Elephant Magazine

Elephant Magazine Life Through Art

The editorial team at Elephant has scoured the globe to bring you the artists we want you to know about as we begin the ...
23/01/2025

The editorial team at Elephant has scoured the globe to bring you the artists we want you to know about as we begin the new year. We have chosen artists based on their accomplishments in 2024 and their rumoured plans for 2025, but we have also gone on instinct and selected some of our personal favourites, too. Who knows? Maybe you’ll discover your new favourite artist this year. We certainly hope so.

‘Elephant’s Artists to Watch in 2025’, live on the site now.

Words by Emily Burke

Elephant is wishing you a meaningful Martin Luther King Jr. Day as we honor his legacy of equality and justice for all....
20/01/2025

Elephant is wishing you a meaningful Martin Luther King Jr. Day as we honor his legacy of equality and justice for all. On this day we hope that all artist, revolutionaries and those who crave a more equitable future find rest and restoration

Image: Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King on vacation in Jamaica in 1965

In 2025, an array of exhibitions will take place across the UK and Ireland, each presenting a range of perspectives, his...
16/01/2025

In 2025, an array of exhibitions will take place across the UK and Ireland, each presenting a range of perspectives, histories, and creative practices. These exhibitions span disciplines and geographies, exploring historical narratives and urgent contemporary issues, including topics on identity, post-Brexit Britain and climate change.

Live now on our site, Sofia Hallstrom’s () definitive guide to art outside of London in 2025.

Image: Untitled, 2023 Photo etching on 300g Zerkall paper in stained oak frame 9.4 x 12.4cm unframed 1/4

Elephant’s nine must-see art fairs happening in Africa this year.In 2024, African art flourished like never before, and ...
14/01/2025

Elephant’s nine must-see art fairs happening in Africa this year.

In 2024, African art flourished like never before, and art fairs were key to showcasing the vibrancy and creativity of the continent. Desmond Vincent () explores some standout fairs, and a few unconventional events, to check out this year. Live on elephant.art now.

“The art world is supposedly like a family, and sometimes it really does feel that small. But other times, you find your...
13/01/2025

“The art world is supposedly like a family, and sometimes it really does feel that small. But other times, you find yourself invited to a dinner where you don’t know anyone in attendance, and it’s times like these when a plus one can be your saving grace. But recently, there seems to be a new rule in place, which is that unless your plus one is Googlable, then you’re going to have to brush up on small talk fast. This year, we are taking the stance that plus ones should always be approved, because everyone deserves to eat from a small plate at Maison François. Just once.“

This week, the Elephant editorial team have been sharing some critical predictions for the art world, ranging from advice on what size dogs should be purchased to what fitness regimes curators should be following. Elephant’s art world predictions for the next twelve months, live on the site now.

Are you as exhausted as we are? Stay this weekend and watch these five films inspired by the paintings and artists we lo...
11/01/2025

Are you as exhausted as we are? Stay this weekend and watch these five films inspired by the paintings and artists we love.

“As I write this, numbers are ballooning, bursting, and spreading. Griffith Park is surrounded by fire. As I edit this, ...
10/01/2025

“As I write this, numbers are ballooning, bursting, and spreading. Griffith Park is surrounded by fire. As I edit this, the Sunset Fire menaces around my apartment. (“This is a lawful order to leave now,” and alert flashes.) A swath of red flags cover the entire city map, bleeding into evacuation zones. Lidia Fire, Eaton Fire, Sunset Fire, Brown Fire, Palisades Fire, Hurst Fire. Their names ring out like an incantation to a pagan goddess coming to deal us our hand. Anything could happen. The days are prolonged and rapid at the same time, a bombardment of excruciating moments in a hot glow so blinding that the rest of the word disappears.”

Meka Boyle () reports on the catastrophic devastation unfolding in Los Angeles to date.

Cassandra Mayela Allen’s () and Natalia Lassalle-Morillo’s () practices, though spanning different disciplines, share an...
07/01/2025

Cassandra Mayela Allen’s () and Natalia Lassalle-Morillo’s () practices, though spanning different disciplines, share an uncanny similarity at their core; both emerge from a desire to work with community and create spaces to collectively process grief. In their article, live on the site now, the two sit in conversation and discuss the similarities in their practices.

