Juxtapoz Book Review
From reading the foreword, I realised that they're celebrating their 25th year of production, with 212 issues to date. It speaks of the adoration for founder Robert Williams inventing such an inclusive magazine in the 90s, incorporating movements and people with similar interests and encouraging them to explore artists who have been influenced by the predecessors, in turn opening up new and existing avenues for the reader to learn about and explore further. There's a certain excitement that comes from a magazine like this one with such diverse content, there's always going to be specific styles you gravitate towards and find yourself relating to but I think its important to see other movements too. Street art and graffiti, for example, is a large part of today's society however not something I find myself looking at without encouragement; that being said, I now admire artists like KAWS who has previously featured in Juxtapoz issues. The foreword continues to introduce the three main categories with a very personable approach, talking about photographer JR playing a large part in 2020 activism, community engagement and large-scale institutional projects, all topics discussed further in the issue. Written by editor, Evan Pricco, this introduction has a warm and engaging tone, compelling buyers to read on. Although I can't talk about every artist and aspect of the magazine, I did want to talk about a few that interested me and feel are prominent in both my development and today's society.
JR
At first glance, this doesn't appear to be your regular art magazine, with limited images and information acquainting the viewer of what to expect in the issue. However, I feel its reputation proceeds it, therefore, it doesn't rely on irrelevant text crowding the cover; people read it as a result of a recommendation or through word of mouth. The cover art is a photograph entitled, 'The Chronicles of New York City' by JR, who has a large feature in this magazine (pages 78 to 87). Through this interview, Evan Pricco talks to the photographer about his career and new exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum for 2020. I hadn't heard of JR before but from reading this interview I've learnt how he explores the way photography can eliminate hierarchies and is a platform where everyone is presented as equal. From working with people for over 2 decades, he enjoys the sense of community and learning about new cultures through travelling around America and Paris.
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| JR Interview with Evan Pricco |
His photos have a somewhat compelling and disturbing quality with the image of a man holding a video camera like a gun; it urges you to explore the image and artist further to see why this positioning and theme has been captured. This particular image was taken when he was 19. Now 37, it's interesting to see how street art has developed through his photography as mentioned in the interview, what he was doing was illegal back then so it's amazing how much the movement has evolved. My favourite of his works is a paper installation he did in honour of the Louvre's 30th Anniversary in 2019, turning the courtyard into a huge optical illusion. 'The Secret of the Great Pyramid' is different for other installations he's done as its got a surrealist element to it showing a rock quarry encapsulating the glass pyramid. JR, along with an army of volunteers, constructed the paper mural with the knowledge of it being 'ephemeral' aka temporary due to human erosion and weather. The ideology was that nothing lasts forever and focuses on the ideas of impermanence, reality and memory.
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| 'The Secret of the Great Pyramid', Paris 2019 |
Artscape Sweden
Another article that captured my attention was Artscape Sweden, a yearly festival held in Sweden where villages are transformed by a group of artists. Each summer buildings, bus stops, harbours and shops become canvases for huge murals, turning the village into one huge exhibition. Written by artist Kristin Farr, she talks of her experience at last years festival held in Ljusdal where she was joined by many artists from around the world who travelled to partake in the festival. I love the idea of it being held in a small, quaint village rather than somewhere like New York or California as it brings industry and money to smaller businesses and towns. It's a really good way of putting a place on the map to generate tourism to that area. Also, it positively impacts the businesses like the boutiques, cafes and hardware shops supplying painting materials. Just from the photos, you can see the showcase of styles and colours with artwork linking to certain aspects of the village, a lot of the artwork correlates with its environment. Scandinavian design has become increasingly popular in today's society, often linked to contemporary interior design so its interesting to learn that street art was classed as a crime until recently. Artscape founders, Tor Henendahl and Daniel Wakeham pioneered a revolution in Sweden which changed the controversy surrounding graffiti and street art and people are now much more open to the idea, shown in how much it has grown in recent years. From reading this article, I'd love to travel and see something like this as I feel the energy of the city and artwork would be amazing to see.
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| Artscape Festival Murals |
Diedrick Brackens
Diedrick Brackens is a textile artist who creates incredible visualised scenes with different materials. In his words, "The tropes of his medium are woven into the fabric of our lives, and once you're aware of this constant thread, you'll notice it twofold". His artwork has an aged sort of feel to it as if it has been passed through generations and could tell a thousand stories. I think this is an amazing quality to have in your work and it shows the effort that's gone into making it has paid off and the audience can relate to it on a deeper level. Brackens focus is on the human form and finds inspiration in historic paintings, but uses himself as the main focus. I love the complex and confident approach to colour shines through his work. By using rick yellows, blues and pinks it creates harmony and the colours appear to flow through each other in the background, with the woven black figures taking the focus in the foreground. His work is very recognisable, tieing in influences from Western African weavings, tribal artwork and folklore.
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| Weaving created by Diedrick Brackens |
In many ways, Juxtapoz is a celebration of humanity, showing how creatives over the years have been inspired by generations before them like Dadaism's inspiration in JR's photography or surrealism's impact in Summer Wheat's abstract paintings. In summary, I've enjoyed reading this magazine and learning of new artists. I think its a really good way to learn about artists and styles you wouldn't usually look at. Being an illustration student, I'm used to seeing a lot of graphic designers and street artists but I also love reading about textiles and experimenting with materials and college, therefore, this magazine allows the reader to dive into other artistic avenues.
Although I only picked out 3 artists to review in detail, there were many others in the issue that interested me. Below are photos of a few.
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| From Left to Right: Wide Open Walls California, Rebecca Ness, Lilian Martinez |
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