We are thrilled to announce the debut of our Summer 2021 Impact Issue, which you can download HERE.
Heading into the summer we are feeling hopeful. In the U.S., vaccines are in arms, masks are being taken off, and restrictions are being lifted. We recognize that this is not the case in too many places around the world, but for this season—after 15 months of anxiety, loss, and loneliness—we’re letting ourselves enjoy this moment. The next few months we’re going to embrace this window of opportunity to see loved ones and friends we haven’t in months or even over a year.
We’re also getting back to seeing art in person. And oh, we’ve missed it. What a thrill! While much of this issue was put together via Zoom, phone calls, and countless e-mails, a few of our shoots took place safely IRL. You’ll find artist Hugo McCloud captured in his studio in Tulum amid piles of colorful plastic, Ignasi Monreal photographed among trompe l’oeil plates at home in Lisbon, Mike Dean and Shepard Fairey collaborating together in Los Angeles, and more. We’re not totally back, but trust us, we’ll take it.
For our annual Impact Issue we are continuing the conversation about sustainability, not just in relationship to the environment but to the community. We often feel the human impact is left out of the conversation, when it could be our most compelling argument to fight to reverse climate change. Our conversations with artist Carolina Caycedo, artist Allison Janae Hamilton, and designer Yves Béhar recenter the focus of addressing the crisis where it hits our most vulnerable populations.
We also hear from creative leaders like Artsy’s Everette Taylor and Gucci’s Antoine Phillips about what they’re doing in terms of actual impact, funding, and patronage to support emerging artists. Shari Siadat shares her vision for a new message of representation and acceptance in the beauty industry. And Guadalupe Maravilla and Dina Nur Satti both address the power of making to heal, by sharing their process and practice with us.
Inevitably, our discussions also led to the question of what impact the past year has had on the present and future. One major shift has been in the explosion of digital art, and the shift in the art market toward collecting, producing, and understanding NFTs. Our embarrassingly exponential screentime increase as a result of working remotely and only being able to connect by phone or computer has been paired with a growing comfort in virtual art experiences. We speak with curators like Qinwen Wang and SuperRare’s An Rong about virtual art’s future from where they’re sitting, as well as hear from artists like Andrés Reisinger and Ignasi Monreal—neither a stranger to making digitally—about their first forays into NFTs.
We’re excited for where this is all headed, happy to enter a new space in contemporary art and design, galvanized by the social and environmental activism we’re seeing, as well as grateful for this chance to gather again. Even if it’s just for now, we hope to never take that now for granted again. Maybe we’ll see you out there.
Katy Donoghue, EDITOR IN CHIEF
Whitewall’s Summer 2021 Impact Issue cover. Pictured: Tower imagined by Frank Gehry for LUMA Arles, January 2021, LUMA Arles, Parc des Ateliers, Arles, France, © Adrian Deweerdt.
