Gordon Matta-Clark

Danylo Movchan’s watercolors, born from the ashes of Ukraine’s 2022 invasion by Russia, capture the soul of a nation in turmoil. His art, a poignant diary of war, transcends mere imagery, touching hearts where news broadcasts cannot reach. One observer remarked: »The artist conveys his personal feelings about the terrible war in Ukraine with such precision. His symbolic representations resonate far beyond the many images in the media.« From the moment Movchan shared his first painting on social media, his work has been a beacon of expression, subtly illustrating the profound impact of conflict on his homeland. Each stroke of his brush tells a story, weaving a narrative that continues to unfold with each passing day.

This volume not only showcases Movchan’s art but also includes intimate conversations with Max Hartmann and Julian Chaplinsky, an architect from Lviv, whose insights frame the paintings in a broader historical and political context. Movchan himself warns of the creeping revival of totalitarianism, a threat to liberalism and democracy, should we fail to act. Dive into a narrative where art and war collide, offering new perspectives on resilience, loss, and the undying spirit of a people. The cover features a haunting tribute to the artist's brother, lost in the battlefields of Bakhmut in 2023, encapsulating the personal cost of this enduring conflict.

The Ukrainian response to the 2022 Russian invasion has inspired a new appreciation for their country both within and beyond Ukraine. The steadfastness of Ukrainians in the defense of their country no longer surprises observers as Ukrainians have demonstrated a deep commitment to their country for more than two years. The stories presented here from the war’s third year highlight the ways in which Ukrainians have explored the meaning of their country and culture through the arts; and the manner in which the arts and their creators have empowered Ukrainians to confront the Russian invaders. They represent an extension of the artistic efforts during the war’s first and second years—chronicled in The Arts of War: Ukrainian Artists Confront Russia. Year One, and Year Two—to bolster Ukraine’s war efforts.

Research-based art has become one of the defining genres of the century. Taking the collective Forensic Architecture as a case study, Emily Watlington, senior editor at Art in America, argues against what she sees as the dangerous slippage between artistic research and alternative facts. Turning to the work of Walid Raad, she nonetheless argues for the importance of possible other realities. Watlington describes Raad's work as a kind of “surrealism for the information age,” and persuasively argues that this is distinct from fake news. The differences in Watlington’s two case studies are somewhat subtle, but the stakes of the distinctions are profound. As faith in facts declines rapidly and fascism and autocracy are on the rise, it is clear that shared realities are essential to democracy’s future. And yet, imagining alternatives to our present is as important as ever. What’s an image maker to do now that seeing has so little to do with believing?

The book about the transcendent cinema of Darren Aronofsky takes the reader on a journey through the selected filmography of this outstanding American director. A monograph devoted entirely to his extraordinary work, which among film experts and film audiences has both a group of devoted admirers and critics. A strong, even anarchist accent falls here on the type of film hero presented, living on the margins of society and consciously rejecting its normative structures. The films, as well as the literature to which the book refers, are an expression of a critical attitude towards symbolic violence and the imposition of creatively limiting cultural norms on the individual, requiring such ordering such and no other understanding and experiencing the surrounding world. An astute observer of Darren Aronofsky's work will notice the existence of metaphysical problems in it, sometimes directly directed towards religious issues. We can call this kind of cinema transcendent. This cinema is only seemingly pessimistic in its meaning. It is worth looking for mythical stories to try to hear and understand what they have to offer us. It is worth turning to transcendence and trying to express the inexpressible, also in the art of film, as does Darren Aronofsky, who wants to be a trustee of great mythical narratives. These features, so characteristic of the director, can be seen, to a greater or lesser extent, in all his films, especially those referred to in this monograph. It will be interesting for the reader who expects from contemporary cinema something more than unsophisticated entertainment and wants to go beyond its ludic dimension.

Published in conjunction with Lodz University Press.

Die Sichtbarmachung queerer und feministischer Positionen in der Kunst ist eine ästhetische Strategie mit politischer Wirkung, die den Übergang von einem Zustand unsichtbarer Ohnmacht zu machtvoller Sichtbarkeit und politischer Relevanz markiert. Der Band vereint theoretische Beiträge und künstlerische Interventionen von Akteur*innen im Feld queerer und feministischer Kunst: Sie thematisieren die Bedingungen, mit denen queere und feministische Künstler*innen in unterschiedlichen geografischen und zeitlichen Kontexten konfrontiert sind. Sie untersuchen das Potenzial von Kunstausstellungen und Kunstkritik als Medien des Sichtbarmachens und Verbergens. Möglichkeiten virtueller Umgebungen und feministischen Grafikdesigns werden ausgelotet und unterschiedliche Formen des Sichtbarmachens marginalisierter Kunst vorgestellt.