MoMA honours Zurich art magazine
The Museum of Modern Art - MoMA - in New York is currently exhibiting 150 works of art commissioned by a Zurich-based contemporary art magazine, Parkett.
They include paintings, photographs, sculptures and videos created by Parkett contributors since the magazine was founded in 1984. “For us to be honoured with an exhibition at MoMA is a bit like receiving an Oscar,” says editor-in-chief Bice Curiger.
But the art equivalent of an academy award is a well-deserved honour for Parkett, which describes itself as “a small museum and a large library of contemporary art”.
The list of artists who have created works for the magazine is a roll call of leading figures on the international art scene, including Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Georg Baselitz and Louise Bourgeois.
Each artist also creates a special signed and numbered edition exclusive to Parkett, which may take a form from unique works of art to prints. Many of works featured at the MoMA exhibition are no bigger than the journal itself, and have been fitted into one gallery.
The magazine has also been the subject of exhibitions at such museums as the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, which described it as “one of the best art publications”.
Parkett – which resembles a small book – is published three times a year in English and German. It has a circulation of over 11,000 copies with some 30,000 readers in nearly 40 countries. Each edition features the work of three artists, whose contributions are exclusive to the magazine.
The artists also have a say in which experts write the texts accompanying their work.
In addition, contributors – including critics and art historians – write about their opinions on other art-related matters, and the result is more a curated event-between-covers than a typical art magazine with reviews and news items.
It has even been described as “an alternative exhibition venue”.
by Richard Dawson
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