Customer Reviews

Juxtapoz

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have been a faithful and enthusiastic Juxtapoz reader for a couple of years now. It showcases young, interesting artists, and offers a fresh perspective to those of us tired of the too-often pretentious , too-rarely insipred high brow arts scene. It has relatively little advertising, and most of it is arty and cool so I don't mind it.

However... I have grown increasingly disappointed at how parochial and incestuous Juxtapoz has become. Issue after issue, I see the same artists, doing roughly the same things at the same galleries: Roq la Rue. La Luz De Jesus. Copro Nason. Marion Peck. Mark Ryden. Tim Biskup. Lather, rinse, repeat. No matter how much I admire these artists, I would just expect more diversity and openness from a magazine that's supposed to showcase alternative, indie art.

I teach at an art school...all I can say is that this magazine keeps me sane! There have been lots of phrases coined to describe art that can't or won't fit into the neat little Academic Art boxes. Terms like "Outsider Art" "Outre" and "Retro" are all illustrated in this amazing publication. If you want the ultra-chi-chi Post-Modern A Go-Go stuff that sells in most galleries today, look elsewhere. Juxtapoz is art by people who like to make art. Anything goes, and the Art Speak is refreshingly absent or toned down. The editors have a sharp eye for quality however, so don't worry about this being another "Anything can be art" experience. It's fun the way your first Hot Rod magazine was, or Low Rider, or Famous Monsters, or Vampirella, etc. If you're tired of the current wave of ultra self-absorbed Art, this is just the tonic you crave....

Juxtapoz is a glossy that focuses particularly on low-brow art (e.g., works that aren't usually seen in mainstream cultural institutions.) While Los Angeles is their home-base, they make efforts to highlight talents world-wide that are normally under the radar - tattoo artists, graffiti artists, muralists, etc...

Great features on emerging and in-their prime artists with wonderful layouts of artwork, the magazine often features full color pull-outs.

Despite heavy advertisements for artists and galleries that often look like mirror-images of each other (which isn't necessarily the magazines' fault but more of a lack of expansion of subject matter on the artists' behalf) and editorial that sometimes feels to focus primarily on California-based artists, Juxtapoz is an established magazine that does a great job of covering art that's rarely given a spotlight.

I think I would describe Juxtapoz as a magazine about art that is fun to look at. People try to give this type of art labels (like lowbrow, which doesn't even really make any sense), but I would just describe it as art that most people would actually find interesting. Examples of some of the art here are graffiti, tattoo art, comic art, and "pop surrealism".

The art in Juxtapoz is all in contrast to the world of modern/contemporary/whatever art that is usually just really boring, self-indulgent, and pretentious. The nice thing about that kind of art though is that it is done by people that are trying to create something that has never been done before, but, like I said, unfortunately it usually just ends up being really boring and pretentious. That's how I feel about it anyway. But then Juxtapoz's problem is just the opposite. A lot of these artists just seem to be doing the same thing. If you look at paintings by Robert Williams, Alex Gross, Mark Ryden, Todd Schorr, the Clayton Bros, you start to think that they're all doing the same thing. They have paintings that work as a loose narrative that have all of these different characters in them and often times many pop culture references. Don't get me wrong, I like all of these artists, but when I was subscribing to Juxtapoz I couldn't get excited about each issue because it was pretty much just the same thing over and over again.

Other major problems with the magazine:

-The same artists over and over again.

-There are rarely artists that I am not familiar with in here. Articles are almost always about very popular artists instead of artists that are new and exciting.

-There are features and regular articles that don't interest me at all. Like maybe some artists are doing some show for some Japanese clothing company nobody has ever heard of. Or maybe they're talking about some limited edition Nikes that were designed by so-and-so and not only do they not look cool, they are also $400 and completely sold out (why would anybody care about this?).

-They are practically obsessed with Frank Kozik. I guess they didn't get the memo that he's not that talented.

-Interviews are usually very brief and pretty weak. I can't recall seeing anything in the interviews here that has inspired me or really made me think and that's really bad.

-There's a regular feature that shows photos from gallery shows. What's missing from these photos is works of art. Instead they have photos of one of their writers hanging out with one of the magazine's regular artists and Vincent Gallo or some other marginally talented celebrity.

Basically, the magazine seems to be a lot of style over substance and lot of the same stuff over and over again.

I would recommend checking out Beautiful Decay instead, which does a good job of finding artists that are doing very interesting work, but often aren't hugely popular. It also covers a wider spectrum of artists than Juxtapoz.

For $29.99 USD you get a year sub and a free book if you sign up through Juxtapoz. Anyone that falls for this trap deserves to pay 10 more bucks.

For an artist interested in an 'outside the norm' art movement, this mag opens the doors to a wealth of imagination. It often features artists like Mark Ryden and Eric White, Shag, Gary Baseman but it also features less known artists too. A definite recommendation. The magazine is colorful, whimsical and always entertaining. A+

What input can I throw in that hasn't been typed already? Not much. Lame response,right?...well, most of these reviewers seem very competent about today's art scene, and i have to agree with most of what's being said. I can only praise this magazine and what breath of fresh air it's bringing to our newsstands. Juxtapoz showcases the underground movement of Graffiti-modern pop art-street art amongst many other mediums being introduced today. While, yes, I'd have to agree with another reviewer that it remains biased to certain artists and their showcases, but what the hell, right? I have been searching bookstores for a magazine like this, and have only come across publications that focus on one main subject, like graphic design, abstract art, indie art, so on,so forth, but it was a relief finding Juxtapoz and it's vast subject matter because I see what i'm familiar with, and enjoy..and then at the same time, introduced to artists i've never seen or heard before. Definite pickup, and definitely subscription material.peace and im out.

I love Juxtapoz magazine, it's the best magazine for artists who like alternative or "lowbrow" culture from graffiti, to artists like the Pizz, Mark Ryden, and the editor himself the great Robert Williams "surrealistic" paintings.It used to have said artists showing their techinques about how they go about their work, the only negative is that the book only comes out 6 times a year.

I first heard of Juxtapoz from an Airbrush artist. At the time I was still doing the pretty little paintings you see in Artist's magazine. I was so bored and unhappy doing old lady art. I wanted to be more than a human camera. Then Juxtapoz came to my studio. It was love at first sight. This was my inner artist the one I lost when I went to art college. I've subscribed for three years now and it is wonderful letting my inner artist out to play!

Beautiful, thought provoking, interesting, inspiring, and disturbing. I would like to see it in larger format,and with more pages. Nevertheless, as-is,a perfeKt magazine. Worth every penny to subscribe.