Southwest Contemporary Vol. 10 — Radical Futures
As a companion to Southwest Contemporary‘s Spring-Summer 2024 issue, Living Histories, Radical Futures will explore how our actions in the present will shape the future to come. What values will we carry forward? What should we discard?
In envisioning radical futures, artists lead the way by questioning long-held belief systems and challenging the status quo. Art can communicate radical approaches to reorientation, transformation, and regeneration. Art provokes exercises of the imaginary, reveals future pathways, and builds new worlds.
In this issue, we ask, what is the future of art, design, and culture? How are artists in the Southwest region imagining rural and urban futures, issues of land and water, decolonization and Indigenous sovereignty, technology and media, ecology and environmental justice, and other topics vital to our future?
From utopian to dystopian, these kinds of radical imaginings help us better understand the challenges and struggles of today and what we might do to overcome them. Radical futures tug at the roots of the structures and systems in place, revealing their interconnections and loosening their grip. Radical futures uproot determinism and despair—and hold up the possibility of a new world.
For this issue, we are looking for artists (18+) working across the Southwest whose works are future-facing, world-building, visionary, speculative, and imagination-sparking. Artists connected to, working within, or referencing various Futurisms (Afrofuturism, Indigenous Futurisms, Latinx Futurisms, Queer Futurisms, etc) are encouraged to apply, as well as artists engaging with new media and emergent technologies. This call is open to artists of all media: 2D, 3D, time-based, digital, etc.
Artists are encouraged to think broadly about these ideas.
Selected Artists Receive:
- A two-page spread featuring their work in Southwest Contemporary Vol. 10.
- A profile article written by an SWC contributor.
- A feature on SWC‘s newsletter and social media channels.
Guest Juror:
Ian Breidenbach, artist, curator, educator, and founder of Utopian Megapraxis Collective and The Neon Heater Art Gallery
Ian Breidenbach is a conceptual artist, curator, and educator based in Findlay, Ohio. In 2012, he founded The Neon Heater Art Gallery, an artist-run space serving the community of Findlay, Ohio, and the surrounding area, providing access to contemporary art in a rural setting. His artistic practice explores the connective quality of narrative in the creation of worlds and possible futures. He holds a BFA from Wright State University in Selected Studies: Video Art and an MFA in studio art from Texas Tech University. He teaches studio art to non-majors and curates the Farmer Family Gallery at the Ohio State University in Lima, Ohio.
In 2018, he received the Palmer Scholarship from the Toledo Art Museum to conduct national research into artist-run galleries and community engagement. In 2022, alongside members of the Blue House Gallery, he organized Futures: A National Artist-Run Symposium in Dayton, Ohio, to bring together gallerists from around the country to imagine possible futures for the artist-run gallery community. He is currently focused on collecting resources and gathering together artists, writers, and thinkers who share in the hope for better futures in an attempt to collectively envision an equitable Global Utopia and ultimately take steps towards its creation.
Who Should Apply:
SWC invites artists and artist collectives at any stage of their career to submit work in any discipline. All media are accepted: painting, sculpture, new media, performance, printmaking, fiber arts, photography, mixed media, music, video, installation, and more.
Eligibility:
- Artists (age 18+) primarily residing and working in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Northern Mexico, Texas, or Utah.
- Artists previously featured in print by SWC within the last 18 months are not eligible.
Requirements:
- Submissions are only accepted through the form linked below.
- Submit 5 images/videos/audio files of different artworks (each file no larger than 10 MB).
- Artists must ensure high quality of images in JPG format. (Print-quality images will be requested at a later date if needed.)
- If video files are larger than 10 mb, please submit a PDF with a web link to the full video (Youtube, Vimeo).
- Collectives should make a single submission.
- Artist Bio must be no more than 300 words, and no more than 2500 characters.
- Artist Statement must be no more than 300 words, and no more than 2500 characters.
- Artwork does not need to be for sale.
- Artwork should be recent within the last five years.
- $15 submission fee.