Cassandra Mayela Allen and Natalia Lassalle-Morillo. Photographed by Carolina Isabel Salazar.

“I am really looking to record stories of healing. When we hear about stories of violence, we often focus on the violenc...
20/12/2024

“I am really looking to record stories of healing. When we hear about stories of violence, we often focus on the violence itself, but I want to think about the wisdom that comes through these stories. I reflect a lot on my own ancestors and how they sailed the ocean with nothing but the stars, and I think a lot about the notion of talk-story, which is the practice of knowledge being shared through word of mouth from one generation to the next. I think about aunties gossiping and the wisdoms that keep us safe. Ultimately, I’m more interested in the stories that aren’t taught in schools, in the ones being told in breakfast nooks.”

“I am very lucky because I’ve grown up around my tribe, so it has been pretty inherent for me to be part of that tribe and know my culture. But through making, I’ve grown a closeness in materiality to my ancestors.”

Elephant’s associate editor Emily Burke () speaks with Raven Halfmoon () and Gisela McDaniel () about their shared commitment to storytelling.

Reframe is a monthly column in which contributor Sam Falb () discusses timely openings to view in New York. Each edition...
19/12/2024

Reframe is a monthly column in which contributor Sam Falb () discusses timely openings to view in New York. Each edition offers commentary on the latest exhibitions, performances, and installations. Dynamic and ever-evolving, the content reflects the fluidity of the market it travels through.

This month Sam tells us which shows to end the year with.

Images:

- Tahnee Lonsdale, From Beneath All I See Is Sky, 2024. Oil on canvas, 14 x 18 in. (35.6 x 45.7 cm.)
- Hugo Guinness, Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Uncle Jack, 2024. Oil on cardboard, 11 x 9.5 in.
-Raul De Lara, Familia, 2024. walnut, polyx-wax, polyurethane, 40 x 41 x 26 in. (101.6 x 104.1 x 66 cm.) Copyright the artist. Courtesy of the artist and Alexander Berggruen, NY. Photo: Dario Lasagni.
-Untitled, 2024. Acrylic transfer on steel, 24 x 32 in (61 x 81.3 cm). Photo courtesy of the gallery and artist.
- James Cherry, Abacus, 2024. James Cherry, Montessori Panel Chandelier, 2024. Photo courtesy of the gallery and artist.
- Elisha braids Abby’s hair, NYC, 2024. Photo courtesy of the artist.
- Epic Battle Scene: Ganesha and Kartikeya in War. Opaque watercolor heightened with gold on paper, 11 1⁄2 x 16 in. (29.2 x 40.6 cm.) Photo courtesy of the gallery.

“Recurring motifs of bridal veils, stockings, and animal companions suggest an exploration of societal roles traditional...
13/12/2024

“Recurring motifs of bridal veils, stockings, and animal companions suggest an exploration of societal roles traditionally associated with femininity, though these symbols are not presented in their traditional sense; separated from their familiar context and associations, they are subverted and undermined.”

Somaya Critchlow’s () solo exhibition at Maximillian William () presents drawings whose medium is as intimate and striking as their subject matter; her delicately rendered n**e figures on paper engage the historical and the symbolic to defy dominant approaches to Black sensuality, selfhood, and representation. Article by Sofia Hallstrom () live on the site now.

Image: After Persephone, 2024, © Somaya Critchlow. Courtesy the artist and Maximillian William, London. Photography by Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd

Andre Gray’s () Art Basel Miami Week 2025 in 20 photos. 1. Google Shopping @ The Edition, En Vogue, () 2. Highsnobiety x...
12/12/2024

Andre Gray’s () Art Basel Miami Week 2025 in 20 photos.

