Issue 123
May 2009

In the May Issue: Jonathan Griffin reflects on the work of the influential British artist Eric Bainbridge who is fascinated by surfaces and disguises, the exotic and the mundane.

Bruce Hainley finds parallels in the careers of Alex Bag and Harmony Korine, artists who rose to youthful notoriety in the 1990s and who have recently returned with a museum show and a feature film.

Dominic Eichler exposes the rich layers of reference and discursive discordance in Stephen Prina‘s installations, performances and objects.

Martin Herbert discusses animism and imagination in Phillip Allen‘s painterly abstractions.

Kirsty Bell explores the unique language of Charline von Heyl‘s paintings, developed in the face of information streams and image overload.

Jennifer Allen sees the society of the spectacle reflected in disco balls, Joseph Clarke looks at how architects are dealing with the problems of housing the 600 million people in China who are moving from rural areas to major cities, and Jace Clayton assesses the highs and lows of ‘Auto-Tune’ software.

From this issue

Leo Steinberg's erudition, Pablo Picasso, James Joyce and fine dining

BY Robert Storr | 05 MAY 09

The animism and imagination of Phillip Allen’s painterly abstractions

BY Martin Herbert | 05 MAY 09

Archives, accordions and protest songs

BY Chris Fite-Wassilak | 05 MAY 09

For three decades, the influential British artist Eric Bainbridge has been fascinated by surfaces and disguises, the exotic and the mundane

BY Jonathan Griffin | 05 MAY 09

Confession, amateur porn, vulnerablility and a complicated mother-son relationship

BY Christy Lange | 05 MAY 09

If you could live with only one piece of art what would it be? This is an impossible question

BY Fiona Tan | 05 MAY 09

Unused props and clearance goods; photographs with absent bodies

BY Burkhard Meltzer | 05 MAY 09

Having risen to youthful notoriety in the 1990s, Alex Bag and Harmony Korine have moved on to something darker and more searching

BY Bruce Hainley | 05 MAY 09

Goss Michael Foundation, Dallas, USA

BY Jonathan Griffin | 05 MAY 09

Pilar Corrias Gallery, London, UK

BY Kathy Noble | 05 MAY 09

Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK

BY Tom Morton | 05 MAY 09

The Curve, Barbican Centre, London, UK

BY Michelle Cotton | 05 MAY 09

Charline von Heyl’s paintings reveal a unique language developed in the face of information streams and image overload

BY Kirsty Bell | 05 MAY 09

Stephen Prina’s installations, performances and objects are characterized by their rich layers of reference and discursive discordance

BY Dominic Eichler | 05 MAY 09

Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA

BY Benjamin Carlson | 05 MAY 09

Extra City Centre for Contemporary Art, Antwerp, Belgium

BY Aaron Schuster | 05 MAY 09

Pompidou Centre, Paris, France

05 MAY 09

Heinrich Heine, emails, art and friendship

BY Tirdad Zolghadr | 05 MAY 09

Disco balls and the society of the spectacle

BY Jennifer Allen | 05 MAY 09

Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hungary

BY Simon Rees | 05 MAY 09

The Monks (Light in the Attic, 2009)

BY Daniel Trilling | 05 MAY 09

Blaffer Gallery, Houston, USA

BY Kurt Mueller | 05 MAY 09

Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Russia

BY Max Seddon | 05 MAY 09

Various Venues, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain

BY Max Andrews | 05 MAY 09

Ed. Bruce Jenkins (MIT Press, Cambridge, 2009)

BY Melissa Gronlund | 05 MAY 09

ACME, Los Angeles, USA

BY Christopher Bedford | 05 MAY 09

Eduardo Paolozzi and David Brittain (Four Corners Books, London, 2009)

BY Maria Fusco | 05 MAY 09

Sunn O))) (Southern Lord, 2009)

BY Frances Morgan | 05 MAY 09

Ruth Hemus (Yale University Press, New Haven, 2009)

BY Sally O'Reilly | 05 MAY 09

The highs and lows of ‘Auto-Tune’, the software used in almost every pop song released today

BY Jace Clayton | 05 MAY 09

Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Thailand

BY Brian Curtin | 05 MAY 09

In an ongoing series, frieze asks artists and filmmakers to list the movies that have influenced their practice

BY Gerard Byrne | 05 MAY 09

In a culture swamped with dystopic images, perhaps it’s time to resurrect the lost art of looking forward

BY Jonathan Griffin | 05 MAY 09

How architects are dealing with the problems of housing the 600 million rural immigrants moving to Chinese cities

BY Joseph Clarke | 05 MAY 09

Giò Marconi, Milan, Italy

BY Ara H. Merjian | 05 MAY 09

Goethe Institute, Dublin, Republic of Ireland

BY Chris Fite-Wassilak | 05 MAY 09

IBID Projects, London, UK

BY Sarah E. James | 05 MAY 09

Galleria Emi Fontana, Milan, Italy

BY Barbara Casavecchia | 05 MAY 09

Alexander Nut (Rinse, 2009)

BY Sam Thorne | 05 MAY 09

Gagosian Gallery, New York, USA

BY Ara H. Merjian | 01 MAY 09

Raven Row, London, UK

BY Kate Forde | 01 MAY 09

The Cooper Union School of Art, New York, USA

BY Ingrid Chu | 01 MAY 09

Tomio Koyama, Kyoto, Japan

BY Katie Kitamura | 01 MAY 09