Artists in conversation, since 1981. Quarterly in print & every day online.
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"... all of that landscape became a presence as alive to me while writing the novel as the human characters." —Idra Novey
The author of TAKE WHAT YOU NEED discusses the power of setting with Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi.
The novelist on writing across a rural landscape and bearing witness through art.
"’m interested in how the history of painting relates to that space beyond language, maybe trying, as well as it can, to fill that gap." —Olivia van Kuiken
'Olivia van Kuiken: Make me Mulch!' is on view at Chapter NY in New York City until March 25.
Paintings that work between the personal and the universal.
“I think a lot about the intersections of Black women at church on a Sunday, drag queens, magical girl anime, and epic fantasy—and where all that collides.” —Devan Shimoyama
Theartist applies tarot, Black diasporic religions, drag, epicfantasy world-building, and magical girl transformationsto his practice.
BOMB biannual fiction contest is currently accepting submissions! Send us your work by April 16 for a chance to win $1,000 and publication in the quarterly magazine.
Jonathan Lethem will judge our biennial fiction contest! The winner will receive $1,000 and publication in BOMB Magazine.
From the : Nanfu Wang by Hao Wu.
For our Sumer 2019 issue, the artists sat down in New York City to record a conversation upon the release of Wang's third film, ONE CHILD NATION, in which she returns to China and her past.
https://bombmagazine.org/articles/nanfu-wang/
"What I discovered was that through the fairy tale, I was able to tell stories I had been too shy, or afraid, to tell before." —Sabrina Orah Mark
The essayist behind HAPPILY chats with Katya Buresh on re-writing fairy tales to process motherhood.
The essayist on re-writing fairy tales to process motherhood.
"I’m the kind of writer who has always needed some type of guardrails. Without them I just explode like a firework."
Samuel D. Hunter, playwright of THE WHALE, speaks with his partner on how their relationship has transformed their artistic practices.
A lauded playwright and a dramaturg, partners in life and work, reflect at their dining table after an award-winning year.
"I insist on a beta version of everything. If you are almost there, you might as well be there. You don’t always have to concretize it, to harden it." —eliza myrie
The sculptor and printmaker shares her artistic philosophy for BOMB's Oral History Project.
BOMB Magazine has been publishing conversations between artists of all disciplines since 1981.
"I’m a person who's been living in transit between languages and genres for a long time. This novel emerged out of an idea already in motion in another genre." —Idra Novey
The author of TAKE WHAT YOU NEED speaks on character creation and the power of setting with Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi.
The novelist on writing across a rural landscape and bearing witness through art.
THE EXHIBIT, a reality television series produced by the Smithsonian, placed seven artists in competition and raised questions about the evaluation of art. Clare Kambhu, a painter, shares her experience competing on the show with Zach Davidson.
Participating in an artist-oriented reality television show.
“I’m trying to make my work beautiful and so representative of me even at my ugliest.”
In a preview of our spring cover story, Devan Shimoyama speaks with Jeffrey Gibson on creating characters, exploring archetypes, and rejecting beauty standards.
Theartist applies tarot, Black diasporic religions, drag, epicfantasy world-building, and magical girl transformationsto his practice.
"Some experiences are beyond language." —Olivia van Kuiken
In a conversation with Rachel Rosin, the visual artist speaks on painting between the personal and the universal.
Paintings that work between the personal and the universal.
Tom Comitta's THE NATURE BOOK is out today from Coffee House Press. In a preview from the Spring Issue, Comitta speaks with Crow Jonah Norlander on writing a narrative that moves from “joyous observation to hopeless desolation and back again.”
Comitta’s The Nature Book is a literary supercut thatcollages together nature descriptions from hundreds ofnovels, creating an immersive narrative that moves from“joyous observation to hopeless desolation...
BOMB biannual fiction contest is accepting submissions until April 16! Guest judge Jonathan Lethem will select one winner to receive $1,000 and publication in the quarterly magazine.
Jonathan Lethem will judge our biennial fiction contest! The winner will receive $1,000 and publication in BOMB Magazine.
"Universal truth exists within specificity. For me, at least, big ideas thrive in small containers." —Samuel D. Hunter
Playwright Samuel D. Hunter and dramaturg John Baker—and partners in life and work—reflect at their dining table after an award-winning year.
A lauded playwright and dramaturg, partners in life and work, reflect at their dining table after an award-winning year.
From the : Jeanne Silverthorne by Saul Ostrow.
