Afterall
Encyclopedia
Afterall is a nonprofit contemporary art research and publishing organisation. It is based in London, at Central St Martins College of Art & Design.
The journal Afterall was founded by curator Charles Esche
and artist Mark Lewis
in 1998 (issue 0 came out in 1999). Each issue focused on the work of four artists, presenting two in-depth essays for each artist. In 2006 Afterall incorporated AS (Andere Sinema), a journal previously published by MuHKA
, the museum of contemporary art in Antwerp, which became a publishing partner, and in 2009 the International University of Andalucia, Seville also became a publishing partner. From 2002 to 2009 the journal was co-published with the California Institute of the Arts
, with Thomas Lawson
as a co-editor.
In 2006 the journal widened its remit to include not only essays on artists themselves, but also contextual essays on the political, social and economic issues that surround contemporary art, and retrospective looks at key artworks, events and exhibitions. Examples of these include an analysis of Laura Mulvey
and Peter Wollen
's Riddles of the Sphinx from 1977 ('What Does It Mean to Say Feminism Is Back? A Reaction to Riddles of the Sphinx, spring 2007) and Sandi Hilal, Alessandro Petti and Eyal Weizman's proposals for architecture in Palestine after Israeli decolonisation ('The Future Archaeology of Israel's Colonisation', spring 2009). The issues at this point (2007) went up from being published twice a year to the current rate of three times a year.
In 2006 Afterall instituted two series of books, the Readers and the One Works. The first Reader was on Eastern European art and was edited by the Slovenian art collective IRWIN
; subsequent books have brought together essays on art and social change and art and the moving image. The One Works series looks at single works of contemporary art in an extended book-length analysis, and directs focus on the art object (or performance) itself.
In 2010 Afterall launched Exhibition Histories, a series of books focusing on key international exhibitions of contemporary art since 1955.
, Paweł Althamer, Kai Althoff
, Michael Asher, Michael Clark, Enrico David
, Maria Eichhorn, Cerith Wyn Evans
, Harun Farocki
, Omer Fast
, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Isa Genzken
, Hilary Lloyd, Goshka Macuga
, Nasreen Mohamedi, The Red Krayola, Hito Steyerl
, Sturtevant, Christopher Williams and The Wooster Group
.
The Readers include:
One Works include:
The series is distributed by MIT Press
.
, and regularly organises conferences and symposia at venues including Tate Britain
, the Showroom Gallery
, the Institute of Contemporary Arts
and the British Film Institute
in London; REDCAT
in Los Angeles; The Kitchen
and Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) in New York; and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
.
The journal Afterall was founded by curator Charles Esche
Charles Esche
Charles Esche is a curator and writer. Since 2004, he has been Director of the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands. He is co-founder and co-editor of Afterall Journal and Afterall Books with Mark Lewis. Afterall is a contemporary art publication which was first launched in 1998 and is based at...
and artist Mark Lewis
Mark Lewis (artist)
Mark Lewis in Hamilton, Ontario is a Canadian artist. Noted for his film installations, Lewis represented Canada at the 2009 Venice Biennale.-Biography:...
in 1998 (issue 0 came out in 1999). Each issue focused on the work of four artists, presenting two in-depth essays for each artist. In 2006 Afterall incorporated AS (Andere Sinema), a journal previously published by MuHKA
Museum of Modern Art, Antwerp
The Museum of Modern Art in Antwerp is the contemporary art museum of the city of Antwerp, Belgium, and it is one of the most important art museums in Belgium...
, the museum of contemporary art in Antwerp, which became a publishing partner, and in 2009 the International University of Andalucia, Seville also became a publishing partner. From 2002 to 2009 the journal was co-published with the California Institute of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
, with Thomas Lawson
Thomas Lawson (artist)
Thomas Lawson is an artist, writer, and Dean of the School of Art at California Institute for the Arts. He has exhibited paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City as part of the Pictures Generation exhibit, Metro Pictures in New York, Anthony Reynolds in London and LAXART in Los...
as a co-editor.
In 2006 the journal widened its remit to include not only essays on artists themselves, but also contextual essays on the political, social and economic issues that surround contemporary art, and retrospective looks at key artworks, events and exhibitions. Examples of these include an analysis of Laura Mulvey
Laura Mulvey
Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist. She was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She is currently professor of film and media studies at Birkbeck, University of London...
and Peter Wollen
Peter Wollen
Peter Wollen is a film theorist and writer. He studied English at Christ Church, Oxford. Both political journalist and film theorist, Wollen's Signs and Meaning in the Cinema , helped to transform the discipline of film studies by incorporating the methodology of structuralism and...
's Riddles of the Sphinx from 1977 ('What Does It Mean to Say Feminism Is Back? A Reaction to Riddles of the Sphinx, spring 2007) and Sandi Hilal, Alessandro Petti and Eyal Weizman's proposals for architecture in Palestine after Israeli decolonisation ('The Future Archaeology of Israel's Colonisation', spring 2009). The issues at this point (2007) went up from being published twice a year to the current rate of three times a year.