1. Google Shopping @ The Edition, En Vogue, ()
2. Highsnobiety x 12on12
3. MBG360 When We Fly (Uncle Waffles )
4. Highsnobiety 12on12 (Shannon Clermont )
5. MBG360 When We Fly (Joey Badass )
6. Google Shopping @ The Edition (Va$htie ()
7. Google Shopping @ The Edition (Derrick Adams )
8. Silencio x MoMA PS1 
9. Google Shopping @ The Edition (Nicole Murphy)
10. Highsnobiety 12on12 (Timbaland )
11. MBG360 When We Fly (Jim Jones)
12. MBG360 When We Fly (Tschabalala Self and Mike Mosby )
13. Google Shopping @ The Edition (Robert Verdi )
14. Google Shopping @ The Edition (John Salley )
15. Highsnobiety 12on12 (James F. Goldstein )
16. Google Shopping @ The Edition (Tierra Whack )
17. Google Shopping @ The Edition (D. Smith )
18. Silencio x MoMA PS1 (Edvin Thompson & Doquan Hines )
19. Silencio x MoMA PS1 (Grissinbon)
20. Silencio x How Long Gone (Gabrielle Buffong )

“Those marks are permanent,” she says. “Once they’re there, they shape the painting. It’s not just about what I’m doing ...
11/12/2024

“Those marks are permanent,” she says. “Once they’re there, they shape the painting. It’s not just about what I’m doing to the canvas; it’s about what the canvas is doing to me.”

Zeinab Saleh () meets with Olivia Allen () in the middle of a storm on Hampstead Heath. They discuss Zeinab’s latest show The Space {Between} at David Zwirner () and the intimate moments that shape her practice.

All photography by Saffron Liberty ()

“Heat started with an image that came to me of three women attempting to grind on each other in the club. Is it possible...
09/12/2024

“Heat started with an image that came to me of three women attempting to grind on each other in the club. Is it possible for three people to do a movement that is designed for two people? Rehearsals began with four months of the tedious development of this image. I am an anatomy fanatic and really interested in the bone structure of the pelvis. We started with the Pilates concept of a “pelvic clock”; rotating the pelvic bowl in a clockwise and counterclockwise direction to engage the deep abdominals. We would spend the four hour rehearsals practicing slow motion grinding while I would direct our pelvises, our bodies smashed right up against each other. “Hold four counts here, now Josie goes counterclockwise, now Rachel increases tempo”…etc all while feeling the heat of each other’s breath, our ge****ls on top of each other.”

Stephanie Wambugu () speaks to Anna Thérèse Witenberg () about her tense and erotic depiction of intimacy and envy in her latest composition Heat.

“I’ve always liked dance, and always was really interested in it as an art form. Seeing and experiencing on that level a...
05/12/2024

“I’ve always liked dance, and always was really interested in it as an art form. Seeing and experiencing on that level and platform a production of that magnitude, and sort of just like all those Black bodies on the stage that were just very powerful. It stayed with me and allowed me to think more about just the power of dance as a form of movement and space and time and storytelling and creating energy and gathering of community and people. It allows me to understand and think about my body and how I move through space. Even how I stand and how I’m perceived as I walk through the room.”

On the occasion of Edges of Ailey at the Whitney Museum of American Art () Shaquille Heath speaks to Rashid Johnson (), Kevin Beasley (), Mickalene Thomas (), Karon Davis () and Kya Lou () about Alvin Ailey’s legacy and how it has shaped their own practices.

Mickalene Thomas photographed by Clifford Prince King ()

“Although we had a lot of material to work through, I couldn’t help but think of the things that did not make their way ...
05/12/2024

“Although we had a lot of material to work through, I couldn’t help but think of the things that did not make their way into the archive. And there are only a couple of tapes that existed of Alvin dancing independent of the choreography and other bodies. I often dream of how Alvin would have moved on the dance floor, away from the stage and his audiences. All of this together just really pushes me to spend more time thinking about the fragility of archives and what is left off the record, but also in this void, there’s just so much room to be playful and imagine.”

On the occasion of Edges of Ailey at the Whitney Museum of American Art () Shaquille Heath speaks to Rashid Johnson (), Kevin Beasley (), Mickalene Thomas (), Karon Davis () and Kya Lou () about Alvin Ailey’s legacy and how it has shaped their own practices.

