Bookforum, the New York-based sister journal of art-world shiny Artforum that launched in 1994 and served as a haven for literary criticism and commentary, will stop publication. Its present winter problem might be its final, per an announcement posted to the publication’s Twitter account as we speak (12 December).
The journal’s December, January and February problem, which might be its final, features a function on a brand new guide by writer and curator Hilton Als in regards to the musician Prince, an essay by the critic Sasha Frere-Jones in regards to the artwork of Gordon Matta-Clark, a evaluate of a brand new Frank Bowling catalogue and extra. Its inaugural problem, which appeared on newsstands in the summertime of 1994, included contributions by the critics and philosophers bell hooks and Arthur C. Danto, and by artists together with Louise Bourgeois and Douglas Coupland. Within the ensuing 28 years it has revealed the writing by nearly each influential artwork and literary critic, in addition to many main artists and authors, from Eileen Myles and Jonathan Lethem to Kim Gordon and Barbara Kruger.
The announcement of Bookforum’s closure comes simply days after Artforum was acquired by New York-based Penske Media Company, which additionally publishes the artwork magazines ARTnews and Artwork in America, along with quite a few titles within the fields of tradition and luxurious, amongst them Selection, Rolling Stone and Robb Report. The Penske announcement concerning its acquisition of Artforum made no point out of Bookforum.
Contacted for additional info, a consultant of Bookforum re-shared the assertion that had been posted on Twitter. Representatives Penske Media Company didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
The closure of Bookforum comes on the tail finish of an particularly bleak yr in the USA media panorama, with greater than 3,000 individuals laid off by way of October 2022—an enormous surge from 2021, although nowhere close to the report layoffs introduced on by Covid-19 in 2020. The layoffs and closures haven’t been restricted to the US, both: in October, British artwork journal Elephant introduced it will fold.
