''Contemporary'' was a monthly
visual arts
The visual arts are Art#Forms, genres, media, and styles, art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as ...
magazine based in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. Founded and edited as ''The Green Book'' by Keith Spencer as a quarterly publication, it re-emerged under the title ''Contemporary Art'' in 1993. On the death of Spencer, the title was acquired by
Gordon and Breach
Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa plc, a United K ...
Publishing (G+B), and produced four issues under the editorship of Lynne Green, Spencer's deputy.
The magazine finally found its feet as a committed contemporary art publication in 1996 under the editorial control of Keith Patrick and with the change of title to ''Contemporary Visual Arts'', later abbreviated to ''CVA''. During this period the magazine achieved sales of nearly 20,000, including 5,000 subscribers, with distribution mainly in the UK, Europe, the States and Australia. Its base at this time was the former
Peek Freans
Peek Freans is the name of a former biscuit making company based in Bermondsey, London, which is now a global brand of biscuits and related confectionery owned by various food businesses. Owned but not marketed in the UK, Europe and USA by De Be ...
biscuit factory in
Bermondsey
Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckha ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, the site of several key early exhibitions of the
YBA generation.
With the collapse of the G+B parent company in 2001, the title was acquired by
Art:21 and reappeared as ''Contemporary'' in January 2002 although no longer with an exclusive commitment to the visual arts. In 2003 a sister publication, ''Contemporary 21'', was launched. Initially media-focused, with special issues dedicated to painting, sculpture, video art and performance, it would later embrace a wider range of topics, from art collecting to the relationship between visual art and architecture. In 2006 ''Contemporary'' published its first Annual, featuring 50 emerging artists nominated by its network of world correspondents. In 2008 the magazine relocated to
Panama City
Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...
, where it ceased publication after failing in an attempt to start a Spanish-language edition.
In May 2009, it was reported that the publisher, Brian Muller, had not paid the magazine's contributing writers for a year.
"''Contemporary'' Mag vs. its Writers"
''Artnet News'', 19 May 2009
Notable contributors
*
Ian Carr-Harris
*
Dennis Cooper
Dennis Cooper (born January 10, 1953) is an American novelist, poet, critic, editor and performance artist. He is best known for the ''George Miles Cycle'', a series of five semi-autobiographical novels published between 1989 and 2000 and describe ...
*
Liam Gillick
Liam Gillick (born 1964, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire) is a British artist who lives and works in New York City.
*Mark Gisbourne
*Tony Godfrey
*
RoseLee Goldberg
*Katerina Gregos
*Martin Herbert
*
Jens Hoffmann
Jens Hoffmann Mesén (born 1974 in San José, Costa Rica) is a writer, editor, educator, and exhibition maker. His work has attempted to expand the definition and context of exhibition making. From 2003 to 2007 Hoffmann was director of exhibitio ...
*
Katie Kitamura
*
Thomas McEvilley
*
Lucy McKenzie
*
Hans Ulrich Obrist
*Christine Redfern
*
Sally O'Reilly
*
Barry Schwabsky
Barry Schwabsky (b. Paterson, New Jersey, in 1957) is an American art critic, art historian and poet. He has taught at the School of Visual Arts, Pratt Institute, New York University, Yale University, and Goldsmiths College, among others.
Art c ...
*Katy Siegel
*
Won-il Rhee
Won-il Rhee (; 2 November 1960 – 11 January 2011) was a South Korean digital art curator. He was born and died in Seoul.
Rhee was the artistic director in 2002 and 2006 of the ''Media City Seoul'' Biennale. He was the leading curator of t ...
*
Raúl Zamudio
Editors-in-chief
*Brian Müller (2008)
*Emiliano Valdés (2007–08)
*Michele Robecchi (2005–07)
*
Roger Tatley (2004–05)
*Mark Rappolt (2003–04)
*Keith Patrick (1996–03)
*Lynne Green (1995–96)
*Keith Spencer (1993–94)
References
External links
''Contemporary'' homepage
1993 establishments in the United Kingdom
2008 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Arts in the United Kingdom
Visual arts magazines published in the United Kingdom
Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom
Contemporary art magazines
Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom
Magazines published in London
Magazines established in 1993
Magazines disestablished in 2008
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