In 2024 the parameters of what constitutes provocative art have never been more pliable. In a world newly awash in hypersexual AI slop calibrated to offend your auntie on Facebook, are we more or less easy to provoke in 2024? Is hypersexual AI a useful tool? Can we subvert it? Can we create art with it? We’re living in a flashpoint for the art world, a time when the power of images is being warped and diluted by advancements in tech. Frankly, it’s never been more important to have truly bold, arresting art and photography. 

This year, Dazed has published a bevvy of brilliant, bold work. From the ‘incriminating’ archive of Bruce LaBruce to Arvida Byström’s slyly subversive AI nudes and the grand relaunch of Erotic Review, it’s been a stellar year for outsider art. There was Sofiya Loriashvili, who documented the turbulent years of her youth in a candid photo series while Renell Medrano paid homage to the ‘Black Playboy’ she grew up reading. Editor Lisa Tanimura gave us a feast of countercultural art in her new magazine, Cult*, and Vincent Ferrané explored the disconnect between our off and online selves.  

Now that we’re wrapping up the year, we revisit ten photo series that have pushed the boundaries for provocative art and really given us something to think about...

PAUL MPAGI SEPUYA, EXPOSURE

At the top of the year, LA photographer and Another Man darling, Paul Mpagi Sepuya received his first UK institutional exhibition at Nottingham Contemporary. Sepuya, who’s known for intimately photographing friends and lovers, displayed a variety of his works under the loose label of visibility and identity. 

“I’ve never set out to make work where representation or visibility is the endpoint,” Sepuya told Dazed. “I’m just trying to be honest with where I’m coming from and not trying to inscribe identity on works, especially portraits of friends.” 

Read the full story on Dazed here.

CULT*

Tokyo-based editor and writer Lisa Tanimura launched the inaugural issue of Cult* this year, a bilingual art, fashion and culture magazine. Cult* both centres and challenges contemporary ideas of ‘aloneness.’ “I wanted this whole magazine to be an antidote to that,” she told Dazed.

Boasting the works of Erika Kamano, Joshua Gordon and Ayaka Endo, Cult* features a diverse group of contributors. “It’s important to gather together, especially if you’re an oppressed minority group, but, with this, I didn’t really think about that, though most of the people I ended up working with are minorities or outsiders in one way or another,” Tanimura said. “That’s why I picked the name Cult*, because I wanted to create a community connected by the same beliefs, not categories.”

Read the full story on Dazed here.

BRUCE LABRUCE, THE REVOLUTION IS MY BOYFRIEND

Bruce LaBruce, cult filmmaker and art world bad boy, gave us a tantalising glimpse into his back catalogue with the release of The Revolution Is My Boyfriend (published by Baron Books). But don’t call it a retrospective; “‘Retrospective’ sounds a little academic,” he told Dazed. “I see it as more of a survey; it’s just a worldview that’s come out of my work as a filmmaker and photographer.” 

Filled with glorious nudes and snaps from the fetish and nightlife scenes LaBruce has frequented, it’s a fascinating insight into a hedonistic, wildlife that’s difficult to envision happening now. As LaBruce describes it, “It was like living through a whole set of revolutions which all seemed very positive and utopic as opposed to now where everything seems dystopian and AI is going to destroy everything, you know.” 

Read the full story on Dazed here.

ARVIDA BYSTRӦM, IN THE CLOUDS

When Swedish artist Arvida Byström discovered a website that claimed “it can undress anyone” using AI, she decided to beat them to the punch. Byström allowed the site to create a series of AI-generated nudes of herself and sold them on an OnlyFans-ish site under the illusion they were real. She also worked on a chatbot for subscribers to simulate a conversation with AI-Byström. 

Byström, who compiled the work into a book, In the Clouds, told Dazed about her experiences: “Some people really like the interactions they’ve had with her, like dating ‘me’ on the platform. So people have really caught feelings for her.”

Read the full story on Dazed here.

SOFIYA LORIASHVILI, MY BOOK

Earlier this year, 25-year-old French-Ukrainian photographer Sofiya Loriashvili released a book, fittingly titled My Book, documenting her life thus far. She decided to capture her time in rehab and more turbulent periods as part of her portfolio in photography school. But Loriashvili continued and plans to update My Book to “see how my perspective evolves”. 

“I’ve been fortunate to meet many incredible people and stories along my path. My Book is their story,” Loriashvili told Dazed. “For me, photography has always been a way to create memories, whether real or fictional.”

Read the full story on Dazed here.

EROTIC REVIEW

Earlier this year, the art world was blessed with the resurrection of Erotic Review, a magazine which took a thoughtful, literary view on desire through short stories, essays and art. Launched in 1997, its print edition had long since been phased out and replaced by an online newsletter, but in the spring Erotic Review returned as a bonafide physical issue.

With graphic designer Frith Kerr on the design side and writer/curator Fatoș Üstek on editing duties for the first issue (with a different arts editor helming each issue), it was a triumphant return for a beloved publication. For Kerr, she wanted to convey the fluidity of desire through Erotic Review’s redesign, telling Dazed: “All design is about emotion. Desire is emotion. Making something desirable in design is fundamental. Graphic design is an invitation to say, ‘Come here, look, touch, feel, read, and experience’.”  

Read the full story on Dazed here.

RENELL MEDRANO, ICE MAGAZINE

After previously collecting editions of 70s Black softcore magazine Players (once considered the ‘Black Playboy’), photographer and director Renell Medrano decided to pay tribute to the publication with her new project, ICE Magazine. Inspired by the ‘Ice Girl’, a type of woman Medrano grew up around in the Bronx as well as figures in pop culture, ICE Magazine is run by women for women.

“I have the pleasure of running into Ice Girls all over the world, they come up to me and share their stories or ask for advice and my heart is full,” Medrano says. “This magazine is dedicated to them.”

Read the full story on Dazed here.

VINCENT FERRANÉ, IRL CORPS

Artist Vincent Ferrané’s photo book, IRL Corps (published by Witty Books) seeks to explore the gulf between our off and online selves, and how digital versions of ourselves are constructed. IRL Corps exaggerates the effort that goes into posting; his photography emphasises the artificial by including selfie sticks and mobile phones.

“The initial idea of this project is to question how a body IRL seeks to address the social body through the production of its image and its dissemination on digital social networks,” Ferrané told Dazed. 

Read the full story on Dazed here.

EZEKIEL, THE MUSEUM OF SEX

After documenting a heady day at the UK’s biggest gay sauna, photographer and filmmaker Ezekiel created their own exhibition, The Museum of Sex. Over two days in June in a derelict Victorian house in Peckham, The Museum of Sex was a tribute to a diverse array of erotica from a wide range of voices.

“It was important for me to curate an excitingly diverse cast of artists who create work through unfamiliar and unique points of view that we haven’t necessarily seen before,” Ezekiel told Dazed. 

Read the full story on Dazed here.

SOMESUCH STORIES

Somesuch Stories, now in its eighth year, aims to explore one theme through short fiction, poetry and visual art. The latest edition of the annual arts journal, edited by Suze Olbrich, explored the theme of ‘tension’ and the various forms it takes. 

Boasting a bold photo story by Danish photographer Birk Thomassen and a tender yet unnerving series by British painter Elsa Rouy, Somesuch Stories continues to push the envelope. “The darker, the better,” Olbrich told Dazed. “Every issue needs at least one ‘what the actual fuck’ moment. This one has a fair few.”

Read the full story on Dazed here.