For our last issue of 2020 we invited some of our most beloved artists, authors, and theorists to reflect on this perplexing moment in history and to speculate on how we can find hope in the coming years. For our cover story, Jenny Saville speaks with Nicholas Cullinan, director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, about historical painters to whom she often returns and an upcoming exhibition that will set her work alongside the legendary artist Michelangelo.
We are honored to present a special supplement guest edited by curator Alison M. Gingeras and psychoanalyst Jamieson Webster, entitled “New Interiorities.” The supplement includes essays by Jacqueline Rose, Alissa Bennett, and Miciah Hussey, alongside a photography portfolio by Deana Lawson and an interview with theorist Paul B. Preciado; each feature addresses ideas around feminism, control, resistance, and change in light of various paradigm shifts.
Also inside the issue, we continue our Leaders in the Arts series with a conversation among Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Sarah Cosulich, and Elvira Dyangani Ose. Alastair Gordon and Robert M. Rubin speak with Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman about their work on migrant housing and a community station in Tijuana inspired by Jean Prouvé. Motswana artist Meleko Mokgosi writes on his eight-chapter painting cycle Democratic Intuition, and provides an astounding reading list oriented around the question of democracy.
Elsewhere in the issue, Joe Bradley interviews Neil Jenney; Tatiana Trouvé shares a portfolio of drawings made during the initial pandemic lockdown; Lisa Small considers the historical precedents for Ewa Juszkiewicz’s painting practice; Hendel Teicher examines Trisha Brown’s choreography; Carlos Valladares pays homage to the singular Shelley Duvall; John Elderfield investigates paths of potential influence between T. S. Eliot and Henri Matisse; and we witness the culmination of Anne Boyer’s short-story series “The Iconoclasts,” which breaks the boundaries of traditional fiction and expresses a moment that is surreal yet uncannily familiar.
For all of this and more, order your copy or subscribe at the Gagosian Shop, or read the issue online.
Artwork © Jenny Saville