INBOX: Flexboj & L.A. – Release Superstars Magazine n°2
Courtesy of the artist, (c) Flexboj & L.A.
For the second edition of Superstars magazine, artist duo Flexboj & L.A. once again examine the central question, What does it mean to be successful in the arts today? Which mechanisms lead to success? How do you deal with this success and does it 'contaminate' your art? What role does policy play?
Being a superstar is not just a commercial aspect. The duo also approaches it as something that borders on pleasure and happiness, they question its volatility and try to cope with their own desire for it. Their questions reveal a critical attitude towards the art market and its elitist tendencies, the (outdated) criteria for art, and the way in which artists, curators, collectors and policymakers relate to each other. By choosing the persons they interview, Flexboj & L.A. also reflect on their own fascinations and artistic positions. For this edition, Wim Delvoye, Ria Pacquée, Hans Theys, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Rinus Van De Velde and Luc Deleu were selected. Flexboj & L.A. not only let the artists talk about their own life and work, they also examine the challenges faced by emerging artists, as well as the changing arts landscape. Every interview is thorough, sharp, in-depth, personal yet also funny, which makes the magazine an important time capsule about the contemporary art business. At the same time, it is also a subjective account of sources of inspiration, ambitions and doubts.
For the magazine, Flexboj & L.A. make painted portraits, advertising images, caricatures and a cover image that shows their humorous approach to the 'superstar'. They throw the questions they ask themselves at the feet of the various people within the art business. At the same time, the entire magazine is also a work of art in which the artist duo express their temperament, style and ideas. The statement made when starting this project is quite ambitious. The humour and absurdism that play a major role in the magazine are used in the 'right' way, so that 'to laugh with' not merely becomes something easy and vulgar, but something daring, thoughtful and razor-sharp, without compromising the integrity of their guests.
- Victor Rutkiewicz
Antwerp, June 2019