Best of 2023: A Year in Features
As we near the end of the year, Whitewall is looking back on the best of 2023, including the feature stories in our pages that truly moved us.
Rose B. Simpson in Whitewall’s Winter 2023 Issue
Installation view of Rose B. Simpson’s “Dream House,” photo by Carlos Avendaño, courtesy of the artist and The Fabric Workshop and Museum.
Rose B. Simpson’s “Dream House” was on view at The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) in Philadelphia this past spring. The immersive installation was the result of an artist-in-residence program with the museum, showcasing some of the earliest examples of Simpson’s explorations into collaboration, and what she describes as her most personal show yet. Whitewall met with Simpson in Philadelphia just before the opening, and we discussed getting passed the idea of needing her hand in everything, and opening up to the prospect of collaborating with others while still making super personal work. With her solo show “Road Less Traveled” at Jack Shainman in April and the public work “Countercultures” standing in Field Farm in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Simpson’s sculptures were staring back, daring us to be present, vulnerable, and open to growth.
Best of 2023: Solange Pessoa in the Spring Artist Issue
Installation view of “Solange Pessoa: Longilonge” at Ballroom Marfa, Marfa, TX (2019), photo by Alex Marks, courtesy of the artist and Mendes Wood DM São Paulo, Brussels, and New York.
Solange Pessoa’s ability to see material for far more than meets the eye unlocks something within us as viewers we didn’t see there, too. At Ballroom Marfa last year, she reinstalled a work from 1994, Longilonge, comprised of coffee bags overflowing with fruit, seeds, poems, paper, and more. She knew then it was a work without beginning and end, and even after its installation in Marfa it will find a new life in Austria this November. Whitewall spoke with Pessoa at the start of this year about tapping into a geological unconscious to create something that is faithful to humanity’s relationship with stone, earth, and the cosmos. Her solo show “Earthworks” at Mendes Wood DM in New York, was on view in the spring.
Thandiwe Muriu in Whitewall’s Winter 2023 Issue
Portrait courtesy of Thandiwe Muriu.
The 31-year-old photographer Thandiwe Muriu has spent over half her life cultivating a recognizable aesthetic. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, “Camo” caught the attention of 193 Gallery in Paris, which included her work in a group show soon after. She has since signed with the gallery and presented work around the world at fairs like SCOPE Miami Beach, Photo London, and 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair. Muriu met Whitewall at her solo show, “Colors of Thandiwe” (July 7–September 4, 2022) at Galerie Kitsuné in Brooklyn, to share how her work encapsulates her vibrant Kenyan culture and history, while reflecting a contemporary viewpoint on family, beauty, and joy.
Best of 2023: Humberto Campana in the Spring Artist Issue
Parque Campana, featuring the Banquete chair, photo by Humberto Campana, courtesy of Friedman Benda and Estudio Campana.
Humberto and Fernando Campana grew up in Brotas, Brazil, dreaming of the worlds they encountered on the silver screen. In their small, conservative hometown, they found sustenance and excitement from their local movie theater, where they consumed movies by Fellini, Pasolini, and Kubrick with a great hunger. They would spend their days re-creating sets in their backyard from whatever they could find—bamboo, branches, toys, even a spaceship from cactus. That play in transforming everyday materials into something beautiful, even magical, eventually became the basis for their design studio practice, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The inspiration of cinema served as the starting point for Estudio Campana’s exhibition, at Friedman Benda in (fittingly) Los Angeles, “Cine São José.” It paid homage to the impact the Campanas have had on the design industry, as it honors the legacy of the late Fernando, who passed last November. As Humberto shared with Whitewall early this year, at the heart of their work has been a desire to share love and hope, and bring dignity—whether that be to humble objects or the people of Brazil.
Antonio Obá in the Spring 2023 Artist Issue
Antonio Obá, portrait by Diego Bresani.
Antonio Obá is always reading—a trait that became obvious when Whitewall recently asked him a few questions about his show “Outras águas / Other waters” at Mendes Wood DM, on view last winter in New York. He easily referenced ideas from literature, theory, and philosophy. What arose in “Outras águas / Other waters” was an array of arresting images that are part allegory, dream, vision, and story. Several figures are depicted in repose, eyes closed—in a field, in a wood, or in a hammock with tears kissed by winged insects. In our conversation, Obá discussed how connecting with the rhythms of nature is indeed connecting with the rhythms of creativity, and why the condition of an eternal apprentice allows for an openness that brings meaning to life.
Best of 2023: Doris Salcedo in the Impact Issue
Doris Salcedo, “Uprooted,” 2020-2022, 804 dead trees and steel, 3000 x 650 x 500 cm, photo by Juan Castro Photoholic, courtesy of the artist.
