We never imagined being overly nostalgic regarding the anniversary, but our 25th year, which Juxtapoz will celebrate throughout 2019 in a variety of ways, definitely invites open reflection. In the coming pages, you’ll see repeated phrases referencing, “the last time we spoke,” or, “the last time you were on the cover.” In a sense, a report on KAWS, SWOON, REVOK, James Jarvis or Haroshi, is a conversation about artists who helped transform this publication and effected its transcension from art culture into pop culture. Such reminiscences aren’t so much about the past, but about the present. They’re a way to contextualize the depth of outsider and underground cultures that predominate the popular art lexicon. Robert Williams was convinced that the art establishment was missing out on something grand in 1994. Pop culture opens its arms for a massive embrace, and these stories are told in the Winter 2019 issue.
Consider art over the last 25 years, and it’s impossible to disregard graffiti, skateboarding, high fashion, street fashion, zines, art fairs, pop surrealism, Pop Art, designer toys, collectibles, social media, Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, Berlin… the categories go on and on. When you begin to rattle off these lists and the breadth of art today, very few artists combine all these “scenes” quite like KAWS (read our cover story with KAWS here). Not only has the artist covered the ground of an entire generation, he has been able to disseminate his vision over multiple genres at once; designer toys sold on his own site become colossal fine art sculptures in white cube galleries. Collaborations with Uniqlo come on the heels of projects with Dior. Graffiti turns into a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. One morning, a sculpture is unveiled in mainland China, the next, it’s Los Angeles. His Instagram account provides insight into his art collecting habits, and reads like an art history lesson, accessible and within the aura of the inaccessible. Art can be for everyone, anyone, anywhere and anytime. KAWS is synonymous with art’s expansive language, and that pervasiveness is drafting the blueprint for the next generation.
Winter 2019 has many discussions on that unique evolution of underground innovation to cultural mainstays. SWOON swooped from wheatpasting the streets of Brooklyn to floating her homemade boat onto the shores of Venice during the Biennale, to transforming herself into one of the most philanthropic artists of her time. REVOK went from being a notorious graffiti writer to reimagining the idea of mark-making and construction of street materials. James Jarvis stripped down his imaginative universe to the most simple, touching tools: just a pen and paper. Tokyo’s Haroshi took the freestyle nature of skateboarding and reconstructed his childhood fascination. Louise Bonnet challenges perception of gender in art, and Muzae Sesay talks about that intimate relationship of art and home. (And where to begin with Andy Warhol, whose retrospective at the Whitney this winter will be the reminder that rule-breaking set a standard of postmodern culture, not just art.)
When Robert Williams thrust his proverbial middle finger up to the art establishment in 1994, the genesis of something quite profound began to take shape. These are some of the stories that pass the torch. —Evan Pricco