In her interview in our Summer 1990 Issue, Silverthorne speaks on reattaching the female identity to her sculptures through the symbolic order of images, abstraction and language.
https://bombmagazine.org/articles/jeanne-silverthorne/
"Sculpture has the ability to affect how you operate in space. And, to me, the stakes are more exciting." —eliza myrie
In her Oral History with Krista Franklin, the visual artist explores the myriad ways her practice has evolved with her politics.
BOMB Magazine has been publishing conversations between artists of all disciplines since 1981.
"The balance between making the analysis of art accessible and flattening it entirely is a very hard one to strike." —Clare Kambhu
The painter and teacher discusses competing on THE EXHIBIT, an art-making reality TV show.
Participating in an artist-oriented reality television show.
'Fragments,' a posthumous publication of Barbara Ess's diaries and writings, allows the reader into the mind of the No Wave musician and photographer.
Barbara Ess: Fragments is a posthumous publication of the No Wave musician and photographer's diaries and writing. The following is a selection of the fragments from this chapbook, released from F Magazine in March 2023.
From the : Mickalene Thomas by Sean Landers.
In her interview from our Summer 2011 Issue, Thomas speaks on her practice of looking in the mirror as a way to locate herself in her art. In Lander's words, Thomas's pieces "inject black women into the art historical canon."
https://bombmagazine.org/articles/mickalene-thomas-1/
!["... [I]n our work as poets, we face an inoculation against the disease of transactional language." —Valerie Hsiung The ...](https://img5.medioq.com/803/449/607747278034495.jpg)
"... [I]n our work as poets, we face an inoculation against the disease of transactional language." —Valerie Hsiung
The writer discusses her new book-length poem with Angie Sijun Lou.
The poet and language worker on negative disorientation and (de)composition.
"I think every single one of us, who is lucky enough to still have everything, have everybody around, is processing." —eliza myrie
In an extensive conversation for BOMB's Oral History Project, eliza myrie and Krista Franklin discuss the pandemic, pedagogy, and Black healing.
BOMB Magazine has been publishing conversations between artists of all disciplines since 1981.
![“The art wasn’t something that was separate from the activism […] for us to not just survive but to thrive as artists.” ...](https://img4.medioq.com/809/104/607181788091044.jpg)
“The art wasn’t something that was separate from the activism […] for us to not just survive but to thrive as artists.” —Paola Prestini
Magos Herrera and Paola Prestini share the origin story of Con Alma during the last few years in the pandemic.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, two music artists discuss process and performing at the United Nations.
“I often think of THE NATURE BOOK as a Rorschach or a window, where you look out into the landscape while also seeing a reflection of yourself.”
The artist speaks with Crow Jonah Norlander about their immersive narrative collaged from found nature descriptions.
Comitta’s The Nature Book is a literary supercut thatcollages together nature descriptions from hundreds ofnovels, creating an immersive narrative that moves from“joyous observation to hopeless desolation...
From the : Laurie Anderson by Gary M. Kramer.
In 2015, the artists spoke about life and death, dreams, and Anderson's film HEART OF A DOG.
https://bombmagazine.org/articles/laurie-anderson/
"Even the word 'there' is so loaded because it implies an act of othering which has been the basis of imperialism." —Pio Abad
The artist speaks with Maddie Klett on investigating US colonialist relations with the Philippines.
Investigating US colonialist relations with the Philippines.
“Philbrick takes the failure to cohere as a marker for the dissonant ensembles that our moment requires and that we can find in odd groupings of dancers, dreamers, slackers, and reluctant revolutionaries.” —Jack Halberstam
Jack Halberstam reviews Ethan Philbrick's debut book, which meditates on q***r and feminist experiments of assembly.
Focusing on q***r and feminist experiments of assembly, Ethan Philbrick's debut book considers both the fantasy and destruction of collectives.
"If my writing has been composed of dislocations, it’s because the material conditions of my life have been composed of dislocations." —Valerie Hsiung
The poet and language worker chats with Angie Sijun Lou on negative disorientation and (de)composition.
The poet and language worker on negative disorientation and (de)composition.
"Sculpture has the ability to affect how you operate in space. And, to me, the stakes are more exciting." —eliza myrie
In her Oral History, eliza myrie and Krista Franklin delve into the limitations and potential of materiality.
BOMB Magazine has been publishing conversations between artists of all disciplines since 1981.
"I don’t know what death is, but I want to connect it to life." —Chiharu Shiota
'Chiharu Shiota: Signs of Life' is on view at Templon in New York City until March 9.
Meditations on life, death, psyche, and space.
