''Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine'' (pronounced ''JUX-tah-pose'') is a
magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
created in 1994 by a group of artists and art collectors including
Robert Williams, Fausto Vitello, C.R. Stecyk III (a.k.a. Craig Stecyk), Greg Escalante, and
Eric Swenson
Eric Leon Swenson (August 4, 1946 – June 20, 2011) was an American skateboard designer and magazine publisher.
Born in San Francisco, Swenson was the chief skateboard designer for the Independent Truck Company, which he co-founded with skateboa ...
to both help define and celebrate urban alternative and underground contemporary art. ''Juxtapoz'' is published by High Speed Productions, the same company that publishes ''
Thrasher
Thrashers are a New World group of perching bird, passerine birds related to mockingbirds and New World catbirds. Like these, they are in the family (biology), family Mimidae. There are 15 species in one large and 4 monotypic genus, genera.
T ...
'' skateboard magazine in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
.
Scope
''Juxtapoz'' launched with the mission of connecting modern genres like
psychedelic and hot rod art,
graffiti
Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
,
street art
Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art.
Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graff ...
, and
illustration
An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vid ...
, to the context of broader more historically recognized genres of art like
Pop,
assemblage,
old master painting, and
conceptual art
Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...
. Although based in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, ''Juxtapoz'' was founded upon the belief in the virtues of
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
pop culture
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* Pop (Gas al ...
and freedom from the conventions of the "established"
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
art world.
Ferus Gallery
The Ferus Gallery was a contemporary art gallery which operated from 1957 to 1966. In 1957, the gallery was located at 736-A North La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. In 1958, it was relocated across the street to 723 North La Cienega ...
, run by
Walter Hopps
Walter "Chico" Hopps (May 3, 1932 – March 20, 2005) was an American museum director, gallerist, and curator of contemporary art. Hopps helped bring Los Angeles post-war artists to prominence during the 1960s, and later went on to redefine pract ...
and Irving Blum in the 1950s and 1960s, was the ultimate cultural touchstone for the magazine.
''Juxtapoz'' originally reflected Williams' own
Kustom Kulture
Kustom Kulture is a neologism used to describe the artworks, vehicles, hairstyles, and fashions of those who have driven and built custom cars and motorcycles in the United States of America from the 1950s through today.
It was born out of the ...
sensibility – a combination of California
"Big Daddy" Ed Roth–style
pop surrealism (identified by some as synonymous with
lowbrow art
Lowbrow, or lowbrow art, is an underground visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles, California area in the late 1960s. It is a populist art movement with its cultural roots in underground comix, punk music, tiki culture, graffiti, and ...
and others as its own genre
) and the serious
figurative craftsmanship that is more likely to be found among
illustrator
An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...
s than
fine art
In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...
ists today.
Growth
''Juxtapoz'' expanded its range in the early 2000s to cover other nascent styles and subgenres of
underground art
Underground art is any form of art that operates outside of conventional norms in the art world, part of underground culture. This can include essentially any genre of art that is not popular in the art world, including visionary art and street ...
. Artists who have received coverage in ''Juxtapoz'' include
KAWS
Brian Donnelly (born November 4, 1974), known professionally as Kaws (stylized as KAWS), is an American artist and designer. His work includes repeated use of a cast of figurative characters and motifs, some dating back to the beginning of his c ...
,
Mark Ryden
Mark Ryden (born January 20, 1963) is an American painter who is considered to be part of the Lowbrow (or Pop Surrealist) art movement.Ken Johnson"Mark Ryden: ‘The Gay 90s: Old Tyme Art Show" ''The New York Times'', May 6, 2010. Retrieved 2013 ...
,
Barry McGee
Barry McGee (born 1966) is an American contemporary artist. He is a well known graffiti artist, and a pioneer of the Mission School art movement. McGee is known by his monikers: Twist, Ray Fong, Bernon Vernon, and P.Kin.
Life and education
Barry ...
,
Todd Schorr
Todd Schorr (born January 9, 1954) is an American artist and member of the " Lowbrow" art movement or pop surrealism. Combining a cartoon influenced visual vocabulary with a highly polished technical ability, based on the exacting painting meth ...
,
Tara McPherson
Tara McPherson (born April 7, 1976, in San Francisco, California) is an American artist based in New York. McPherson creates paintings, murals, poster art, and designer toys, within the New Contemporary Art movement.
Biography
Tara McPherson s ...
,
Camille Rose Garcia,
Tim Biskup,
Michael Pearce and
Tom Sachs
Tom Sachs (born July 26, 1966) is an American contemporary artist who lives and works in New York City.
Life and early career
Sachs was born in New York City on July 26, 1966. He grew up in Westport, Connecticut, attending high school at Green ...
.
As of 2009, ''Juxtapoz'' had the largest circulation of any
art magazine
An art magazine is a publication whose main topic is art. They can be in print form, online, or both and may be aimed at different audiences, including galleries, buyers, amateur or professional artists and the general public. Art magazines can be ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, more than established counterparts like ''
Art News
''ARTnews'' is an American visual-arts magazine, based in New York City. It covers art from ancient to contemporary times. ARTnews is the oldest and most widely distributed art magazine in the world. It has a readership of 180,000 in 124 countri ...
'', ''
Art in America'', and ''
Artforum
''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ x 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notabl ...
''. In addition to printed subscriptions which offer alternative cover images to the newsstand version, ''Juxtapoz'' is also available as an online digital subscription.
Evan Pricco
''Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine'' (pronounced ''JUX-tah-pose'') is a magazine created in 1994 by a group of artists and art collectors including Robert Williams (artist), Robert Williams, Fausto Vitello, C.R. Stecyk III (a.k.a. Craig Stecyk), ...
is the editor-in-chief.
See also
* ''
Hot Rod''
*
Lowbrow art
Lowbrow, or lowbrow art, is an underground visual art movement that arose in the Los Angeles, California area in the late 1960s. It is a populist art movement with its cultural roots in underground comix, punk music, tiki culture, graffiti, and ...
*
Niagara
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.juxtapoz.com/
''Photos from In the Land of Retinal Delights: The Juxtapoz Factor'' an exhibition curated by
Meg Linton,
Exhibition announcement
Visual arts magazines published in the United States
Monthly magazines published in the United States
Contemporary art magazines
Fantastic art
Magazines established in 1994
Magazines published in San Francisco