APOGEE ISSUE 05 PREVIEW: Nica Ross
Jupiter, 2011 NICA ROSS is a New York based visual artist who works with photo, video and lighting creating pieces that instigate alternate narratives using themes of science fiction, queerness and desire.
Perigee
Coming of Age in the Time of the Hoodie
By Sarah Ladipo Manyika This excerpted essay was originally featured on AGNI Online. My son’s self-portrait, age fifteen. Work in progress. Earlier this year I decided to read Joe Brainard’s cult classic, I Remember. The book had long intrigued me for I had heard that it was widely taught in creative writing courses and was a favorite of many authors, including several well-known authors whose work I admire. I was immediately drawn to Brainard’s style, each line starting with the words “I remember.” As I read it, I found myself jotting down remembrances of my own, complementing Brainard’s memories of America with my memories of Nigeria. I was enjoying this little book, reading it slowly, taking my time to appreciate the beauty and originality of the writing while remembering and reminiscing. It was a soothing and creative project until I came to this: I remember feeling sorry for black people, not because I thought they were persecuted, but because I thought they were ugly. I remember gasping. I remember thinking, So this is what Zora Neale Hurston meant when she wrote, “I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background.” I remember ugly. I remember not wanting... Read More
APOGEE ISSUE 05 PREVIEW: Jason Larkin
Today we’re featuring Jason Larkin’s work. Untitled, Cairo, 2010 Giclee Print 85x85cm JASON LARKIN is a British photographer recognized for his desire to forefront the subjects on the periphery of current affairs. Soon after finishing his studies Larkin worked as a documentary photographer across the Middle East and Africa, with his work published worldwide. His latest body of work Tales From The City Of Gold (Kehrer, 2013) has just been published both as a monograph in Europe and as a bilingual newspaper publication for Africa. Larkin is the recipient of numerous awards including, most recently the PDN Arnold Newman New Portraiture Award and a Renaissance Photography Prize. His freely-distributed publication, Cairo Divided was nominated for both the Deutsche Börse and Prix Pictet photography awards. Recent solo exhibitions include Flowers Gallery, London and Farnsworth Art Museum, USA and exhibited at the Brighton Photo Biennial and Hereford Photography Festival. In 2013 he moved from Johannesburg and is now based in London.
APOGEE ISSUE 05 PREVIEW: Derrick Adams
Today’s feature: Derrick Adams, “Human Structure Shedding Light.” Human Structure Shedding Light. 2013. mixed media collage on paper 50″ x 72″ DERRICK ADAMS is a multidisciplinary New York based artist whose practice is rooted in Deconstructivist philosophies and the formation and perception of ideals attached to objects, colors, textures, symbols and ideologies. Adams’ work focuses on the fragmentation and manipulation of structure and surface, communicating and exploring ideas of self image and forward projection. Adams received his MFA from Columbia University and BFA from Pratt Institute, and is a Skowhegan and Marie Walsh Sharpe alum, as well as a recipient of a 2009 Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, and a 2014 S.J. Weiler Award. Exhibition and performance highlights include: Open House: Working in Brooklyn, Brooklyn Museum of Art 2004; Greater New York, MoMA/PS1 2005; PERFORMA ‘05 & ‘13; Go Stand Next to the Mountain, The Kitchen NYC 2010; The Bearden Project, Studio Museum in Harlem 2011/12; The Channel, BAM Fisher Theater Brooklyn NY 2012; Becoming One with Your Environment, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris 2013; Radical Presence: Black Performance in Contemporary Art, and The Shadows Took Shape, Studio Museum in Harlem 2013; and Black in the Abstract, Part... Read More
APOGEE ISSUE 05 PREVIEW: Anastasiya Lazurenko
In the few weeks leading up to Apogee Issue 05’s release, we want to treat you to a sneak preview of visual art we feature in our latest issue. Today, we’re featuring Anastasiya Lazurenko’s work. Stay tuned for more! Original polaroids 10.8 x 8.5 cm, from the project “Pearly Gates” (2010-ongoing) ANASTASIYA LAZURENKO is an artist based in Russia. Her artwork explores the female psyche and aims to document the beauty and spirituality of women seeking transcendental experience.
Pre-Order Apogee Issue 05 Now!
