ArtReview October Issue Explores Dread, Racial Injustice, and Digital Alienation

ArtReview's October issue, largely produced during Europe's pandemic slowdown, centers on themes of ancient, postmodern, and futuristic narratives, dread in contemporary art, histories of racial subjugation, and alienation through technology. The publication features Chilean artist Lotty Rosenfeld's final interview before her July death, where she discussed rethinking connections between art and political power through institutional tensions. Portuguese artist Grada Kilomba speaks about her unfinished Boat project, describing completion through vulnerability and drawing on Greek myths like Echo and Narcissus. British artist Helen Marten discusses her first novel, comparing writing to collage-making and snooker. Indigenous Australian multimedia artist Destiny Deacon created new work in Melbourne during lockdown, pairing images with words to address racial injustices in pandemic responses. Two texts explore existential fears, with Martin Herbert questioning why dread is rarely addressed in art, while young British artist Ollie Dook uses CGI animals in zoo settings to examine human desires for freedom. Critics review exhibitions from the Berlin Biennale to New York's 'Biennale 2020'.