This past spring in the United Arab Emirates, a renovated ice factory in Kalba played host to Doris Salcedo’s latest work, Uprooted. Included in the 15th edition of the Sharjah Biennial (February 7–June 11), the installation is made up of 804 dead trees and resembles a burned home. Charred from back to front, the uninhabitable structure emits an eerie ambiance, posing questions about who was there and where they went. This type of contemplation is something Salcedo’s work is known for—inspiring emotions in the viewer related to absence and mourning, and typically tied to global crises like migration and climate change. Salcedo’s sculptural practice urges us to consider the Global South, and its tragedies tied to topics like drugs, violence, war, or death. She spoke to Whitewall about the complex nature of absence in the very place the works are presented, sharpened by a presence of invisibility, loss, and permanence.
Lina Ghotmeh in Whitewall’s Summer 2023 Impact Issue
Estonian National Museum, Tartu, Estonia, photo by © Takuji Shimmura, courtesy to DGT, (2006-2016), courtesy of Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture.
Standing in London’s Kensington Gardens this summer is À table, the 2023 Serpentine Pavilion designed by Lina Ghotmeh. Resembling a sunburst from above, fanning out in 360 degrees of joyous rays, the communal structure’s roof of wooden plates references the canopy of the surrounding tree-filled park. An open exterior and a warm interior filled with a series of tables and chairs laid out in a concentric manner. The Paris-based, Lebanese-born architect behind the major annual commission is known for her attention to place and history. Ghotmeh thinks about how to make bodies feel comfortable and at home within a space. She carefully chooses material, considering energy, carbon footprint, and environmental impact. Her approach of thorough research into the ecological and cultural history of a site naturally leads her to create ethical projects—both for people and for the land. Her work answers today’s questions by looking at yesterday’s experiences. Ghotmeh spoke with Whitewall from her studio in Paris about what goes into dreaming up architecture that cares.
Best of 2023: Francesca Amfitheatrof in the Fall Harmony Issue
Francesca Amfitheatrof, portrait courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Five years ago, Francesca Amfitheatrof began her role as the artistic director of watches and jewelry at Louis Vuitton. “B Blossom,” her first fine jewelry collection, included a selection of pieces that built from a traditional chevalier ring. Modernized and sleek, the motif was reimagined as a polished half-globe bauble topped with the brand’s iconic floral monogram. In tow were earrings, necklaces, and chunky bracelets adorned with diamonds, rose quartz, and black onyx. Over the summer in New York, Whitewall joined Amfitheatrof in a penthouse at the Aman Hotel to celebrate her latest line, “Silhouette Blossom.” Presented side by side with her first collection, it used “B Blossom” as a starting point, yet includes rings, earring, bracelets, necklaces, and more that embrace playfulness. Amfitheatrof shared with Whitewall how her relationship to time, place, and nature inspires her work, and why her gemstones connect our personal spirit to the earth.
María Berrío in Whitewall’s Fall 2023 Harmony Issue
María Berrío, “Aluna,” 2017, collage with Japanese paper and watercolor paint on canvas, 80 x 72 inches, photo by Jeanette May, © María Berrío, courtesy of the artist and Victoria Miro.
The artist María Berrío is showing no signs of slowing down. After her survey at the Norton Museum of Art just a few years ago, Berrío has continued to garner the attention of major museums, galleries, and institutions across the world that have all connected deeply with her singular approach to artmaking and storytelling. Depictions of women, children, animals, and fantastical landscapes are imbued with conflicting dualities, such as nature versus humanity, to form complex visualizations of topics that are both deeply personal and universal. Politically charged, technically and aesthetically mesmerizing, her work is nothing short of ambitious, both in terms of the impressive scale she works in and the conceptual depth of her subjects and the narratives she portrays. Berrío’s unique ability to tell stories through imagery continues to make a remarkable impact on her growing list of supporters. During our conversation with Berrío, we discussed her recent exhibition at the ICA Boston, her process, her ever-changing relationship with New York City, how she knows when a painting is complete, and more.
Best of 2023: Tomas Saraceno in the Fall Issue
Tomás Saraceno, “Cloud Cities: Species of Spaces and Other Pieces*,” 2023. Installation view at “In Collaboration: Web(s) of Life,” Serpentine, London, 2023, photography by Studio Tomás Saraceno.
Tomás Saraceno described his recent “Web(s) of Life” at The Royal Parks and Serpentine South Gallery in London, on view June 1–September 10, 2023, as a three-month performance, rather than an exhibition. He also meant for the public to see themselves as engaged participants, rather than visitors. Bringing together a range of projects, from his longterm research of spiders to his environmental activism community Aerocene, the artist asked participants to become present and sensitive to our place in the world, our role in an interconnected ecosystem, and our responsibility in the current climate emergency. His film featuring the communities of Salinas Grandes, Jujuy, Argentina, shows how lithium extraction in the region has devastated the local population. Saraceno’s time in Salinas Grandes involved another project, Aerocene, an open-source community of activists that imagines a future of flying without fossil fuels and borders. From his studio in Berlin, Saraceno spoke with Whitewall about why we can no longer live as if we are isolated from each other, other species, and other parts of the world. With his art, he wants to build bridges of solidarity, attention, and sensitivity.