Kya Lou photographed by Clifford Prince King ()

“I remember being on my couch flipping through the stations, because back then you had to actually go up to the televisi...
05/12/2024

“I remember being on my couch flipping through the stations, because back then you had to actually go up to the television and flip through stations. I came across PBS, and it was his (Ailey’s) funeral,” shared Davis. “They were doing Revelations, and then Donna Wood hit the stage doing Cry. At that moment, I knew I wanted to do that one day. I wanted to perform Cry. And so that summer I auditioned for the intensive summer program at Ailey and everything in my world was Ailey. I went to see the shows. I know Revelation, I know the dance Cry. It was all about Ailey all the time.”

On the occasion of Edges of Ailey at the Whitney Museum of American Art () Shaquille Heath speaks to Rashid Johnson (), Kevin Beasley (), Mickalene Thomas (), Karon Davis () and Kya Lou () about Alvin Ailey’s legacy and how it has shaped their own practices.

Karon David photographed by Clifford Prince King ()

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“I don’t know why people expect art to make sense. They accept the fact that life doesn’t make sense. It’s so freeing, it’s beautiful in a way, to have a great failure, there’s nowhere to go but up.” - David Lynch David Lynch passed on January 15, 2025 Opening sequence of Lynch’s surreal, mystery thriller, Blue Velvet (1986).

We are very sad to hear about Pippa Garner’s passing at age 82. We feel honoured to have worked with Pippa during her lifetime and know that her incredible legacy will inspire generations of artists to come. “While a teenager in Cleveland Heights, Garner would crawl into the sewer system and spend hours exploring the vast network of tunnels and chambers buried deep underground, the bowels of civilization. There were different rules there. Every now and then, she would force a manhole open and ask a bewildered passerby where she was, only to submerge again. Isn’t it more fun, she reminds us, to dispense with decorum and revel in the trash?”  Sara O’Keeffe on the late Pippa Garner in her article for Elephant magazine, which can be found in Issue 49 and on the site now.

Ever wondered what your favourite artist is like at karaoke? So have we. In 2025 we are sending the one and only Eartheater (@eartheater) to find out. Expect lots of singing (even if it’s offkey). Catch all new episodes in 2025 @elephantmagazine

We will forever miss Lorraine O’Grady’s sage wisdom. O’Grady passed away earlier this month at 90 years old. Working across various mediums over several decades O’Grady was a pioneer in the conceptual arts. Previously working as research economist, translator and rock critic O’Grady did not produce her first artwork until her 40s. She is remembered by the multitudes of artists she inspired. In the above clip, O’Grady speaks at the Loophole of Retreat: Venice, a symposium held from Oct 7-9, 2022 at the Fondazione Cini in Venice, Italy, in conjunction with Simone Leigh: Sovereignty, the artist’s exhibition at the U.S. Pavilion as part of the 59th Biennale di Venezia.

In honor of New York…NOW! closing on November 15th, please enjoy some exclusive Jordan Coley (@ejordan.web) coverage. Go and check out the show at 25 Allen St if you haven’t already! Directed by Sam Leviton (@sam.leviton) Produced by Gwyneth Giller (@gwyn3333th) Gabrielle Richardson @fridacashflow Saam Niami @saam.niami Taylor Simmons @taytheism Nuvany David, nuvanyy Dean Majd @deanmajd Jade Thacker @champagnetears669 Lula Hyers @lulahyers Miles Greenberg @miles.greenberg Bre Andy @breandy Baseera Khan @baseerakhan RIDIKKULUZ @ridikkuluz Chris Al-Jumah @thisisyourmothercallme Tara Atefi @taraatefi Praise Fuller @cvsreciept Kate Awalt-Conley @kateawalt Madeline Bach @frostedhag Ekene Ijeoma @ekeneijeoma Mikhaila Nodel-Kishner @stitchbaby Gala Prudent @blackdonaldjudd Astrid Terrazas @killyridols

