowing us to imagine a future of diverse aesthetics and shared concerns in the common language of contemporary art.