Tom Comitta composed THE NATURE BOOK entirely out of excerpts from classic novels. In this preview from our Spring 2023 issue, Crow Jonah Norlander took a page out of Comitta’s book for their interview.
Comitta’s The Nature Book is a literary supercut thatcollages together nature descriptions from hundreds ofnovels, creating an immersive narrative that moves from“joyous observation to hopeless desolation and back again.”
"This piece has an activist streak and a deep community impact. It all comes from the art." —Paola Prestini
Magos Herrera and Paola Prestini discuss their new collaborative digital album, CON ALMA.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, two music artists discuss process and performing at the United Nations.
!["I find rage to be a useful tool for writing, building, and organizing [...] But rage loses its usefulness if it’s the e...](https://img3.medioq.com/494/602/605298624946027.jpg)
"I find rage to be a useful tool for writing, building, and organizing [...] But rage loses its usefulness if it’s the endpoint." —Lamya H.
The memoirist speaks with Bazeed on q***r identity, constructive outsiderness, and having faith in justice.
The memoirist on q***r identity, constructive outsiderness, and having faith in justice.
From the : Jimmy Santiago Baca by Adam Fuss.
In his interview in our Summer 2003 Issue, Santiago Baca speaks on his influence on New Mexican poetry and the cinematic composition of his poems. As Fuss puts it, Santiago Baca "is like a great wing for young poets in the barrios of northern New Mexico."
https://bombmagazine.org/articles/sylvia-heisel/
"Tracing through words is, in my mind, an act of holding people to account in a formal, sculptural way." —Pio Abad
Maddie Klett interviews Pio Abad on his engraving of political quotes and American intervention on the Philippines.
Investigating US colonialist relations with the Philippines.
From the : Blue Man Group by Stanley Moss.
In their interview in our Summer 1990 Issue, the Blue Man Group speaks on how their performances tackle on the discussion around technology versus humanism.
https://bombmagazine.org/articles/blue-man-group/
"What is most spectacular is Lacey’s sleight of hand, inviting us to become engrossed in the unknowability of others, while gently reminding us that we too are unknowable—even and especially to ourselves.” —Ayden LeRoux on BIOGRAPHY OF X.
“Saint Omer’s courtroom stages an ethnographic drama that…plumbs the female psyche with precision and poetic insight.”
"Discovery feels so much sweeter when you’re not jaded." —eliza myrie
For our newest Oral History, sculptor and printmaker eliza myrie revisits her artistic journey from New York to Chicago with Krista Franklin.
BOMB Magazine has been publishing conversations between artists of all disciplines since 1981.
"My work is actually more about presence, about now. It’s complicated, because I don’t know what death is, but I want to connect it to life." —Chiharu Shiota
The artist speaks with Laura Bannister on life, death, psyche, and space.
Meditations on life, death, psyche, and space.
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For our special episode of FUSE with @thearmoryshow, artist Tanya Aguiñiga speaks to Julio César Morales on growing up in Tijuana and how the border experience has transformed over the years. https://apple.co/3U0ctE6
For FUSE, Julio César Morales reveals the shockingly low number of curators of color in the US and discusses his mentorship collaboration with LACMA Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This episode is presented in partnership with The Armory Show. https://apple.co/3U0ctE6
"As an artist, I’m trying to make sense of our experience in the world mediated by the things we make." —Nyeema Morgan The artist charts her life and career in a conversation with Nate Young for BOMB's #OralHistoryProject. https://bombmagazine.org/articles/ohp-nyeema-morgan/
BOMB's Summer Issue is now online! Catch up on interviews with Trinh T. Minh-ha, Sharon Van Etten, Juan Logan, Jordan Castro, Victoria Chang, Emily Barker, and William Wegman, along with new fiction, poetry, and more. https://bombmagazine.org/issues/160/
It's a wrap on #AcrossTheTable—but don't worry if you missed it. All five episodes are now available to stream on The Kitchen's OnScreen platform, where you can revisit conversations with @SadieBarnette & @MeriemBennani, @jawolezollar & @KanezaSchaal, @lex_brown_ & Miguel Gutierrez (@aboylikethat), @lafawndah_ & @Qualeasha Wood, @jeremyoharris & @brontezpurnell. Follow the link in our bio to watch the series. Thank you to everyone who tuned in, to our incredible artists for inviting us into your critical dialogue, and our hosts Sienna Fakete (@siii_siii) and Isis Pinheiro (@lastdrag0n)! Across the Table was presented in partnership by BOMB and The Kitchen.
