When was the last time you went into a magazine shop? If you haven't done so lately, you should make the time. We always hear that print is dead and it probably is, but after spending some time in Presse International on College St, I really thought it was just awesome how many magazines are left and that there was some great stuff - especially Modern Painters.
Like many people, I get a lot of art info off the web, but holding a copy of Modern Painters is something else. The cover has a very specific texture and smell and the colour rendition in the magazine is terrific. My interest is not nostalgic, although I used to order the magazine when I ran a camera store, knowing it would not sell and I would get to take them home, this magazine, this thing, places art and its contents in a world of its own. I loved it all over again.
The November 2011 issue is full of a fairly diverse content and includes an interview with Maurizio Cattelan talking about his retrospective at the Guggenheim (it is a mounting of his sculptures hanging from the centre of the gallery) and an article on the painter Michael Borremans (some people will really enjoy his style of painting). The artist Byron Kim, director Julia Leigh , writer and Director of Sleeping Beauty are also featured.
Can you find more content online? Absolutely, but there is something great and altogether optimistic about buying a magazine -- seeing what is featured, wondering about how some truly bad art has the money to advertise, all that good stuff.
So this holiday season, whatever your interest, treat yourself.
You can read about that Guggenheim show here
