the journal is proud to present Next Ever After, the first solo gallery exhibition by Helmut Lang. Next Ever After is an artistic statement that speaks to both personal and historical mythologies. A singular, multi-faceted mirrored object will be the central focus of the installation — an object both stable and destabilizing. Like Janus, the Roman god able to view past and future simultaneously, the mirrored sphere central to Next Ever After reflects while simultaneously absorbing its surroundings, creating a sensation both voyeuristic and self-aware. The mirrored object presented in Next Ever After, part of Lang’s own personal mythology, transforms in the journal Gallery into a more universal reflection on the themes of change and transition: the unpredictable progression from one state to another, from one cultural position to the next.

The Next Ever After exhibition is the artistic culmination of a yearlong collaboration between Helmut Lang and the independent arts and culture publication, the journal. Ten unique studies for Next Ever After appear exclusively in the Winter 2007 issue of the journal, alongside a revealing conversation with renowned curator Neville Wakefield. In this highly personal dialogue, Helmut Lang publicly addresses his own “Next Ever After”: his artistic practice, the evolution of his aesthetic thought, and the relationship between art and fashion.

The ten carefully composed studies created in preparation for Next Ever After, and presented in the journal, illustrate the aesthetic themes that Lang has been mining throughout his career. Through Helmut Lang’s creative process, seemingly innocuous still-life objects are unhinged from conventional meaning, and translated into the world of art. Sparkling, colored ornaments are photographed against found black-and-white pornographic visuals, the effect at once sublime and profane.

One of the most innovative and influential cultural figures of our time, Helmut Lang lives and works in New York and Long Island. In 2005, Helmut Lang established hl-art, a site for further artistic exploration and experimentation. the journal, published by Michael Nevin, has established itself as a well-respected cultural barometer for contemporary art, publishing exclusive portfolios of and conversations with artists such as Dash Snow, Rita Ackerman, Ryan McGinley, Beat Streuli, Ari Marcopoulos, Dan Colen, David Shrigley, Wolfgang Tillmans, Susan Cianciolo, Aurel Schmidt and Mark Gonzales.