There are only a few days left to bid at BOMB's 40th Anniversary Art Auction! Claim a work by @derrickadamsny, @elliotthundley, @andreahasler, @karynolivier, @kaluplinzy, Anri Sala, @paulpagk, @jamesprosek, and more by April 14 at noon EST. Follow the link in our bio to bid! #art #auction
There are only a few more days to place your bids at BOMB's 40th Anniversary Art Auction! Claim a work by Derrick Adams, Karyn Olivier, Paul Pagk, and others by noon EST on on April 14. https://www.artsy.net/auction/bomb-40th-anniversary-gala-and-auction?sort=sale_position
There's one week left to bid on a piece at BOMB's 40th Anniversary Art Auction! Featuring works by Francis Alÿs, Walton Ford, Alex Katz, Claude Lawrence, and more. Bidding closes at noon ET on April 14. https://www.artsy.net/auction/bomb-40th-anniversary-gala-and-auction?sort=sale_position
From BOMB 159, read a chapter from THE BAR AT TWILIGHT by Frederic Tuten, forthcoming from Bellevue Literary Press: "The Restaurant. The Concert. The Bar. The Bed. Le Petit Déjeuner." https://bombmagazine.org/articles/the-restaurant-the-concert-the-bar-the-bed-le-petit-déjeuner
BOMB's 40th Anniversary Art Auction is now open! Place your bids on works by Francis Alÿs, Walton Ford, Alex Katz, and more by April 14. Bid early. Bid often. https://www.artsy.net/auction/bomb-40th-anniversary-gala-and-auction?sort=sale_position
BOMB's 40th Anniversary Art Auction is now open. Featuring work by Francis Alÿs, Walton Ford, Alex Katz, Claude Lawrence, Vera Lutter, Eddie Martinez, Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark, Lucy Raven, Donald Sultan, Mary Weatherford, and more. Follow the link in our bio to place your bids, and bid early and often—the auction closes on April 14. #art #auction
In this story from THE BAR AT TWILIGHT (Bellevue Literary Press), Frederic Tuten tells the story of a sharp-tongued couple on a date whose evening is interrupted by a musician's advances. https://bombmagazine.org/articles/the-restaurant-the-concert-the-bar-the-bed-le-petit-déjeuner
Looking back on the first pandemic year defined by fear and flight in New York City, Emily Raboteau recalls her experience of the initial COVID-19 outbreak in "Exodus, 2020". https://bombmagazine.org/articles/exodus-2020
New fiction from BOMB 159: “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” In this short story by Dolan Morgan, our narrator goes to surreal lengths to take up less space inside their newly shared apartment. https://bombmagazine.org/articles/the-life-changing-magic-of-tidying-up/
New fiction from BOMB 159: “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” In this short story by Dolan Morgan, our narrator goes to extreme, surreal lengths to shrink themselves inside their newly shared apartment. https://bombmagazine.org/articles/the-life-changing-magic-of-tidying-up/
Christopher Myers reflects on his many artistic influences and shares the inspiration behind his textile work, A Story Falls Into the Ocean, for BOMB's Behind the Cover series. https://bombmagazine.org/articles/behind-the-cover-christopher-myers/
BOMB’s new Behind the Cover series provides an intimate look inside the artwork on our quarterly magazine. Through video, audio, text, and other bonus content, visionary artists share exclusive insight into the inspiration and creation of the work we’re grateful to feature on our covers. In this video for BOMB’s spring 2022 issue, Christopher Myers (@kalyban) focuses on details from his textile work, A Story Falls Into the Ocean (Based on the Film Touki Bouki), and the iconic 1973 Senegalese film that inspired them. Christopher Myers’s interview with Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts appears in BOMB 159. Click the link in our bio to pre-order the Spring 2022 issue.
Discover your next artistic getaway in BOMB's roundup of fellowships, residencies, and prizes accepting applications for the Spring season! Featuring new opportunities from @louisarmstronghouse, @millayarts, @creative_capital, and more. Click the link in our bio to browse the list! #resource #fellowships #residencies
In our premiere Across The Table, artists @sadiebarnette and @meriembennani spoke candidly about vulnerability, familial inheritances, intelligent networks, and so much more. This Friday, February 18, BOMB and The Kitchen will host our next Across the Table talk with @jawolezollar and @kanezaschaal! Tune into our IG Live at 4PM ET to join their conversation.
