We are sad to announce that Elephant magazine will close at the end of the month.
We will be taking the opportunity to look back on the past 12 years of Elephant and celebrate the work of our contributors.
A huge thank you to everyone who have supported us over the years 🖤
The man who presided over sweeping cuts to the creative sector in the UK is now chairman of one of its most important museums. It could be a warning sign of cultural vandalism to come, argues
@profdanhicks
Stella Constantinides, Alexandra Stratou and Danae Stratou, Desert Breath, 1997
#ImageOfTheDay
This mesmerising creation may look like a 3D rendering but it is in fact a vast land art installation in the Sahara desert:
Artist Paula Rego has died, aged 87.
Rego's Abortion Pastels pull back the curtain on illegal abortions. She forces the viewer to bear witness to the “backstreet solutions” women are forced into when left with no alternative choice:
It's Day 1 of the Elephant Xmas Bumper Giveaway! Today we're giving away a bundle of books from
@Phaidon
worth £260. RT and like for your chance to win!
Mari Katayama, Bystander
#016
, 2016
#ImageOfTheDay
Japanese artist
@katayamari
was born with a rare congenital condition that meant she had to have both of her legs amputated at the age of nine.
Japanese painter Yukimasa Ida utilises a dense impasto to create large-scale, heavy-duty canvases that tread a fine line between figuration and abstraction. Words by
@hollimond
“We are used to this depiction of the devil as an enemy, a threat to female innocence and purity. Although I sometimes poke at these tropes satirically, I like to steer away from the whole innocent vs evil, good vs bad thing in my work." —
@pollynor
Unknown, Alexander Calder’s Studio, 1975
#ImageOfTheDay
“Above all, art should be fun.” So said the late, great American sculptor Alexander Calder, born on this day in 1898.
The man who presided over sweeping cuts to the creative sector in the UK is now chairman of one of its most important museums. It could be a warning sign of cultural vandalism to come, argues
@profdanhicks
.
Tracey Emin opens up about her seaside origins, mental health and painting over the past. “When you go to sleep and wake up crying,” she reflects, “that sort of crying is in another league.”
Ed Templeton, Teen Smoker Girl on Grass, Chicago, 1999
#ImageOfTheDay
Sunday sentiments, as featured in American photographer
@TempletonEd
’s 1999 photo book Teenage Smokers. Like this languid lounger, Templeton is also a professional skater:
Chris Steele-Perkins, Girls Dancing in a Wolverhampton Youthclub, 1978, courtesy Chris Steele-Perkins/Magnum Photos.
This Image Shoves the Ultimate Two Fingers Up at the Establishment:
We are saddened to hear of the passing of feminist trailblazer Carolee Schneemann, the American artist known for her raw, unflinching approach to female sexuality, war and disaster—as well as her love of cats.
@Eliz_Fullerton
spoke to her last month.
A host of art bots are putting a new spin on art history, releasing randomly generated images from sources as diverse as Mark Rothko’s colour abstracts to Hieronymus Bosch.
@benson_louise
writes.
Mona Hatoum, T42, 1993
#ImageOfTheDay
London-based Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum uses “simple transformative gestures” (in the words of the ICA) to trigger multiple readings of her uncanny artworks, which span video and performance work and sculpture:
Mayfair’s
@davidzwirner
has mounted the first solo show of Gordon Matta-Clark (1943-78) in London, which brings together his works in various media to recreate a sense of the downtown New York art scene. Find out why it's our Exhibition of the Week
“Photographs are a way of imprisoning reality…One can’t possess reality, one can possess images," Susan Sontag wrote in 1977. But if photographs imprison reality, then the paintings of Kaye Donachie set it free once more. Don't miss her at
@MaureenPaley
:
Juno Calypso, A Dream in Green, 2015
#ImageOfTheDay
Learning to love oneself is of the utmost importance, and this picture by British artist
@JunoCalypso
is a reminder to do just that.
