Kaleidoscope Asia #2

PRE-ORDER (for November 2020)

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Sibling edition of KALEIDOSCOPE dedicated to contemporary art and culture from the Asia Pacific region, launched in partnership with Arthub Asia.

In the opening section of HIGHLIGHTS, twelve profiles on as many artists and stories from throughout Asia account for the best of the season: Yan Xing (by Binghao Wong), Lin Ke (by Davide Quadrio), Samson Young (by Ingrid Chu), Tromarama (by Melanie Pocock), Amy Lien & Enzo Camacho (by Sam Korman), Ha Chonghyun (by Alan Miller), Aki Sasamoto (by Mathieu Copeland), BenWu Studio (By Beatrice Leanza), Sàn Art (by Vera Mey), Liu Wei (by Katie Hill), Huang Po-Chih (by Ying Tan) and Zhang Ding (by Sam Gaskin).

To follow, our signature MAIN THEME section investigates the notion of beauty in contemporary Asian art and visual culture—from the manicure industry to the manga world, from flower design to cinematic fantasy, from representational archetypes to progressive extremes. The survey is composed of two essays, “The Beauty Complex” by Venus Lau and “Beauty in Motion” by Mi You, and five case studies including: Lee Bul (by Khairuddin Hori), Issey Miyake / Irving Penn (by Trey Taylor); Yanyan Huang (by Samantha Culp), Wong Kar Wai (by Yung Ma) and Makoto Azuma (by Cristina Travaglini).

On the other hand, this issue’s MONO section is dedicated to Xu Zhen, a Chinese artist, curator and the CEO of MadeIn Company, whose method of practice is the overlay of business and art—conducted with confidence, suspicion of idealism, and a fascination with taboo. This definitive monographic survey comprises an essay by Xiaowen Zhu, an interview by Davide Quadrio and original portraits by Ann Woo.

Later on, the VISIONS section invites the eye to an enthralling journey across almost 100 pages of visual contributions by artists, curators and image-makers, including Firenze Lai, Yu Honglei, Pablo Bartholomew, Preliminary Research Office, Lieko Shiga, Ashley Bickerton, Tanat Teeradakorn and Wu Tsang.

Lastly, the closing section of REGULARS features our insightful columns on the past, present and future of art and culture: “Producers” features Carson Chan’s conversation with M+ curator Aric Chen; in “Futura 89+,” Hans Ulrich Obrist and Simon Castets interview young Singaporean artist Zou Zhao; Sidd Perez unveils Manila’s art scene as part of the “Panorama” series; in “Pioneers,” Mika Yoshitake looks back at the art of Japanese artist Nobuo Sekine; “Renaissance Man” Jeffrey Deitch advocates for free photography; and William Zhao delves into the local “Ecosystem” by talking to art patron Adrian Cheng.