Kaleidoscope #25

Kaleidoscope #25 Art & Sex Edition

** same issue with four different covers **

Kaleidoscope hits 25th issue in Fall 2015. To celebrate this special occasion, an exquisite themed edition is dedicated to all expressions of sexuality as addressed in contemporary art and visual culture.

The issue comes with a set of 4 collectable covers dedicated to iconic LA photographer Jeff Burton, uprising art star Petra Cortright, visceral New York painter Carroll Dunham (photographed by Roe Ethridge), and Norwegian provocateur Bjarne Melgaard (feat. Babak Radboy). A 150+ page survey takes over the magazine’s signature “Main Theme,” “Mono” and “Visions” sections, bringing together artists and creators from different generations and with different agendas, who share a fascination, concern and even obsession with the Great Theme of Sex.

The MAIN THEME section is centered on two panel discussions moderated by Fiona Duncan, respectively dedicated to the hot topics of sense and virtuality (with pornstar Vex Ashley; scent archivist Sissel Tolaas; fiction publisher Badlands Unlimited; sex-ed instructors Ana Cecilia Alvarez and Victoria Campbell; and LA-based artist Petra Cortright) and gender fluidity & post-identity (with unisex fashion designer Telfar Clemens; trans magazine pro Amos Mac; ambi artist Andrea Crespo; androgyne A.L. Steiner; and hot chaos philosopher Harry Dodge). The discussions are punctuated by features on photographer Walter Pfeiffer, Taschen Sexy Books editor Dian Hanson, filmmaker Gaspar Noé, and music duo The Internet.

For three decades New York-based painter Carroll Dunham—to whom this issue’s MONO section is dedicated—has serially tackled the trope of nudity with a subjective, universal, quasi-feminist approach. This definitive monographic survey features an essay by Catherine Taft, an interview by Judith Bernstein, and specially-commissioned portraits by Roe Ethridge.

Later on, the VISIONS section invites the eye to an enthralling journey across visual contributions by artists, curators and image-makers, including Jeff Burton, Rafael de Cárdenas, Charlie White, Apollonia Saintclair, Celia Hempton, Bjarne Melgaard feat. Babak Radboy, Mathew Cerletty, and Mike Bouchet.

The opening section of “Highlights” and the closing section of “Regulars,” independent from the themed survey, complete the issue with a rich and varied selection of the best of the busy fall season and insightful contributions from our columnists and correspondents around the globe.

HIGHLIGHTS features profiles on Calvin Marcus (by Samantha Gregg), GCC (by Myriam Ben Salah), Rachel Rose (by George Vasey), Matteo Callegari (by Clément Delépine), Aki Sasamoto (by Mathieu Copeland), Katherine Bernhardt (by Christopher Schreck), Jared Madere (by Alexander Shulan), Olivier Mosset (by Gianni Jetzer), Pauline Boudry / Renate Lorenz (by Binghao Wong), Daiga Grantina (by Martha Kirszenbaum), Queer Thoughts (by Forrest Nash), and Steven Claydon (by Martin Clark). In the REGULARS section, “Producers” features Carson Chan in conversation with M+ curator Aric Chen; Sidd Perez unveils Manila’s art scene as part of the “Panorama” series; in “Futura 89+,” Hans Ulrich Obrist and Simon Castets (with Katherine Dionysius) interview young South African artist Bogosi Sekhukhuni; in “Pioneers,” Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen talk to William Leavitt; Jeffrey Deitch advocates for Free Photography in his “Renaissance Man” column; and William Zhao delves into the “Ecosystem” of Asian art scenes by talking to art patron Adrian Cheng.