We are delighted to announce the brand-new edition of Elephant magazine. The Autumn/Winter 2021 issue is available exclusively through Elephant Kiosk to pre-order from today. It features legendary musician and artist Laurie Anderson on our main release cover and world-renowned British artist John Akomfrah on our special release issue.
Anderson is photographed by Mayan Toledano, whose bubblegum-hued images of herself and other women first drew acclaim for their playful exploration of the female gaze. Akomfrah is shown through the lens of Lauryn-Alexi Ipinson-Fleming, a recent graduate from Leeds University. We are delighted to feature this beautiful, thoughtful image as her first major magazine cover.
“We didn’t quite understand then that the journey itself was the point,” Akomfrah tells fellow artist Ayana V Jackson as the two talk to each other in Encounters. “There was no grand finale, no result, there would be no moment of epiphany.” Journeys of all forms traverse this issue.
Elsewhere in the issue, Larry Achiampong describes a journeying through past, present and future, including the trauma that ripples through generations. Haegue Yang talks about working in Cornwall’s wintry climate following a recent outing at Tate St Ives, sharing how she became one with the “overwhelming power” of the landscape. And Anderson muses about life in post-Trump America, via VR trips to the Moon and surreal performances at US vaccination centres.
British-Chinese artist Yan Wang Preston shares her recent, sublime photography project from England’s moors: With Love. From an Invader evokes the powerful, primal connection that humans have with the land, and utilises the imported rhododendron flower to connect Britain’s colonial past with the artist’s motherland. In Tokyo, filmmaker Kōichi Wakui presents an ode to the Nakagin Capsule Tower, an icon of Metabolist architecture that is currently slated for demolition.
In State of a Nation, Glasgow-based photographer Furmaan Ahmed shoots new portraits of six young artists working across Scotland and England. They share their first-hand experiences of living and making art in the UK, interrogating ideas of Britishness, belonging, stereotypes and stigmas.
We also welcome back our three returning columnists. Acclaimed Nigerian-American artist Toyin Ojih Odutola has created an original artwork and text exclusively for Elephant, in which she explores the notion of home; writer Charlotte Jansen questions the connection between creativity and raising children; and architect Jayden Ali discusses the city of Liverpool in the wake of this year’s biennial, from its history as a slave port, through the violence of WWII and the Hillsborough disaster, and on to a hopeful possible future.
Meanwhile, British designer and illustrator Julie Verhoeven reveals the five things she can’t live without. Johannesburg-based artist Billie Zangewa shares her ultimate comfort food. Nigerian-born British fashion designer Duro Olowu reflects on the key works of art that shaped him and his unique vision. And writer and curator Eliel Jones delves into the history of California’s Creative Growth Art Center, who have been helping disabled artists to shape new worlds for almost half a century.
The issue will be on sale exclusively at Elephant Kiosk until Monday 27 September 2021. It will then be on full global release, available at all good bookstores and select newsstands. Enjoy!
