Six Lines of Flight

The art world is no longer defined by the activity of traditional art centers such as New York, Berlin, Beijing, or London, but is instead shaped by many cities, small and large. These new artistic communities, each reflecting the history, culture, and conditions of its region, have established a vibrant network for contemporary art. This groundbreaking book explores the hybrid nature of today's international artistic landscape by introducing readers to the art scenes in six featured cities - Beirut, Lebanon; Cali, Colombia; Cluj, Romania; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; San Francisco, USA; and Tangier, Morocco. In bringing together work by artists whose efforts have anchored each city's cultural scene, "Six Lines of Flight" maps the pathways between them, illuminating the dynamic, global, interconnected spirit of twenty-first-century art. Essays by writers active in each region are accompanied by color images of representative artworks, along with brief texts on key local artists and organizations. An introductory text by Apsara DiQuinzio and thematic essays by Hou Hanru, Pamela M.
Lee, and Tarek Elhaik and Dominic Willsdon further contextualize cultural production in the featured cities in relation to common themes such as histories in construction, cosmopolitanism, center-periphery dynamics, collectivity, networks, and the effects of economic and cultural renaissance. Exhibition dates: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; September 15-December 31, 2012.