Beautiful and glossy, but...

Art in America is of limited use for practicing professional artists. The magazine lives in the world of Big Art Shows, pompous curators, name brand artists and writers trying to determine the Next Big Thing.

It's beautiful, no doubt about it. The August guide of galleries (cover price $$$) is a great resource for national gallery mailing addresses and contact info. If you are an artist trying to find outlets for your work, practical suggestions and solutions for finding gallery contacts, try the magazine Art Calendar.

I went to a name brand art school, am still a practicing artist, and a self-supporting one. I have spent many years purging the "art speak" from my language. Magazines such as Art in America usually alienate the novices and those not steeped in art culture. I find it more often obscures rather than illuminates. Cryptic articles full of artistic navel contemplation (the writer's embellishments, not usually the artist) doesn't say much about the art or the artist, but it says a lot about the aspirations of the art reviewer, the curator and the board of directors at a particular museum.

Do I sound bitter? I'm not. I'm just tired of people who are interested in art feeling like they don't belong, feeling intimidated by the thought of going to an opening or asking an artist a question about their work because they have been made to feel "ignorant". What purpose does that serve? The curious should ask questions about art and the artists, how else are they going to learn? Making it an exclusive club does not serve a purpose.

informative & interesting

A subscription to Art in America is a good way to keep up with what's going on in the "art scene", mostly in the USA, but there are quite a few articles and reports that deal with art worldwide. As an example, the February 2002 issue has "Journey to China", showing the extraordinary work of Ah Xian, a Beijing-born artist who has lived in Australia since 1990. His porcelain portrait busts are inspired and unique, and this one article alone is worth buying the issue for.

The 2/2002 issue also has "Wayne's World", about California's wonderful Wayne Thiebaud, "Transition Yoko", on Ono's N.Y. exhibit (I like that "Half-A-Room" piece !), "Who is Cleopatra ?", with some fascinating sculpture from 50-30 B.C. on exhibit at the Field Museum in Chicago, and 2 other articles, rounding out a diverse mix covering many interests.

Other sections are "Review of Books", "Issues and Commentary", the newsy "Artworld", reviews of exhibits, etc., and of course, there are the color ads for the latest art shows, mostly from the New York galleries, which are always interesting.
The paper and color reproduction are of good quality, and one of the issues is an annual guide to museums, galleries, and artists, which is always useful for artist and collector alike.
When compared to ARTnews, it's closest competitor, perhaps one could say it has a little less gloss, and a bit more substance.

Art in America

Just about the best art magazine available now, even the advertisements are interesting. Global view of what is happening in the art scene today.