Brave New Worlds

Addressing contemporary international art beyond glib expressions of globalism, Brave New Worlds assesses the current state of political consciousness and its multivalent artistic manifestations in an era characterized by the unraveling of a unified world order. Guided by the questions "How do we know?," "How do we experience?" and "How do we dream about the world?," 24 artists from Southeastern Europe to South America, from the Middle East to East Asia and from North Africa to North America propose their own answers in paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations and videos. The catalogue includes several brief "correspondent" essays, inspired by newspaper reports and penned by an international cast of young art historians, critics and curators, including Max Andrews and Mariana Canepa Luna (Spain), Cecilia Brunson (Chile), Hu Fang (China), Tone Hansen (Norway), Mihnea Mircan (Romania) and José Roca (Colombia). Recent texts by philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah, celebrated author and activist Arundhati Roy and award-winning foreign correspondent Janine di Giovanni provide additional perspectives on global affairs of the past decade. In addition, Brave New Worlds features an artist insert by Lia Perjovschi of Romania, entitled "Subjective Art History from Modernism to Today," and entries on each individual artist.