Issue 250
April 2025

Editing, as a sensation, was faintly miraculous. Ed Atkins

 

The April issue of frieze magazine is dedicated to artists working with moving image. Hans Ulrich Obrist interviews Ed Atkins on his cinematographic influences ahead of the artist’s spring retrospective at Tate Britain, London. Plus, five experts – curators, programmers, artists and academics – participate in a roundtable on the changing role and visibility of artists’ moving image in the art world and film industry.

Interview: Ed Atkins

‘I found a way to speak through videos that confessed their constitution and their artifice.’ Hans Ulrich Obrist speaks to the artist about the uncanny intimacy of digital avatars and why writing remains the foundation of his work.

Roundtable: Industrial Action

‘Contemporary art is not only innovating the language of cinema but shaping the future of the film industry.’ Erika Balsom, Leonardo Bigazzi, Stuart Comer, Paolo Moretti and Ana Vaz debate the reception and production of artists’ films, touching on how they use technology to disrupt and challenge.

Also featuring  

Lou Stoppard profiles Diego Marcon, whose captivating films blur the line between the grotesque and the comedic. In ‘1,500 Words,’ Laura McLean-Ferris explores the lasting influence of Agnès Varda’s film Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962). Plus, contributing writer Juliet Jacques pens an essay on teaching at the Royal College of Art in London, walking us through her eclectic curriculum on archive filmmaking.

Columns: On Set

Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich speaks with senior editor Vanessa Peterson about the power of collaboration in her filmmaking practice; artist Saodat Ismailova talks to Saim Demircan about her coming of age as a female director in Uzbekistan; Maryam Tafakory’s recounts to Cici Peng how she reimagines censored omissions from Iranian post-revolution cinema; Kevin Jerome Everson outlines to Carlos Valladares how his upcoming cinematic projects tap into the medium’s immediacy. Senior editor Marko Gluhaich interviews Tolia Astakhishvili and James Richards on how their films and slide shows distort architecture by evoking memories.

Finally, KJ Abudu responds to Valentin Noujaïm’s short film Oceania (2024). Plus, Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich contributes to our series of artists’ ‘to-do’ lists and senior editor Vanessa Peterson pens a postcard from London.

From this issue

Five experts – curators, programmers, artists and academics – debate the changing role and visibility of artists’ moving image

On the eve of his Tate Britain survey, Ed Atkins reflects on avatars, affect and why writing remains at the core of his practice

BY Ed Atkins AND Hans Ulrich Obrist |

Juliet Jacques observes the pros and cons of archives, who’s represented in them and how past prejudices shaped self-documentation

BY Juliet Jacques |

An artist whose film work revels in the futile, horrifying and absurdly humorous

BY Lou Stoppard |

Celebrating the auteur’s pioneering vision, examining her profound influence on cinema, storytelling and the art of observation

BY Laura McLean-Ferris |

The frequent collaborators discuss sharing humorous photos, distorting 3D models and the continuous flow of exchange that fuels their creative process

The prolific filmmaker reflects on chasing abstraction, juggling multiple projects and his refusal to seek permission

The artist’s collage-like films recapture the missing subjects and bodies lost to censorship

BY Maryam Tafakory AND Cici Peng |

The artist on her filmmaker father, their home teeming with creatives and her first steps into international cinema

BY Saodat Ismailova AND Saim Demircan |

The filmmaker discusses the research and collaboration behind creating works like The Ballad of Suzanne Césaire

In the artist’s 2024 film Oceania, queer intimacies and decolonial possibilities are depicted in luminous and contrapuntal fashion

BY KJ Abudu |

In concurrent solo exhibitions at Spike Island, Bristol, the artists explore the representation of Black British life

BY Vanessa Peterson |

At Seattle Art Museum, the artist uses redaction and erasure to reflect the ways in which language can be reborn

BY Claudia Ross |

At his Museo Jumex survey, the artist reminds viewers of the political efficacy of games

BY Vittoria Benzine |

At Kunsthalle Basel, the artist co-opts museal displays to deconstruct the division between viewer and object

BY Toby Üpson |

At Jim Thompson Art Center, Bangkok, the French-Algerian artist asks how we might mend connections and cultivate hope 

BY Hung Duong |

For the inauguration of Room Room, Copenhagen, a group show dedicated to online culture questions how we relate to each other and ourselves

BY Frida Sandström |

At Frac Île-de-France, Paris, the artist’s stagings of furniture and fruit reflect on what it means to carry home with you

BY Skye Arundhati Thomas |

At GRIMM Gallery, London, the artist depicts everyday objects to highlight the insidious presence of colonialist legacies

BY Ivana Cholakova |

At Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, the late composer’s sound installations commingle with restagings and responses

BY Charlene K. Lau |

Featuring sound machines and satellites, the artist’s show at Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York challenges the supposed neutrality of ‘white noise’

BY Zoë Hopkins |

At QAGOMA, Brisbane, a steadfast commitment to plurality knits together deeply disparate works

BY Sophia Cai |

At Galerie Noah Klink, Berlin, the artist’s works toy with the interplay of vulnerability, exploitation and scrutiny that exists within systems of safe-guarding

 

BY Louisa Elderton |

Spanning five decades, a show at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, traces the evolving relationship between painting and invention

BY Cat Kron |

In a joint exhibition at Emalin, London, the artists’ films and photographs attest to the impact of state censorship and regulation

BY Juliet Jacques |

It may be a fool’s errand to mount an exhibition devoted to this conceptual artist – but New York’s Artists Space (mostly) pulls it off

BY Marko Gluhaich |

In an immersive installation at Basement Roma, the artist uses archery to challenge notions of strength and gender stereotypes

BY Ana Vukadin |

The artist’s sparse, poetic show at Perrotin, Los Angeles, approaches post-minimalism as a vehicle for historical remembrance

BY Jessica Simmons-Reid |

In an impressive survey at Thaddaeus Ropac, London, the artist’s often-ambiguous paintings stimulate new ways of seeing

BY Ellen Mara De Wachter |

At Glenstone Museum, Potomac, the artist identifies violence at the core of American society – and risks reinscribing it

BY Madeleine Seidel |

At Tabakalera, San Sebastián, an expansive show dedicated to the artist alludes to the broader challenges of mid-career retrospectives

BY Max Andrews |

At Ulrik, New York, the artist’s parodic installation contends with the seemingly immutable legend of ‘Vincent, who cut off his ear’

BY Chris Murtha |

In an exhibition with no artworks at Chisenhale Gallery, London, the artist subverts conventions of display

BY Thomas McMullan |