Intimate Documentation

London Art Fair’s contemporary photography show returns, foregrounding artists who engage with Black and diasporic heritage through the lens.

Engaging with Curation

“What does it mean to collect and exhibit?” This is the starting point for a group show that contemplates the role of galleries and museums.

Beyond the Canon

Past and present collide in Omar Victor Diop’s work. The Senegalese photographer takes cues from western portraits to portray Black pioneers.

The Illusion of Space

Nothing is quite what it seems in the work of Frank Kunert. The model maker and photographer’s studio images depict settings that are slightly askew.

Future Vision

Vision is not universal, but instead deeply personal and subjective. Wellcome Collection presents 140 objects for visitors to view, touch and explore.

A Tribute to Devotion

What constitutes a photograph? Is it the moment the image is captured? Or the interactions that informed it? Elle Pérez focuses on the space in between.

A Moment of Transition

In 1994, Canadian multidisciplinary artist Stan Douglas arrived in Berlin. He wasn’t drawn to the core of the newly unified city, but to its outskirts.

Identity and Belonging

“Why do we feel that we belong in some places and not in others?” asks Lise Johansson, an award-winning photographer based in Copenhagen. The artist is interested in our relationship with spaces: how do they shape our identities? What influence do they have on politics, culture and social life?

Responding to Colour

Teresa Freitas is a Portuguese photographer whose soft yet vibrant images experiment with the psychology of pastels, evoking calm, peace and ease.

Organic Collaboration

In Tamara Dean’s exquisitely performative images, humans are not simply living in harmony with the environment, but seamlessly become part of it.

Earthly Connections

How is the human body linked to the five elements? Ugo Rondinone’s three-part exhibition at Petit Palais, Paris, embraces the powerful fluidity of matter.

Witnessing Deforestation

Richard Mosse’s latest moving image work uses satellite imagery and a custom multispectral camera to record stark footage of dieback in the Amazon.

#2022Wrapped:
A Year in Covers

From pop-coloured paper environments to landscapes filled with balloons, here are the six images featured on our 2022 newsstands.

Into the Metaverse

We’ve taken a deep dive into our Archives, finding five creatives whose works respond to – and use – emerging technologies: to critique, calm and imagine.

Illusory Buildings

Anna Carey’s photographs appear to be just that: photographs. Yet with closer inspection, it becomes clear that they are actually models in miniature.

Art, Creativity and Wellness

Maker, educator and climate activist Brigitte Jurack’s largest solo show to date invites viewers to look slowly at their immediate environment.

This Season: 5 UK Shows to See

The Turner Prize and Tate’s most recent Turbine Hall commission are amongst this season’s must-see UK shows, positioning art as a tool for communication.

Global Movement

Olgaç Bozalp’s monograph, Leaving One for Another, is a timely visual documentation of migration that combines documentary with fine art.

Re-evaluating the Canon

We are living in a moment of reappraisals, with new art books surveying art and photography that challenges gendered stereotypes in visual culture.

Reflective Intersections

Multidisciplinary artist Wei Ting Chen was born in Taiwan and is based in Tokyo. His award-winning practice includes video art, performance and sculpture, along with paintings using acrylic and oil pastel, which are often accompanied by poems that correspond to the visual parts of a piece.

Creating New Realities

New York-based artist KangHee Kim produces images that help us imagine brighter possibilities – away from internet rabbit holes and live feeds.

Playing in Still Life

Yuni Yoshida is interested in the appearance of fruits, vegetables and flowers. “No one is the same as any other… patterns and shapes give us fresh surprises.”

Dreaming in Digital

Machine intelligence artist Refik Anadol creates fluid sculptures from data-driven algorithms. A new show at MoMA proposes a world in which AI can dream.

Transforming the Studio

A 50-year retrospective of Samuel Fosso’s approach to self-transformation – and engagement with historical legacies – inspires audiences globally.