"Bilbao offers you all that you need in a medium-sized metropolitan area. But mainly what I like most from here is our rich culinary heritage." We meet
@MuseoGuggenheim
's curator Lucía Agirre
💫OUT NOW!💫 What's Become of Him, our spring issue, explores the future of masculinity. Also featuring interviews with Ai Weiwei, Tracey Emin and Yinka Shonibare. Cover image by Yasumasa Morimura. Buy it now
#elephant38
>
OUT NOW! In
#Elephant35
we speak with artists who explore angst from their point of view, variously discussing the postnatal state, fear of an unknown political future and, unexpectedly, the funny side of our mortal woes.
#summertimeangst
In the creative industry, where class and access are already a major issue, are these all-female networking groups doing more harm than good?
@eliseybell
writes.
A new gallery takes exhibition-making out to the streets, making use of billboards across London to deliver an unequivocal celebration of Black artists.
“When my mum died it was as if part of the world died too. It’s strange how I perceive the world now, it’s different.”
Tracey Emin on Following Your Emotional Instinct and Turning Inwards:
Mauro Staccioli, Triangolo, 1979
#ImageOfTheDay
Although this concrete triangle looks as if it might have fallen from the sky into the middle of a small side street, it is, in fact, the work of Italian artist Mauro Staccioli, made in 1979.
🎄🎁🎅G I V E A W A Y🎄🎁🎅 Today's books come courtesy of
@TASCHEN
! To enter our draw to WIN the bundle (worth almost £140) tag your friends, like and retweet.
🐘 Issue 42 is now available as a free download on the Elephant app 🐘
For the first time ever, we've released our Spring issue digitally, for free.
📱All you need to do is download the Elephant app to enjoy! 📱
Apple:
Android:
🐘 Elephant's new monthly advice column from
@thewhitepube
is here, and we want to hear your questions!
✏️ Zarina Muhammad and Gabrielle de la Puente are here to debunk myths about the art world and help you out with real, practical advice.
From January to April, collaborative art critics The White Pube plastered six “ideas for a new art world” on billboards across the country.
@ravi_ghosh
writes
Eileen Cooper is an artist, mother, and the first female Keeper of the
@royalacademy
. Sue Hubbard reflects with her on an extraordinary career
#InternationalWomensDay
🎉Huge congratulations to Elephant SS22 cover star Sin Wai Kin (
@sinforvictory
) on their Turner Prize nomination!
We were thrilled to bring Sin Wai Kin and 2019 Turner Prize joint winner
@tai_shani
together in full wedding regalia for our latest issue:
Aibek Almassov, Design for Tubular Glass House, 2016
#ImageOfTheDay
Putting a distinctly modern spin on the notion of a tree house, this magical dwelling is the brainchild of Kazakh architect Aibek Almassov:
Our friends at
@CrackMagazine
are offering some lovely prints by
@StanleyDonwood
, Aphex Twin, Nicolas Jaar and more as part of their newly launched supporter plan. Explore the artwork here:
“I believe the highest form of art is other people telling and embellishing stories.” The British artist collapses the line between fantasy and reality in his vivid, colourful live performances, YouTube videos and films.
@benson_louise
writes.
Liu Ye, Daydream, 1997
#ImageOfTheDay
A Monday mood. This sleepy reader was dreamt up by the Chinese painter Liu Ye, whose whimsical work most frequently features small children, or the Dutch cartoon character Miffy:
A little-known photographic series from 1965 by the Italian-Jewish photographer Lisetta Carmi remains an unusually direct and unapologetic exploration of the subject of childbirth in contemporary art.
🔔OUT NOW🔔 – Issue 39 – How Art Became Edible
In this brand new issue we meet six artists who revel in the visual OTT potential of food, push it to its disgusting extremes, and highlight our ravenous, careless appetite to consume at all costs:
Elephant stands with those demonstrating against racism and police violence. We will continue to update this thread with ways you can show your support.
