MADE IN BED is an art magazine run and produced by Master's degree students and alumni from Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Editor in Chief and alumna Rhiannon Roberts explains what to expect from the latest issue.
Editor’s Letter –
In 2022, the world continued to adjust and readjust to ever-changing guidelines, systems, and situations. At present, change appears to be our only constant. As the first cohort back on campus after a classroom hiatus due to COVID-19, Sotheby’s Institute of Art London’s dynamic Class of 2022 were eager to navigate this new landscape through community building with big ideas and creative autonomy.
Consisting of thirteen editors and additional contributing writers hailing from Argentina, Australia, China, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States, MADE IN BED’s 2022 team have been entirely committed to learning from the past whilst looking forward with renewed hope for the future through an increasingly global lens.
Our departure from global lockdowns and the consequent return of cross-continental travel is reflected in the front cover artwork, Opening Doors (2022), and back cover artwork, Navigation Light (2022), both by multidisciplinary artist Renjun Liu–one of this issue’s featured emerging artists.
Our renewed appreciation for the outdoors, fresh air, and clear lungs also inspired the spring launch of En Plein Air. A French term pioneered by British painter John Constable circa 1813 meaning “in the open air,” this new section aims to further explore and contemporarily redefine the term to include and reconsider public art, land art, and sculpture.
We have happily carried past MADE IN BED initiatives forward, including Agents of Change, which encourages the expression of each and every voice in a quest for widespread social change, and Emerging Artists, which champions rising artists worldwide. We dedicate this edition to them.
I am incredibly proud of the collection of emerging artist profiles, interviews, reviews, and features that MADE IN BED’s 2022 team has penned on the pages that follow. By seeing with new eyes and following our noses, we reconnected with the art world to challenge, examine, and expand our definitions of it, from Camille Moreno’s poignant tribute to the late Ukrainian artist Maria Prymachenko to Wylie Geibel’s comprehensive analysis of how NFTs have changed our understanding of collectibles in a post-pandemic market and everything in between.
It is my hope that this year in review introduces you to fresh faces, encourages reinterpretation and further appreciation of the ones you may recognise, and leaves you asking the big questions, both in art and in life. As we hand over to the 2023 team and disperse across the world once again, we’ll always remember what we made in Bedford Square.
Rhiannon Roberts
2021-22 Editor in Chief
MADE IN BED Magazine