Issue 05 of Apogee Journal is almost here! Can’t wait? Pre-order your copy using the button below and we will ship it to you as soon as it’s available. Estimated delivery date: May 29, depending on location. This issue features writing by: Danez Smith * Kate Zambreno * Tiphanie Yanique * Tommy Pico * t’ai freedom ford * Camonghne Felix * Lisa Ko * Emily Brandt * A. Naomi Jackson * Kazim Ali * Sam Sax * Brionne Janae * Caitlin Blanchfield * Charif Shanahan * Jocelyn Sears * John Lee Clark * LiraeL O * Marisa Beltramini * Mike Crossley * Diana Arterian * Safia Elhillo * Zubair Ahmed * Lydia Conklin * Mina Zohal An interview with Paul Beatty, the author of THE SELLOUT And visual art from Richard Hart (cover artist) * Sara Cwynar * Anastasiya Lazurenko * Simone Leigh * Derrick Adams * Mickalene Thomas * The Bruce High Quality Foundation * Jason Lazarus * Jason Larkin * Nica Ross Also, don’t forget to join us in NYC on May 28 for our Issue 05 launch party. More information and advance ticket purchase (starting at only $5!) here.
Contributors: Issue 3
Letter from the Editor by Zinzi Clemmons Fiction Your Giant New Loft by James Yeh Ife Adigo Market–1978 by Chinelo Okparanta A Mindful World by Kaitlyn Greenidge First Time by Molly Giles Poetry Their Grandmothers Never Did the Laundry by Morgan Parker negro sunshine by Morgan Parker my sister breaks bread in the streets by Amber Atiya the bacon act by Claire Fornarola Confirmation by Eddie Martinez Learning the Language by Eddie Martinez Could be by James Ducat i wonder if heaven got a gay ghetto by Christopher Soto After the Japanese Footbridge at Giverny, ca 1922 II by Eva Saavedra The Lonely Crowded West by Nicholas Wright In Some Distant but not Too Distant Era by Nicholas Wright Sky Rescue by Mai Der Vang Diplomacy by Martin Ott Vick by Mitchell Grabois Complete Hysterectomy by Anna Wilkes stormy weather by Mahogany L. Browne Suppose You Were a Komodo Dragon by Cynthia Dewi Oka Nonfiction This is for All the Best Dancers at St. Bernadette’s by Stacy Parker Le Melle Seeing in Color: An Interview with Rich Benjamin by Melody Nixon Border Song by Adriana Ramirez From Asian American Masculinity (Part Two): Bondage and Liberation by David Mura Rumors: Remembering... Read More
Apogee Issue 05 Launch!
Celebrate the work of our amazing Issue 05 contributors on Thursday, May 28 at Raw Space in Harlem! An evening of readings featuring Tommy Pico * Tiphanie Yanique * Lisa Ko * Emily Brandt * Charif Shanahan * Caitlin Blanchfield * Marisa Beltramini * t'ai freedom ford
Contributors: Issue 4
Issue 04 Masthead Acknowledgements Letter from the Editor by Chris Prioleau Fiction Benton, Revisted by Koa Beck Old Maid by Annie Dewitt I Want Some Seafood Mama by Soleil Ho Poetry In Defense Of Art by Aimee Herman A Common Amnesia by Alex Cuff Sea Psalm by Becca Liu Autoconstrucción & Objet Trouvé by Cristiana Baik Kisekae & Validator by JD Scott Epilogue by Julia Guez Foundation & Determination of Racial Affinity by Kenzie Allen _______ the usual old shoe still lifes in October, birds again & Miniature Odes by Khadijah Queen That Which Scatters and Breaks Apart & Trouble by Ladan Osman Changeling & Damage Path by Mya Green Fruits, 8th grade, freshly emigrated from Mexico by Paco Marquez Kundiman: Hung Justice & The Halo-Halo Men: An Anthem by Patrick Rosal [no subject] by Roberto Montes Mistaken for the Subject of an Obituary Terese Coe Dispatch by Tsitsi Jaji Thread by Victoria Matsui Not the Pine Nuts by Victoria McArtor 3 Poems by Shal Nirvanus Non-Fiction In the Waiting Line by Gyasi Bing nation building/women’s political identity: the border’s apocalyptic mater-futurity by José Felipe Alvergue Seams by Migueltzinta Cah Mai Solís Pino The City is in... Read More
Forgotten Conversation
Forgotten Conversation José Angel Araguz I remember starting the book I borrowed–– stole–– a year earlier, since it was around me more than she was. Back then, I had the nights before me to call and call. 3AM, the back of my throat thick and smoke hollow, my tongue lingering over my R’s: Querrrida, sorry to call late, I’m here, one hundred three perrrrrcent chulo, you should call me. I have your Sandra Cisneros book, y como ella, I want you, juntito a mi. When she didn’t answer, I’d flip through the pages and marvel at the smell of cinnamon. I’d imagine an altar––perhaps candles and photographs around a night stand–– her asleep, her son with the spiked collar and black boots replacing her black nail polish. Back then, I had the nights before me full of perhaps. I would hold the book for hours, determined to get into it, the heart of a Mexican woman. Cisneros would’ve done it differently. She’d have a cigar and call herself Daddy. Her black hair would shine like plums in the moonlight as she prayed, unlike me, for something deeper than forgiveness. If given a second chance, she’d get it right... Read More