In this special collaboration with @thekitchen_nyc, join us on February 2 for a celebration of Radcliffe Bailey’s recent solo exhibition at Jack Shainman Gallery, Ascents and Echoes. Follow the link in our bio to get your ticket! The Atlanta-based painter, sculptor, and mixed media artist uses rich layerings of imagery, found objects, and text to explore ancestry, race, migration and collective memory. He will be in conversation with architect Mabel O. Wilson, who makes visible the ways that anti-black racism shapes the built environment, along with the ways blackness creates spaces of imagination, refusal, and desire. Attendees will be visually guided through the artists’ work, and the conversation will be followed by a Q&A. #event #art #visualart #sculpture #radcliffebaily #mabelowilson
There's only one week left to gift BOMB to the special creative in your life! Place your orders on or before Friday, December 17 for guaranteed delivery by December 25 for all domestic orders. We’ll also wrap it for you in craft paper and tie it with a classic red bow. Just choose the gift wrap option at check-out. Click the link in our bio to shop now!
The winter issue is here, just in time for the holidays! Click the link in bio to pre-order your copy of BOMB #158. This issue features: - Interviews with @MarinaAdams, James Beacham, Renée Green, James Hannaham (@thespectacleisreal), @IlonaRuegg, Bassem Saad, @solmazny, Henry Threadgill, and @MarthaTuttle; - An essay from Tina Campt; - Short stories from Sebastian Castillo @bartlebytaco (runner-up of BOMB's 2021 Fiction Contest), Caio Fernando Abreu, Kim Fu, and Christine Vines; - A comic from Warren Craghead III; - Poetry from Amit Majmudar and Xan Phillips (@pinot_griot); - A portfolio by Seher Shah (@s_e_h_e_r_s); - And Sebastián Silva (@sebastiansilva79) newly hand-annotated interview from 2011. On the cover: Renée Green, Import/Export Funk Office, 1992. @kwinstitutefcontemporaryart, 2021. Installation view. Photo Frank Sperling. #art #literature #poetry #fiction #essay #comic #archive
Maggie Nelson on the importance of being present while experiencing art in her conversation with painter Tala Madani for FUSE. Listen to this and more on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. https://bit.ly/Maggie-Nelson-Tala-Madani
Maggie Nelson, the author of ON FREEDOM: FOUR SONGS OF CARE AND RESTRAINT and several other books, has been called "brave" by her readers. Listen to her episode of #FUSE with Tala Madani to hear her response. https://bit.ly/Maggie-Nelson-Tala-Madani
Tala Madani on trusting and questioning yourself when engaging with difficult subjects. Her episode of FUSE: A BOMB Podcast with Maggie Nelson is available to stream now—perfect for your holiday listening. https://bit.ly/Maggie-Nelson-Tala-Madani
Maggie Nelson on making art in "anti-intellectual times" in the latest episode of FUSE: A BOMB Podcast. https://bit.ly/Maggie-Nelson-Tala-Madani
Our special episode of #FUSE with Maggie Nelson and Tala Madani is here! Click the link in our bio to listen to the full episode. In the course of their conversation, Maggie reflects on the process of writing On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint (@graywolfpress). The pair discuss how to capture magic in adult life, balancing doubt and trust, and Maggie’s first experience writing about art. #podcast #maggienelson #talamadani #literature #art #onfreedom
This holiday season, give the gift of inspiration with a subscription to BOMB! Delight the artist in your life with a whole year of iconoclastic interviews, cutting-edge literature, essays, and criticism. The first issue of their subscription and our signature BOMB Hat will be sent straight to their front door in a tidy gift box. We’ll also wrap it for you in craft paper and tie it with a classic red bow if you select the gift wrap option at checkout. Click the link in our bio to buy the bundle now! #holidaygift #giftguide #subscription
The fall issue is here! In BOMB #157, you'll find: - Interviews with Rabih Alameddine, Lileana Blain-Cruz, Suzanne Jackson, Candice Lin, Kevin Morby, Naudline Pierre, and Diane Williams; an essay from Hafizah Geter; - Short stories from Akil Kumarasamy, Harris Lahti, Holly Melgard, Edward Salem (winner of BOMB's 2021 Fiction Contest), Adrian Van Young, and Diane Williams; - A comic from Ricardo Cavolo; - Nonfiction from Hugh Ryan; - Poetry from John Keene and Marcus Wicker; - A portfolio by Manthia Diawara; - And Nam Le's newly hand-annotated interview from 2009. Pre-order your copy today! https://shop.bombmagazine.org/collections/issues/products/bomb-157-fall-2021
Performing artist Eiko Otake on why she opposes the expectation for a "perfect ending." Listen to this and more on her episode with David Harrington on FUSE: A BOMB Podcast. https://bit.ly/EikoOtakeDavidHarrington
