ArtAsiaPacific - November - December 2022

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So much of art is about appearances; and yet with these visual cues, we are drawn into other worlds. In Issue 131’s cover Feature, we delve into the practice of itinerant artist Pacita Abad. Assistant editor Nicole M. Nepomuceno argues that readings of Abad’s works often focus on their vibrant colors while overlooking the material textures that reveal the varied visual cultures that influenced the artist. Likewise going under the surface, the films of Hong Kong-based Lee Kai Chung explore the psychological effects of the Second Sino-Japanese War, as Lee details to managing editor Chloe Chu in our second Feature. Highlighting intangible forces, in Inside Burger Collection, artist Yehudit Sasportas discusses with critic and curator Gesine Borcherdt the energy surrounding a submerged WWII bunker in northwestern Germany. In Up Close, we spotlight three recent works by Mika Rottenberg and Mahyad Tousi, Chang Yoong Chia, and Riya Chandiramani.

Profiles focuses on Baghdad-born artist Ali Eyal, who “examines the places where violence might dwell, from urban and rural landscapes to the unconscious,” contributor Amin Alsaden writes. The second Profile looks at Radhika Khimji, whose multimedia works are featured in the inaugural Oman Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale.

In Essays, contributor Louis Ho charts the history and future of queer art in Singapore following the repeal of a colonial-era law that had criminalized intimacy between men. In Dispatch, we hear about Bangkok’s busy year-end calendar. In the Point, curator and writer Naz Cuguoğlu reflects on her participation in the Whole Life Academy. For One on One, Hong Kong artist Leung Chi Wo celebrates the installations of the late Christian Boltanski. Finally, for Where I Work, deputy editor HG Masters visited the studio of Hong Kong painter Henry Shum. Encouraging encounters with realms beyond the visible is one of the reasons Shum and many other artists in this issue pursue art-making and why we’re drawn to them.