A Modern Paradox

In a new monograph, photographer Joshua K. Jackson highlights the importance of genuine connections within a socially isolated world.

The Power of Reflection

The mirror is a symbol rooted in the history of art and culture. Émilie Möri, a French-Swiss photographer, works in this tradition.

Composed Minimalism

Swimming pool geometry translates into desolate landscapes reflecting human vulnerabilities in the work of acclaimed photographer Mária Švarbová.

Immersive Landscapes

Darkness is a constant presence in Liam Wong’s neon-noir photographs, which expose the quiet solitude of global nightlife and question reality.

Radical New Ground

Tyler Mitchell has pushed the boundary of fashion photography. His visions of Black utopia provide everyday moments of beauty and contemplation.

Into the Small Hours

Henri Prestes investigates the calm yet ominous presence of the twilight hours in remote locations, producing cinematic and considered landscapes.

World of Imagination

Suppen is a series of limitless creativity. Miguel Vallinas Prieto’s surreal compositions transform ordinary table settings into something magical.

Seamless Horizons

Alexis Pichot’s ethereal archipelagos provide a moment of reflection amidst the constant influx of digital news, images and information.

Crafting a Narrative

Duo Elsa Parra and Johanna Benaïnous blur the distinctions between the photographer and subject in reconstructions of family memories.

Surrealist Assemblage

Priscilla Ong uses assemblage in bold, colourful and often humorous displays of inanimate items, crafting new narratives from mundane materials.

The Future Reimagined

David Uzochukwu’s speculative portraits reflect human identities. He is one of 75 artists invited to examine complex Afrodiasporic experiences.

Visualising the Algorithm

Mónica Alcázar-Duarte exposes the derogatory stereotypes Mexican women are subjected to in real-world and online spaces in Second Nature.

The Art of Storytelling
The December/January Issue

Art is about storytelling, and we all tell stories. This issue of Aesthetica Magazine is dedicated to creatives who are weaving inspiring narratives.

Nancy Holt:
From Inside to Outside

For pathbreaking artist Nancy Holt, space and time were paramount to creation. A new book charts her creations, including the world-famous Sun Tunnels.

Beyond Illustration

What psychoanalyst Carl Jung once wrote about dreams, painter James Jean actualises onto canvas – pushing the limits of genre and imagination.

Embellished Landscapes

Scarlett Hooft Graafland documents remote geographies in surreal, choreographed scenes – using embroidery to enhance the narrative.

Gifts for Art & Culture Lovers

Aesthetica highlights 10 gift ideas perfect for arts and culture lovers this season – including photobooks, magazines and creative experiences.

A Surreal Universe

Dasha Pears is Helsinki-based artist using the instruments of surrealism, minimalism and colour to tell surprising visual stories with a twist.

Pixelated Realities

Aziz + Cucher’s collaboration was sparked by the launch of digital imaging tools. 30 years on, a new show surveys their “post-photography” practice.

The Aesthetica Awards:
Open for Entries

The Aesthetica Awards open for entries on 1 December, celebrating the best contemporary talent across art, photography, literature and film.

Layered Identities

Joanne Coates and Heather Agyepong – winners of the Jerwood/Photowords Award – reflect on regional identities and the authentic self.

The Impact of Images

The 2022 edition of PhotoVogue Festival reflects on the ethics and impact of our exposure to images in the digital age, offering new models for the future.

Innovation and Protection

Paper manufacturer Hahnemühle launches a series of environmental images – encouraging us to take a moment to reflect on the natural places we cherish.

Architecture and Design: 5 to See

Buildings inspired by metabolism. Surrealist objects. Lighting made from smartphones. These exhibitions are innovative, forward-thinking and surprising.

Home Reframed

Do Ho Suh crafts large-scale fabric sculptures that recreate the places in which he has lived and worked; the results are bright, playful and deeply emotive.

New Books for Winter

This season’s new art book releases are wide-reaching in scope: honing in on family stories whilst looking at renowned art movements with fresh eyes.