Today people express their thoughts and opinions on websites and blogs. Before the Internet, however, communication was a much more laborious task. To reach an audience you needed old-style printed magazines and newspapers that had to be physically distributed. Fortunately, during the 1980s, an energetic, do-it-yourself ethos prevailed in downtown New York, and there was no shortage of would-be publishers, and low-budget, independent publications covering the latest in art, music and politics.
Gallery 98 has recently restocked its collection of downtown periodicals from the 1980s. Some interesting issues are spotlighted below. You can find a fuller selection on Gallery 98’s publications page.
East Village Eye, “New Art in the East Village,” cover by Richard Hambleton, October 1983.
Publisher Leonard Abrams kept this monthly newspaper going from 1979 to 1987. This special art issue includes Hambleton, Robert Colescott, Rodney Alan Greenblatt and an article about the death of graffiti-artist Michael Stewart. See Gallery 98’s online exhibition about the East Village Eye.
New York Rocker, Patti Smith, June-July 1979
New York Rocker, Patti Smith, June-July 1979
Founded in 1976, New York Rocker faithfully tracked the rise of punk and new wave music in downtown clubs. The paper folded in 1982.
Upfront, “Lower East Side: Portal to America,” cover by Anton Van Dalen, Summer 1983
Upfront was published by the group Political Art Documentation/Distribution (PADD) with art critic Lucy Lippard a lead contributor.
Details Magazine, “Avant Garb”, cover photo by Bill Cunningham, March 1986
Details Magazine, “Avant Garb,” cover photo by Bill Cunningham, March 1986. Size: 9 x 11.5 inches
Founded by Annie Flanders in 1982, Details emphasized fashion and club life. It was the most successful of the East Village publications that quickly went national, and was eventually purchased by Condé Nast in 1990.
New York Beat, with Beth B and David Wojnarowicz, May 1984
New York Beat, with Beth B and David Wojnarowicz, 27 pages, May 1984. Size: 11 1/2 x 15 inches.
This short-lived publication billed itself as “New York’s Cultural Newsweekly.” This issue features an important two-page illustrated interview with Wojnarowicz by Steven Hager.
Say! Cover New York, with Marguerite Van Cook and James Romberger, November 1986
From 1986 to 2001 the writer Jeffrey C. Wright published 80 issues of Cover magazine. Van Cook and Romberger talk about their art, their pioneering gallery Ground Zero, and about the East Village art scene. A fashion feature includes photos by Gerard Malanga.
Stroll The Magazine of Outdoor Art and Street Culture, cover photograph by Amy Arbus, November – January 1986
Stroll was published by the arts organization Creative Time. This issue includes a two-page article with pictures about a Jenny Holzer and Keith Haring collaboration in Vienna, Austria.
Paper Magazine, John Waters, October 1986
Founded by Kim Hastreiter and David Hershkovits in 1984, Paper emphasized the latest cultural trends and personalities. It ran successfully through 2017, when it was sold to a larger media company.
New York Talk, cover by Kenny Scharf, June 1985
New York Talk, cover by Kenny Scharf, offset on newsprint, June 1985. Size: 11 x 14 Inches.
New York Talk was a free monthly paid for by advertisements. An article about the intermixing of art and nightclubs includes a photo of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Fab Five Freddy Brathwaite.
Find more Downtown periodicals from the 1980s on Gallery 98’s Publication page.
