In Erik Johansson’s surreal compositions, figures jump off from ledges with only a single balloon in hand; escalators emerge from forest floors.

The idea of interplanetary travel continues to make headlines. Borja Alegre’s three-dimensional renders encourage us to imagine other worlds.

Alec Soth has become synonymous with the American landscape, traversing and capturing its diverse geography for over two decades.

Gjert Rognli takes a photographic journey into deep forests and across misty waterways – where surreal phenomena guide the viewer through the unknown.

Alexander Grombach’s images document patterns in urban and cultivated landscapes, concentrating on symmetry and the tenets of visual harmony.

Cape Town-based artist Tony Gum pushes the boundaries of selfie culture, exploring tradition and heritage as well as mass-commercialisation.

Six of the world’s most revered NFT artists come together in a physical exhibition, showcasing the best in digital renders and built environments.

Elina Brotherus’ self-portraits are playful, poised and open to interpretation, surveying the image of the Rückenfigur – a figure seen from the back.

Maciek Jasik’s series, The World With Us, overlays hyper-real colour palettes onto rock formations, splicing, blurring and modifying the geography.

Our latest issue is a way to make sense of the present moment. Much of this magazine is about ever-changing landscapes: physical and virtual.

There are just three weeks to go before the £10,000 Aesthetica Art Prize closes for entries on 31 August. Here is an essential guide to entering to award.

Contemporary artist Anicka Yi collaborates frequently with scientists of different disciplines: microbiology, information technology and perfume.

Our six-monthly view spans the globe, from the Wolfgang Tillmans retrospective in New York to a climate-conscious exhibition in Vienna.

Hyera Lee is an artist and enlightened spiritual guru based in South Korea. For the past 16 years she has helped to heal the pain of many of her students and has been leading them towards enlightenment. She uses painting to assist the students who struggle to accept their egos without judgement.

Lightbulbs have completely transformed how we live, work and play. Here are five Aesthetica Art Prize finalists who play with light in the darkness.

Illusions, reflections and tricks of the light are entrancing. From mirrored sculptures to neon, these Aesthetica Art Prize finalists do exactly that.

“Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” European Cultural Centre’s exhibition in Venice examines the world through this lens.

Herd immunity. Minimise the spread. Stockpile. Staycation. Quarantine. Bindi Vora’s photomontages explore the language of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Five Aesthetica Art Prize finalists have found inventive ways of turning information into something more: installations, photographs and sculptures.

Pioneering sculptor Ruth Asawa believed in the power of art to change lives. Modern Art Oxford explores her dedication to education and advocacy.

Fujiko Nakaya is best known for making sculptures out of water.  For six decades, she has challenged definitions of art – formulating ethereal clouds.

Architizer’s annual A+Awards show how democratic design can have a positive impact on everyday life, highlighting the world’s most innovative buildings.

In 1990, the art world was entering a new era. As Pashmin Art Consortia celebrates its 32nd anniversary, we look back at this period of change.

Mónica Alcázar-Duarte – an Aesthetica Art Prize finalist – makes searing work about the embedded relationship between real-world and digital bias.

Ilina Mustafina is a New York-based artist, photographer, and architectural and fashion designer whose works have an organic, authentic and spontaneous focus. Her pieces are softly compelling, offering an innate understanding of light, colour, shadow and structure.

Lennart Brede’s portraits aim “to get a rare glimpse of what lies beneath the surface” – to reveal the raw and real behind our everyday existence.

France’s annual summer photography festival returns with a searing programme featuring more than 160 artists. Here are exhibitions to look out for.

South Korean artist and designer JeeYoung Lee fills a gallery with 400 hand-crafted Ginkgo leaves – and suspends a paper boat from the ceiling.

Power! Light! at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg highlights bold artworks in which light is used to make sense of political, social and ecological situations.

“Photography preceded cinema, but does this imply that photography is the parent of cinema?” Here, five Aesthetica Art Prize finalists explore this question.

Artists. Programmers. Architects. Engineers. teamLab are the globally acclaimed collective behind today’s most popular immersive installations.

Memory, loss and family are central to Heather Evans Smith’s latest series, which is filled with visual metaphors surrounding the colour blue.

The Songlines of the Seven Sisters is a creation story central to Australia. Now, Berlin’s Humboldt Forum offers a multisensory encounter with the tale.

In 1992, a strange pine tree appeared in Denver, Colorado. Its goal: to remain as invisible as possible, camouflaging an antenna in plain sight.

“Technology is blamed for all manner of societal ills, but it’s what we do with this tool that matters.” Richard Mosse’s images are on show in Germany.

Baff Akoto and Yukako Tanaka have been awarded this year’s Aesthetica Art Prize – a celebration of creativity and today’s most engaging practitioners.

“Cyberpunk” is a sub-genre of science fiction featuring advanced technology. These stories inspired Austin Poon to begin creating 3D digital art.

Aesthetica takes a look at the second half of 2022. We spotlight one unmissable show for each month, in a selection which spans museums worldwide.

A new botanical encyclopaedia documents plants and flowers seemingly impossible in nature, with digital stems bending and twisting.

The UK generated 222.2 million tonnes of total waste in 2018. We’re sharing five Aesthetica Art Prize finalists using discarded objects in new ways.

Explore five exhibitions and events taking place in the UK and US, from photography shows and art tours to the launch of a brand new museum.

How can we reinvent design practices, and work towards a circular economy? A new generation of creatives looks to answer this question.

In the 1900s, popular culture imagined flying cars, robot assistants and artificial intelligence gone awry. Now, Getxophoto asks us: what happens next?

A new group show hones in on “contemporary photographers who delve into their own family history, examining and exploring their past.”

In Italian artist Marinella Senatore’s radiant installations, green, red, blue and yellow bulbs form intricate grids and decorative motifs across London.

Here are five photographers engaging with ideas of simulation and artificiality – presenting intriguing visions of landscapes and cities through the lens.

These artists explore the nostalgia – and future – of text-based signage and graphic design, from saturated paintwork to dazzling neon.

Art, design and film, as ever, hold up a mirror to our world. Discover those paving the way, with our round up of unmissable graduate shows.

Brussels-based neurodiverse abstract expressionist Cecile Lobert addresses consciousness in its raw form. Nonverbal and an outsider to conventional development, her impromptu style is best known for its emancipation from normative methods – challenging viewers to empathise with their true selves, untouched by their histories and upbringings.

Tyler Mitchell’s practice has moved from magazine pages to museum walls as the artist has developed a vision for what he describes as a “Black utopia.”