Indholdsfortegnelse for Volume 4, 2020 i W Magazine

Wolfgang Tillmans Photographer, “Yahya Abdul-Mateen II” (page 118) What does originality mean to you? It’s nothing that can be forced. And at the same time, one can’t be sloppy about it and rely on hoping that something will turn out “original.” Interesting thoughts and genuine interest in something—these two ingredients create originality. Whom do you consider original, and why? Nobel Prize winners. It’s so good to read about science yielding good results for mankind. I never understood how anyone can develop contempt for science. Who was the first person who made you realize you could break the rules? Udo Kaschel, my drawing teacher in the ’80s, once came to my parents’ house to see the stuff I was experimenting with. Since I was not traditionally talented, I was never recognized…

Roughly one week after the Democratic and Republican national conventions, the Movement for a People’s Party, an alternative political coalition largely made up of progressive Independents and Bernie purists, offered the American public its own spin on patriotic pageantry. Tens of thousands of subscribers tuned in to the party’s official channels to watch a stream of fiery speeches and testimonials from anti-establishment figureheads like Harvard philosopher Dr. Cornel West, the actor Danny Glover, and Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator. The most captivating speaker, however, did not have a Hollywood résumé or a previous role in a presidential campaign. Instead, neighborhood councilperson Maebe A. Girl cut her teeth somewhere slightly more unorthodox: the Los Angeles drag circuit. But beyond hosting duties at boozy drag brunch events like Green Eggs…

“There’s an art to having a good time,” Akeem Smith says. He would know. Even though he’s standing alone in Red Bull Arts, a cavernous gallery space on West 18th Street in New York, Smith is presiding over a raucous party. The bass wallops you as you walk in, and throbbing video light pulses off the floors of Smith’s solo exhibition, “No Gyal Can Test,” a paean to the Jamaican dancehall scene, the rowdier offshoot of reggae that developed in the ’70s and ’80s and replaced traditional instrumentation with a digital, programmatic thrum. Snapshots and supercuts of partygoers—all women—poke out from all corners, their wild, skintight outfits demanding your attention. The images and the clothes are from the ’80s and ’90s, but you can feel these women here now, a…

“I was hired to do fashion, right, not something lukewarm or mainstream,” says Nicolas Ghesquière, who, since 2013, has been the women’s artistic director of Louis Vuitton. “From the moment I arrived, my mission has been to create a very recognizable wardrobe and a vision for the Vuitton woman. I have brought movement to the collections, inspired by the travel history of the house, designs that are functional and sharp, and elements that are anachronistic, a clash of the times. That is much different than my time at Balenciaga, which was completely futuristic. With Vuitton, I love mixing eras, like when I paired 18th-century embroidered redingotes with athletic shorts and sneakers. Vuitton is all about an urban woman who is not afraid of mixing periods—she’s neither vintage nor futuristic, but…

Since the June debut of I May Destroy You, the powerful television show Michaela Coel created and stars in, the British writer, poet, and actress has connected with audiences in a once-in-a-generation kind of way. In 12 episodes, Coel spins a complex tale about a young writer in London named Arabella who is sexually assaulted after her drink is spiked at a bar, and then spends months trying to piece together the events of the night, process the trauma, and hold her rapist accountable—all while blowing past multiple professional deadlines and navigating the complexities of her relationships with her friends, family, lovers both ex- and current, and a growing base of online fans. The show has been compared to Girls and Fleabag (and Coel’s unapologetic writing and acting style to…

Patrisse Cullors Activist, Cofounder of Black Lives Matter, Artist, Educator, Author What does originality mean to you? It’s hard to hear that question and not hear “individuality.” I don’t believe anything’s original. I think there is authenticity, I think there’s integrity—but “original” feels too absolute for me. You went from doing your performance piece “A Prayer to the Iyami” live at the Broad in Los Angeles to performing “A Prayer to the Runner” over Zoom. How did those experiences differ, and how were they similar? I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the audience’s perspective of “A Prayer to the Runner” was. How do you relay a feeling, a message, and elicit a response over Zoom? There’s nothing like being in front of a live audience…

As this issue goes to print, we are less than a month away from the most important election of our time. My vote for former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris is already in, and I hope all other Americans are voting, voting early, volunteering at the polls, and using their voices to secure a better future for our country. W’s Executive Editor, Armand Limnander, had the brilliant idea to ask an impressive roster of artists to reimagine the political poster during a time of urgent social change. In “What Do You Stand For?” (page 78), Mark Bradford, Kara Walker, Glenn Ligon, and many others addressed the current political and cultural climate in the United States by creating messages of optimism and unity—and, yes, defiance—in the face of…

When Mariane Ibrahim opened a Seattle gallery in 2012 to showcase the contemporary art of Africa and its diaspora, she felt like she was shining a lonely light on the continent. Times have changed. When she moved to Chicago a year ago, she was greeted, she says, by a “reception unlike any I’ve ever known.” Art lovers are now clamoring to see what she presents. “There was a bit of a joke among people working in the field of contemporary African art that it was getting discovered every year for over a decade now,” observes Karen E. Milbourne, senior curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. “But this is different. There is a seismic change happening. It used to be, ‘Look at El Anatsui.’ And now it is,…

SAM McKNIGHT “Completely spontaneous” is how the London-based celebrity hairstylist Sam McKnight describes his Warholian wig selfies, which were born of periods of downtime (read: boredom) on set. “It has to be quick, or the moment is gone,” he explains of his informal process. “I do try to keep the same expressionless face for continuity.” McKnight’s creations aren’t limited to what he has in his kit. “It’s all stuff that’s close at hand—old wigs from the bottom of a bag, hairpieces I’ve just used on a show, somebody’s dog or rabbit, or this morning, some fresh dahlias from my garden.” ISAMAYA FFRENCH “I’m not interested in creating characters that look hot or beautiful or sexy,” says the London-based makeup artist (and Burberry Global Beauty Director) Isamaya Ffrench. “I need a…

in Watchmen, the Emmy Award–winning HBO adaptation of the complex graphic novel, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II appeared completely naked. He played both Cal Abar, a supportive husband (in clothes), and the godlike Doctor Manhattan, who commands the planets wearing only a head-to-toe cerulean blue glow. When Abdul-Mateen auditioned for the show, he was told about only the clothed part of the equation. After he had already shot two episodes, Damon Lindelof, the co-creator of Watchmen, which has evolved into a meditation on race in America, told him that he was also going to portray Doctor Manhattan. “I was excited to hear about the additional role,” Abdul-Mateen told me, calling from his rented apartment in Berlin, where he is living while filming The Matrix 4. “And it turns out that being naked…