Winter 2021
Drift of Dots
In this second installment of a two-part essay, John Elderfield resumes his investigation of the proliferation of dots in modern and contemporary art. Part one addressed how dots have been used to make the surface of a painting disappear. The focus here is on how dots affirm the surface, and on their associations as a result: skin, touch, decoration, disfigurement, or, simply, the labor—or boredom—of producing them.
Fashion and Art: Pierpaolo Piccioli
The creative director for Valentino speaks with Derek Blasberg about this year’s Met Gala, the duty of all creatives to honor their moment while dreaming for the future, and his recent collaboration with seventeen contemporary artists for Valentino Des Ateliers.
Out of the Darkness
A short story by Mathapelo Mofokeng, published here on the occasion of the Quarterly’s collaboration with PEN America.
Game Changer
Lee “Scratch” Perry
Connor Garel celebrates the outsized impact of this legendary musician on the world of music and beyond.
Rashaun Mitchell + Silas Riener
Dance artists Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Riener join art and dance historian Megan Metcalf in a conversation about dancing with Gerhard Richter paintings, their evolving relationship to language, and hidden “Easter eggs” in their work.
Cannes Film Festival 2021
Carlos Valladares shares his early look at five of this year’s standout films.
Social Works II: Manuel Mathieu | The Delusion of Power
Artist Manuel Mathieu reflects on Haiti, Francisco Goya, and conceptualizations of power, examining their roles in his practice.
Social Works II: Sumayya Vally and Sir David Adjaye
Sumayya Vally speaks with Sir David Adjaye about rethinking and expanding the definition of architecture. The conversation forms part of “Social Works II,” a supplement guest edited by Antwaun Sargent for the Winter 2021 issue of the Quarterly.
The Art of Biography: Sir John Richardson’s “The Minotaur Years”
Pepe Karmel celebrates the release of A Life of Picasso IV: The Minotaur Years, 1933–1943, the final installment of Sir John Richardson’s magisterial biography.