Tune in with Jordan from The Jordan Show (@jordan_______show) as he takes the time to chat with Hannah Traore (@hannahtraoregallery) and Kitty Ca$h (@kittycash) before the debut of her installation ‘Handle With Care’ currently on view at Hannah Traore Gallery. Let’s unpack some emotional mail with Hannah, Kitty and their guests… Directed by Sam Leviton (@samleviton) Produced by Gwyneth Giller (@gwyn3333th)

On Wednesday night we hosted an intimate event at The Edition (@editionlondon), London. The event celebrated the beginning of Frieze week- but more importantly it celebrated our community. Thank you to our friends for joining us, and to The Edition for allowing us to host our community in such a special space. Photography: Saffron Liberty (@saffronliberty)

On Wednesday, Elephant’s (@lydiaelizatrail) spoke with the VIP’s of Frieze London for Elephant magazine. Including: @shaq.whyte @bishiofficial and @msrita @charlotteseux @jenkinvanzyl Also, make sure to check out Lydia’s satirical frieze diary, live on the site now. “Slow-moving, bruised. I recall having a cigarette and talking about journalism loudly. I had a moment of respite in the loo where I stared at a wall and thought about how provoked I was by that Jordan Wolfson sculpture.” Videography by Callum Hansen (@callumhansen)

Snaps from @elephantmagazine special annual Issue 49 activation in New York City @wsanyc. The dinner took place Black Caesar, a pop-up restaurant which opened at WSA in tandem to current exhibition on view, “YES, CHEF”. The exhibition features ambitious new commissions by artists like Chloe Wise, Jeffrey Meris, Devin B. Johnson, Lucia Hierro and Kiyan Williams. Black Caesar is the namesake of Tavares Stretchan’s installation on view, Black Caesar. Photos by @byjadegreene

For “The Rap Up” Berlin-based recording artist Zackavelli (@zackkavelli) and his producer Coolpacc (@coolpacc) made a visit to Luiz Roque’s (@luiz_roque) exhibition, Estufa, at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art (@kwinstitutefcontemporaryart). Roque’s sculptural video installations navigate the delicate interplay of form, color, and content, with his innovative filming and presentation methods. Roque’s approach to video as a medium extends effortlessly into the spaces housing his work, building a bridge between the two art forms while still preserving their distinct identities. Zackavelli and Coolpacc are genre bending artists inspired by rap. For this episode they sample Roque’s soundscape to fuse with their signature ethereal trap-inspired beats. Directed by @coolpacc @bigbodymasi Filmed by @matterphysical @shareen.eki Produced by Gwyneth Giller (@gwyn3333th) and Tschabalala Self (@tschabalalaself) Article by Elephant writer Bella Butler (@thenameisbellaa) in conversation with the curator of the show, Léon Kruijswijk (@leonkruijswijk) live on the site now. Kruijswijk explains, “His protagonists are art objects, people and performers, animals and buildings,” which, in a way, ideologically catapults viewers into a realm that is about so much more than political jargon. They are about creating entirely new ways of imagining moving through the world, or better yet, the universe (why stick to earth?).

BREAKING NEWS 🚨 New York’s most famous poster face, Dan Perino (@dan.perino), known for his iconic “Looking For A Girlfriend” ad reveals it’s been a performance all along. Spotted: Art Adjacent host, Sophie Day (@soph13day) and Dan on Spring Street. Filmed and Directed by Sam Leviton (@samleviton) Produced by Gwyneth Giller (@gwyn3333th) Creative Direction by Tschabalala Self (@tschabalalaself)

Marcus Leslie Singleton (@marcuslesliesingleton) in conversation with The Hudson River School host, Tommy Lee, about his recent move from Brooklyn to Catskill, New York. The two tour Marcus’ new live/work space in the Hudson Valley and chat about his transition, artistic practice and the influences of the new environment’s rich painting history. Marcus Leslie Singleton’s work is currently on view with V1 Gallery (@v1gallery) at CHART Art Fair (@chart_artfair) in Copenhagen. Directed and filmed by Otto Ohle (@nonchalant.website) Hosted by Tommy Lee (@tommmmmmyboy) Styling by Kasuri (@kasuri_ny) Produced by Tschabalala Self (@tschabalalaself)

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