Parterre de Rois #4 - Artist Magazine

Parterre de Rois is an Italian-curated biannual magazine combining erudite and popular culture co-founded and co-edited by Molly Molloy and Gianni Tozzi. The latest issue #4 of Parterre de Rois is themed around Happiness and seeks to ask the question: 'What is happiness for you?'. High quality reproductions of emerging and established artists work are combined with interesting interviews and articles providing for a beautifully constructed journal. 

Upon discovering Caroline Walker was being featured in the magazine alongside a short interview I was very keen to purchase a copy. At the time I was trying to get hold of the issue it wasn't yet available through the PDR website and was only in two UK stores, both of which were in London - a little too far to travel for a magazine. I contacted Parterre de Rois directly to find out when the issue would be made available to buy online and I received multiple replies which were both extremely helpful and professional. I was very impressed with the high level of customer service and that makes me respect and love this magazine more than any other I've bought.

Molly let me know that their magazine was being stocked at MagCulture in London so I sent off for it straight away. I was super excited when I received my copy of the #4 Happiness and was delighted to find that Guy Yanai, an artist whose work I also admire, was featured in the magazine too.

As well as Caroline Walker and Guy Yanai, twenty-eight other contemporary artists are also featured in the magazine across the 224 coloured pages including Mark Wallinger, Jo Ann Callis and Chental Joffe. For more information about Parterre de Rois you can visit their website here and for a full list of the featured artists or any other past issue you can take a look in the online store here. As someone who struggles to read and concentrate on large amounts of text, this image heavy magazine is perfect for me and it's put together flawlessly. If you are interested in contemporary art and are frightened by the endless advertisements and dense sections of difficult-to-understand text in magazines such as Art Review I would encourage you to purchase a copy of Parterre de Rois, you will not be disappointed! I will definitely be buying their future issues!

Art Journal Review - Juxtapoz

Juxtapoz has always been a favourite of mine over the abundance of art magazines that are heavy with fashion and lifestyle because of its focus on art, design and photography. As well as trying to pick up the latest copy of Juxtapoz I also follow the magazine on Instagram and I am always pleasantly surprised by the amazing work of current artists around the world. I have just come back from a holiday in Cornwall and the long car journeys and relaxing days on the beach meant I had plenty of time to have a read through the August issue.

In the issue I came across an article called Mystery Within Boundaries in which artist Tom Killian is featured with his Japanese-style woodblock prints of Northern California. These beautiful landscape prints caught my eye because of their incredible detail and amazing colour. Killian loves the Japanese-style woodblock carving technique because he can be the designer, carver and printer and so can immerse himself in the whole process. I really liked the article because as well as mentioning possible activism within his work it also touched on the process itself, which is something I am interested in. In my second year at university I would really like to get into the print room and take advantage of what there is to offer and woodblock printing sounds like something I would love to try. (I am in the painting and printmaking strand after all...) If you would like to read the full interview or want to view more of his work you can check it out here on the Juxtapoz website.

Greenwood Cove, Mendocino Coast

Muir Beach

Point Reyes from Chimney Rock

Art Journal Review - Crafts

Crafts - The magazine for contemporary craft is a bi-monthly magazine focussing on providing a mix of news, reviews and writings published by the Crafts Council. Crafts desires to be a place where people can make, see, collect and learn about contemporary craft with the belief that it plays a vital role in the society, economy and culture of the UK.

While flicking through the magazine I came across an article called Labour of Love by Stephen Knott that discusses the importance of amateur craft within society against capitalism. He uses an anecdote from the novel Life: A User's Manual by Georges Perec to explain how amateur craft is often criticised and compared to professional craft. This is something I believe happens very frequently, especially being in an art college where peoples disciplines are often compared against each other. What drew me to the article though was the accompanying Illustrations by Sophia Martineck, I really liked the style of her work - I can see similarities in style to Grayson Perry's The Vanity of Small Differences. If you would like to know more about the magazine click here for the website and if you would like to see more of Sophia Martineck's work click here.

Art Journal Review - Aesthetica

While visiting home I was on the lookout for an art and design journal in the local newsagents seeing as I didn't have access to the university library. Thats when I came across Aesthetica - a British art and culture magazine that covers art, design, photography, film, music and more. 

Front Cover of Aesthetica, Issue 65

While reading through Aesthetica's 65th issue I came across an interesting article called Existence Abandoned by the American photographer Lori Nix. In Nix's series The City, she has photographed dilapidated libraries, abandoned bars and deserted shops in great detail. But these buildings have never actually been visited by Nix, instead they have been crafted by her. From her apartment in New York she has carefully fabricated these locations to be photographed with great thought of lighting, scale and space to make these stunning photographs. 

At first glance I thought these photographs were of real places which shows how well they are made. I particularly like the attention to detail in the background of each photo making sure that there are things in the distance (other than the walls of her apartment) to give it all perspective. The added building facades in the distance make the scenes so much more believable. I also love how she has managed to capture the juxtaposition of human existence and death with the remnants of human activity and the apocalyptic feel of the destroyed buildings. The places feel like they have a history, a past, yet they are quiet, devoid of any enterprise which makes them beautiful. What do you think? If you want to see the full portfolio click here and it will take you to her website. 

Art Journal Review - Frieze

May was the opening of the 56th International Art Exhibition entitled All The world's Futures curated by Okwui Enwezor at the Venice Biennale, featuring 136 artists from 53 countries. As it is the month of the opening, art journals and magazines are taking the opportunity to review and feature the exhibitions currently on show in Venice so there is plenty to read about it. I was flicking through Frieze and came across an interesting interview with Sarah Lucas (who is representing Britain at the Biennale) about her views on creativity, politics and the British culture.

Front Cover of Frieze, No. 171

Novelist Sarah Hall talks to Sarah Lucas about sculpture, sexual politics and representing Britain at this year's Venice Biennale

For those of you who are not familiar with Lucas' work, it is very sex orientated with visual jokes and innuendo (although you can probably already tell from the images). She then goes onto talk about how she has always had a 'deep-seated reservation about sex' and uses this sense of embarrassment when making art 'to work out what might be provocative or what isn't'. She often finds people become very self-conscious in front of some of her sculptures because they suddenly realise they are surprised by it, which I guess is the same feeling a young Sarah Lucas had when she saw provocative scenes on the telly.

Lucas also talks about how she views her own creations saying:

'Well, I don't have to know the answer.' That was a very liberating moment: understanding that the power is in the power of the thing, not in me trying to be aggressive or being one way or the other'

This was in the fact that Lucas felt like she had begun explaining things to much and was constantly trying to justify her work when she could let the work justify itself with the energy it holds. It took a moment of standing back and thinking for her to be able to understand this.

Diego (detail), 2014 | Pepsi & Cocky, 2008

Lucas and Hall then go onto discuss the strange differences of the nude male body to the nude female body within media. They point out that you won't ever see a penis, bum or the bare back of a man on page three, even though they would both quite enjoy it. This, according to Hall, is because 'women like to look at women and women buy books, so that's the audience they're going for. A man, a naked man, is supposedly not going to work as a cover'.

There were some other interesting topics brought up in the interview such as plastic surgery, political stance and beauty in sculpture. I really enjoyed reading the article, especially as I have a deposit down to visit the Biennale with University in November so I will see Sarah Lucas' work first hand in the British pavilion and I can't wait!

If you want to read the full article, click here