Frieze 250 April 2025

The April issue of frieze magazine is dedicated to artists working with moving image. Hans Ulrich Obrist interviews Ed Atkins on his cinematographic influences ahead of the artist’s spring retrospective at Tate Britain, London. Plus, five experts – curators, programmers, artists and academics – participate in a roundtable on the changing role and visibility of artists’ moving image in the art world and film industry.

Interview: Ed Atkins

‘I found a way to speak through videos that confessed their constitution and their artifice.’ Hans Ulrich Obrist speaks to the artist about the uncanny intimacy of digital avatars and why writing remains the foundation of his work.

Roundtable: Industrial Action

‘Contemporary art is not only innovating the language of cinema but shaping the future of the film industry.’ Erika Balsom, Leonardo Bigazzi, Stuart Comer, Paolo Moretti and Ana Vaz debate the reception and production of artists’ films, touching on how they use technology to disrupt and challenge.

Also featuring  

Lou Stoppard profiles Diego Marcon, whose captivating films blur the line between the grotesque and the comedic. In ‘1,500 Words,’ Laura McLean-Ferris explores the lasting influence of Agnès Varda’s film Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962). Plus, contributing writer Juliet Jacques pens an essay on teaching at the Royal College of Art in London, walking us through her eclectic curriculum on archive filmmaking.

Columns: On Set

Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich speaks with senior editor Vanessa Peterson about the power of collaboration in her filmmaking practice; artist Saodat Ismailova talks to Saim Demircan about her coming of age as a female director in Uzbekistan; Maryam Tafakory’s recounts to Cici Peng how she reimagines censored omissions from Iranian post-revolution cinema; Kevin Jerome Everson outlines to Carlos Valladares how his upcoming cinematic projects tap into the medium’s immediacy. Senior editor Marko Gluhaich interviews Tolia Astakhishvili and James Richards on how their films and slide shows distort architecture by evoking memories.

Finally, KJ Abudu responds to Valentin Noujaïm’s short film Oceania (2024). Plus, Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich contributes to our series of artists’ ‘to-do’ lists and senior editor Vanessa Peterson pens a postcard from London.