#BlackLivesMatter
What makes the perfect album cover? Barbara deWilde, the iconic designer behind the latest
@OnlyAnExpert
record on the ever-brilliant
@NonesuchRecords
, should know:
“I think people hated it because they hated contemporary art, or they hated new ideas, or they hated to be exposed.“
More than Twenty years on, what does Tracey Emin’s bed say about the artist, and about us?
Ray Eames Working on a Prototype Outside Her California Home, 1951
#ImageOfTheDay
Some Saturday fun from the inimitable designer Ray Eames, pictured here playing with a prototype of The Toy, a hexagonal tube sculpture dreamed up by Eames:
A new exquisitely produced
@davidzwirner
book of Anni Albers's notebooks sheds light on her playful experimentation, cementing her reputation as a powerful force in the graphic arts. Discover this female pioneer in our Sunday Read:
🌿OUT NOW: Issue 41: Rewilding the World🌿
Can art save the world? Find out in Elephant’s winter issue, featuring artists tackling the climate crisis, pet memes and more.
Get it here:
As
@0800shygirl
announces herself to the world with ALIAS,
@ravi_ghosh
explores the role that character creation plays in an ever-changing, often unforgiving cultural landscape.
Queer solidarity is at the heart of a new fundraising initiative to support the work of Lesvos LGBTIQ+ Refugee Solidarity, featuring artist prints that engage with themes of safety, shelter, family, belonging and unbelonging.
David Blázquez, Molbiliario Humano, 2009
#ImageOfTheDay
When self-isolation’s over and you’re finally allowed to frolic with your friends… This bodily bookshelf is the work of Spanish photographer David Blázquez:
"A few times in my life I've really cried, uncontrollably, when you go to sleep and wake up crying. That sort of crying is in another league."
@hollimond
talks tears, Turner and nature with
@TraceyEmin
in
#issue38
of Elephant. Out now:
Jiab Prachakul, Night Talk, 2019
#ImageOfTheDay
Nightlife nostalgia, courtesy of Thai-born, Lyon-based artist Jiab Prachakul. This intimate painting, which won the 2020 BP Portrait Award, shows two friends sharing a candid moment in a Berlin bar:
🎄🎁🎅G I V E A W A Y🎄🎁🎅 On the fourth day of our Christmas book bundle giveaway, we're teaming up with Laurence King Publishing Ltd to offer a bundle worth almost £100. Like and retweet to enter! Read more about the books here...
Michael Armitage, Kampala Suburb, 2014
#ImageOfTheDay
In the background of this arresting painting by Michael Armitage, a surrounding frieze depicts just-visible execution scenes.
OUT NOW! In
#Elephant34
we speak with six young artists who explore what sex and sexuality mean today, diving headfirst into the most natural yet oftentimes confounding of all human acts. Buy the issue now at
Khadija Saye, Peitaw, 2017
#ImageOfTheDay
Londoners, be sure to visit the newly opened display of silk-screen prints by the Gambian-British photographer Khadija Saye at the
@britishlibrary
:
Cindy Sherman, Untitled/Marilyn, 1981
#ImageOfTheDay
Happy birthday to the shape-shifting Cindy Sherman, who has probed “the construction of contemporary identity and the nature of representation” for more than 40 years, in the words of MoMA.
The British Museum recently revealed its work in helping restore trafficked antiquities plundered from Afghanistan and Iraq, but it has repeatedly failed to directly address its historic role in acquiring looted and smuggled objects.
Have you heard about Artists Who Make Music Musicians Who Make Art at
@QPRCglasgow
? Curated by brilliant
@RealifersRoss
, it boasts an impressive set list of artists and musicians, including
@davidshrigley
and
@martincreed
. Essential viewing:
Jenny Holzer, The 42nd Street Art Project, 1994
#ImageOfTheDay
Happy birthday to the one and only
@jennyholzer
, who turns 72 today! Here is one of her most poignant “truisms” displayed on a usually empty theatre marquee on Manhattan.
Oscar Niemeyer, The Niterói Contemporary Art Museum, 1996
#ImageOfTheDay
Today is Museum Day, a chance to celebrate all your favourite artistic and cultural institutions, big and small: