As with most games of chance, moving from the 9 digits spinning roulette of the casino to a potentially deadly hobby such as the one found in Michael Cimino’s “Deer Hunter”, this critical time we are going through could easily make us lose our mind.

After a difficult but necessary confinement, we are now under curfew, adding a unhealthy dose of anxiety to this climate already plenty heavy. In addition to this global ordeal, we have to mention also the absolutely sordid drama that France witnessed recently, where boundless folly led to the atrocious killing of a French history teacher, to whom we all pay tribute today. Although we have no words to express our horror in front of such abominable act of cruelty, we feel the need to express the feelings of everyone at Stuart.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, the Biden-Trump opposition keeps on raging on the back of Americans who seem to be getting ever closer to a civil war.

Nevertheless, as a necessary action to guarantee everyone’s sanity, Stuart does not lose track of its purpose with this new issue, bringing closure to a 2020 year that was -in every possible way- exceptional.
More than ever, we need air and art, and it’s in this universe of portraits sculpted in stone and concrete by Vhils, that we will take you before bouncing back towards the velvety hues of the mystical and solar murals of the enigmatic Chilean Inti, whom we meet on his aerial bucket.

We then take a small detour back into the dark light, thanks to the sharp, very humanistic reality created since the 70s by the artist Ernest Pignon-Ernest, a pioneer of urban art in France.
And then there’s the glow, this time in transparency, coming through the hyper realistic work of Master Glassmaker Simon Berger, whose control of his support brings incredible pieces to life.

Longing for warmer temperatures, we’ll go to Mexico, in the province of Veracruz, climbing the shiny murals of Misantla, marks of an entire culture, before closing in on the spectacular and creative curves of Kef, the German illusionist.

Of course, the context in which we publish this issue isn’t exactly joyful. And yet, in this dark and cold environment, art remains one of the best outlets, an act of freedom standing on the front line in the fight against barbarism: it is in this light that we sign off this new issue, and we shall resist, hopefully with you on our side.