“A cool draft comes through each time a takeout order is picked up and there is always an open table for those who choose to stay. The soup of the day never changes and there is nutmeg in the meat sauce. The unevenly lit sign out front reads The [insert here] House. There is something for everyone.”
Contemporary art
“Kiki is Boult’s realized fantasy. Among other characteristics, she is an unreliable narrator, a heightened version of the artist’s subconscious, and a political fault-finder. Kiki is ultimately someone Boult hasn’t yet resolved and thus, an open canvas to be continuously explored.”
“We are drawn to our source material out of a mutual fascination, appreciation, and morbid curiosity. For both of us, the collages provide a space to simultaneously celebrate and satirize mainstream notions of taste and sophistication. We get to poke fun at the aesthetics of the past but also to pay tribute (albeit in a subversive, gaudy, and often humorous way).”
The articles and projects in this issue stem from commissioned responses to the theme of “taste,” framed in part by sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s text Distinction, which examines the relationship between taste and class.
Join us at POP Wine Bar on Friday, March 14, 9 pm – late, to celebrate the launch of BlackFlash issue 41.3, ‘Taste.’
“I’d love to stop working, but clicking is work. Scrolling is work. Posting is work. Commenting is work. Changing my thermostat is work. Talking to my friends is work. Even activities that were already forms of work are now multiplied. This feels like the apotheosis of bullshit work.”
With three issues annually, a subscription to BlackFlash is a gift that delivers contemporary art from a prairie perspective all throughout the year.
“Writing about art has become a way for me to explore my own identity and cultural heritage, to engage with complex ideas about representation, history, and creativity. […] Art has become a mirror, reflecting not just the world around me, but also my internal landscape—my memories, emotions, and thoughts.”
“In the beforetimes, you would never have worked like this: through two hypothetical fifteen- minute breaks and a lunch, with no concept of overtime, entirely alone. There was time to distract yourself with images—a plentiful supply in a seemingly endless scroll. The work seemed less urgent then; yesterday’s rest was a risk of different proportions.”
“Re-working traditional Islamic art forms and objects by employing a variety of media (ink drawing, painting, printmaking, digital print, laser cutting, and video projection), I attempt to reconsider the attachment of divineness and depth in art making. I want to highlight how the meticulous process of creating art—once celebrated in ancient Persia as a symbol of beauty, precision, and spirituality—has become obscured in today’s art world.”
Deadline for Applications: December 2, 2024.