Throughout the twentieth century, artists, writers, and small publishers have reinterpreted the genre of the magazine time and again. Issued serially and sent through the mail to subscribers like most popular magazines, the projects on display variously reimagine the magazine as both a medium for the work of a particular creative community and as a creative genre in and of itself.
The exhibition includes original issues of six American magazines held in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library: VVV, Folder, Semina, Aspen, S.M.S., and Raw. These varied periodicals document particular moments in the history of Surrealism, the Beat movement, Pop Art, and the graphic novel. On view are works by dozens of artists and writers including Marcel Duchamp, Frank O’Hara, Wallace Berman, Yoko Ono, Andy Warhol, and Art Spiegelman.
