Like a surreal Rococo painting, three cherubs hold up a frame containing an empty chair: for Russian artist Katerina Kovaleva (Moscow, 1966), this is a symbolic call to cultivate the idea of Good. That chair must not be claimed by Evil. For the artist, the journey must be guided by the spirit of truth, so that the "abomination of desolation" does not take hold. This issue is also a collector’s edition: starting Tuesday, the cover will become a digital artwork, complete with a QR code. Kovaleva contemplates our present reality, the chaos that seems to have overtaken the contemporary world, and the only way to counter the “destruction” afflicting entire populations, is a renewed awareness. A complex theme also explored in a recent exhibition in Venice (curated by Olga Strada), pointedly titled Limbo, evoking the anguished state of suspension that grips all of humanity. Through her politically engaged painting, Kovaleva invokes mythology and the great masters, from Tiepolo to Titian, compelling us to reflect. And to fight. So that, in the end, Evil does not prevail. Gianluigi Colin