Hello beautiful bizarre friends, welcome to Issue 45 with legendary fantasy artist Arantza Sestayo’s wonderful representation of the Little Red Riding Hood on the cover. I for one have always been on the side of the ‘baddie’ in most myths and fables. Are villains, or the wolf in this instance, really that bad? Or are they just misunderstood? What team are you on? Team hero or team villain?
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Enjoy my Note from the Editor, published in Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Issue 45
Beautiful Bizarre Magazine lands on the moon!
This is our 11th Anniversary issue, and we have much to celebrate this year! On 23 February 2024 [Sydney time] Beautiful Bizarre Magazine officially landed on the moon as part of the Lunar Codex project on board the Odysseus spacecraft. Yes, seriously! “Today for the first time in more than a half century, the US has returned to the moon. Today for the first time in the history of humanity, a commercial company launched and led the voyage. Congratulations to everyone involved in this great and daring quest at Intuitive Machines, SpaceX and NASA.” [Bill Nelson, NASA]. What a truly incredible feeling – this honour is one I could never have imagined!
I am immensely grateful to physicist, author, and art collector Dr Samuel Peralta, the Founder and archivist of the Lunar Codex cultural time capsule, for valuing Beautiful Bizarre Magazine and its contribution to the arts so highly that he chose to include all of our covers from 2017 to 2022 – now permanently archived on the moon.
A Message-In-A-Bottle to the Future
“The Lunar Codex started as a project to spread hope during a dark time – the years of the COVID-19 pandemic on Earth. The Codex instils the Moon with some of the heart of humanity, our art, so that when we look to the sky, the Moon is a tangible symbol of hope, of what is possible when you believe. The Codex is also a message-in-a-bottle to the future, so that travellers who find these time capsules might discover some of the richness of our world today. It speaks to the idea that, despite wars and pandemics and climate upheaval, humankind found time to dream, time to create art.” [Dr Samuel Peralta]
Artists whose artwork is now on the south pole of the moon: Martin Wittfooth, Jonathan Viner, Tim Okamura, Del Kathryn Barton, Malcolm Liepke, Camille Rose Garcia, Miss Van, Ray Caesar, Hannah Yata, Troy Brooks, Brad Kunkle, Matthew Grabelsky, Omar Rayyan, Yoko d’Holbachie, Camilla d’Errico, Audrey Kawasaki, Jeremy Mann, Julie Filipenko, Michael Hussar and Mary Jane Ansell.
Just think about it for a moment, and let your mind expand to take in the possibilities. When life on earth is no more, and all our museums and galleries are dust, the Nanofiche files on which Beautiful Bizarre Magazine is digitally archived will remain on the moon. Giving alien life or future humans the ability to get a glimpse into our art, culture and lives from this moment in time. Yep mind-blowing! On behalf of all the artists and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, I am deeply grateful. This legacy is beyond anything imaginable!
Another mission will launch late this year, which will include the magazines in their entirety, from Issue 8 in 2015 to present. This time capsule will archive not only all of the artists/artworks published, but also the writer’s work, and our advertising galleries and artists throughout the years. I will bring you more news on that when the next mission successfully lands on the moon!
Our Curated Exhibitions & the 2024 Art Prize
When you read this our first exhibition of 2024, Fable & Folklore, will have also just closed at Copro Gallery (Los Angeles, CA, USA). If you would like to take a peek at the exhibition you can do so online via the Gallery website. The second exhibition of 2024 will open at Modern Eden Gallery (San Francisco, CA, USA) in November this year. This exhibition will also include the winners of this year’s Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize. So if you haven’t yet entered, please do – this is your opportunity to get your work in front of me, the Directors of Modern Eden Gallery, our esteemed Jury Panel, and of course win some amazing prizes! With $75,000 USD in cash and prizes to be won this year you’d be mad not to enter! I look forward to seeing your work.
So until next time, I hope you enjoy the read of this inspiring issue, and as always thank you for your support of our independent magazine! We couldn’t do it without you.
Much Love xo
Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief
Beautiful Bizarre Magazine