In 2006 Afterall instituted two series of books, the Readers and the One Works. The first Reader was on Eastern European art and was edited by the Slovenian art collective IRWIN
IRWIN
IRWIN is a collective of Slovenian artists, primarily painters, and an original founding member of Neue Slowenische Kunst .- History :In 1983, the artists Dušan Mandič, Miran Mohar, Andrej Savski, Roman Uranjek, and Borut Vogelnik, coming from the punk and graffiti scene in Ljubljana, formed an...
; subsequent books have brought together essays on art and social change and art and the moving image. The One Works series looks at single works of contemporary art in an extended book-length analysis, and directs focus on the art object (or performance) itself.
In 2010 Afterall launched Exhibition Histories, a series of books focusing on key international exhibitions of contemporary art since 1955.
Journal
The journal Afterall is published three times a year and is distributed worldwide. Each issue focuses on the work of three to five selected artists, with two or more essays on each. It has featured artists such as Chantal AkermanChantal Akerman
Chantal Anne Akerman is a Belgian film director, artist, and professor of film at the European Graduate School. Akerman's best-known film, Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles , exemplifies a dedication to the ellipses of conventional narrative cinema.-Early life:Akerman was born to...
, Paweł Althamer, Kai Althoff
Kai Althoff
- Life and work :Kai Althoff was born in Cologne, Germany. He is a multimedia artist and a painter.He has shown work in exhibitions including the 2004 Venice Biennale, Drawing Now at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Chère Paintre, Liebe Maler, Dear Painter at the Pompidou Centre in Paris and A...
, Michael Asher, Michael Clark, Enrico David
Enrico David
Enrico David is an artist based in London. He works in drawing, sculpture and installation, usually involving adaptions of traditional craft techniques. He makes large scale embroidered portraits using sewn canvases, which begin as drawings and collages from fashion magazines. He often uses...
, Maria Eichhorn, Cerith Wyn Evans
Cerith Wyn Evans
Cerith Wyn Evans is a Welsh conceptual artist, sculptor and film-maker.After studying at Saint Martin's School of Art and the Royal College of Art Wyn Evans worked as an assistant to Derek Jarman and his early experimental film work in the 1980s often concentrated on dancers including...
, Harun Farocki
Harun Farocki
Harun Farocki is a German filmmaker.He has made over 90 films, the vast majority of them short experimental documentaries...
, Omer Fast
Omer Fast
Omer Fast is a contemporary video artist. He received his BFA from Tufts University, School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 1995 and an MFA from Hunter College in 2000. Fast uses his films to explore the various possibilities offered by cinematic medium...
, Hans-Peter Feldmann, Isa Genzken
Isa Genzken
Isa Genzken is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Berlin.-Education:Genzken studied fine arts and art history at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts from 1969–1971, the Berlin University of the Arts from 1971–1973, and Arts Academy Düsseldorf from 1973-1977. Genzken married German visual...
, Hilary Lloyd, Goshka Macuga
Goshka Macuga
Goshka Macuga is an artist based in London. She was one of the four nominees for the 2008 Turner Prize.-Life and work:Goshka Macuga was born in Poland. A graduate of Central St...
, Nasreen Mohamedi, The Red Krayola, Hito Steyerl
Hito Steyerl
Hito Steyerl has produced a variety of work as a filmmaker and author in the field of essayist documentary video and post-colonial critique. Her principal topics of interest are media and the global circulation of images. In 2004 she participated in Manifesta 5, The European Biennial of...
, Sturtevant, Christopher Williams and The Wooster Group
The Wooster Group
The Wooster Group is a New York City-based experimental theater company known for creating numerous original dramatic works. It gradually emerged during 1975-1980 from Richard Schechner's The Performance Group and took its name in 1980...
.
Readers
Afterall Readers are a series of survey publications that aim to look at currently significant areas of modern and contemporary art practice through the commissioning and reprinting of key texts.The Readers include:
One Works
One Work is a series of books, each presenting a single work of art considered in detail by a single author. The focus of the series is on contemporary art and its aim is to provoke debate about significant moments in art's recent developmentOne Works include:
The series is distributed by MIT Press
MIT Press
The MIT Press is a university press affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts .-History:...
.
Exhibitions
Afterall has participated in international exhibitions such as DocumentaDocumenta
documenta is an exhibition of modern and contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. It was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau which took place in Kassel at that time...
, and regularly organises conferences and symposia at venues including Tate Britain
Tate Britain
Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...
, the Showroom Gallery
Showroom Gallery
The Showroom is a not-for-profit art gallery at 63 Penfold Street, London NW8. The gallery puts on exhibitions by emerging artists. The current Director is Emily Pethick, who has worked at the gallery since May 2008. She was preceded by Kirsty Ogg, Kim Sweet and David Thorp.The gallery programme...
, the Institute of Contemporary Arts
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
and the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
in London; REDCAT
REDCAT
Opened November 2003, REDCAT is a contemporary arts center that is an extension of CalArts campus, and serves as the professional presenting arm of the Institute...
in Los Angeles; The Kitchen
The Kitchen
The Kitchen is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary art and performance space located at at 512 West 19th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
and Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) in New York; and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna is an institution of higher education in Vienna, Austria.- History :The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy by the court-painter Peter Strudl, who became the Praefectus Academiae Nostrae. In 1701 he was ennobled as Baron of the Empire...
.