Saturday, February 8, 2014

COVER: Rashaad Newsome / ART PAPERS / January – February 2014

Rashaad Newsome, Fitted Crown, 2011, leather, jewelry, fitted hat, 8 x 9.75 x 11.25 inches, edition of 45. 
Courtesy of the artist and Marlborough Gallery, NY; © Rashaad Newsome.

ART PAPERS’ “ART X HIP-HOP” installment is devoted to the dynamic intersection of contemporary art and hip-hop. Guest edited by Fahamu Pecou, the issue also concludes a year-long series of quest editions, each devoted to a single theme – from architecture and design, to art magazines themselves.

Fahamu Pecou Guest Editor statement: 

Mic check, 1-2, 1-2 ...

Welcome to the Art x Hip-Hop issue of ART PAPERS.
As with my own work, this issue is dedicated to investigating hip-hop and contemporary art—not as isolated encounters, but rather where they intersect, how they complement and enhance each other, and, ultimately, how in conversation they act to transgress the status quo.
What hip-hop brings to the art establishment is refreshing, inviting, and frankly—fun.
In return, through its engagement with the high arts, hip-hop is elevated beyond its status as a subculture and into a more serious cultural and critical purview.
Over the last few years, and certainly in recent months, the mashup between contemporary art and hip-hop has taken center stage.
We've had the privilege of experiencing some really compelling projects and collaborations between visual and hip-hop artists that have pushed the boundaries of both art forms. Whether we're talking record-breaking crowds of hip-hop fans crammed into MoMA PS1's courtyard, multimedia collaborations between Pharrell Williams and Takashi Murakami, or experiencing Urs Fischer through the eyes of Kanye West, the game has most certainly changed.
I predict that what we've seen thus far is only the beginning. There is certainly much more to come. I am proud and honored to have the opportunity to engage these burgeoning questions in the pages of this journal. Now seems an appropriate time to open a dialog that does more than see hip-hop as novelty, or contemporary art as unapproachable.
I invite my colleagues in the arts community to shed your inhibitions about hip-hop culture. In it is a liberating energy that calls to the unpredictable and creative spirit of the fine arts. Likewise, to my friends in the hip-hop community, I implore you to open your minds to the wealth of inspiration and innovation that is born in the visual arts. Know that hip-hop culture has its roots there and only from there can it continue to bloom.
Now, let's get this thing started ... and ... bass up the track a little,
I wanna hear that boom-chh-boom ... you know what I'm sayin'!?!
—Fahamu Pecou

Articles in the issue:



The Devil Is a Liar: The Diasporic Trickster Tales of Jean-Michel Basquiat & Kendrick Lamar

Neither Queer nor There: Categories, Assemblages, and Transformations

Beyond the Abyss: Neo-Hip-Hop Cultural Expression

Interview with Charlie Ahearn

Picasso Baby: Hip-Hop and the Appropriation of Space

On the Production of Value: Mohamed Bourouissa's All-In

Artist Projects: DJ Adrian Loving, Marcia Jones, Rob Pruitt and Bayeté Ross Smith

Reviews: Art Beat + Lyrics, Atlanta; Wangechi Mutu, Brooklyn; Loretta Fahrenholz, New York; Banksy, New York; Odd Future + Henry Darger


Pick up a copy of the January/February 2014 issue of ART PAPERS on newsstands now or buy the issue here.

Follow ART X HIP-HOP on Twitter.


ART X HIP-HOP on Tumblr.



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