‘A forum for artistic expression’, is how creative director Paul Olivennes describes his latest venture, Magma, an art journal supported by Italian fashion house Bottega Veneta.
Inspired by 20th-century ‘revues d’art’ – Olivennes notes Georges Bataille’s Documents (1929), Surrealist journal Minotaure (1933), and the early issues of Andy Warhol’s Interview (1969) as particular inspiration – the inaugural publication features 18 artists and more than 80 works of art and literary texts.
Bottega Veneta supports new art jounal, Magma
’These magazines offered direct access to artistic creation. They were the place for the avant-garde, both artistic and literary. I started collecting them when I was very young,’ says Oliviennes of the project. ‘I wanted to revive this format, which has now disappeared, in all its aesthetic, graphic, and intellectual sophistication. I imagine it as a dive into the intimacy, the creative magma, of the art.’
Published annually in a bilingual French-English book-bound format, the first issue features an introduction by Hans Ulrich Obrist – ‘Magma brings worlds into contact with other worlds,’ he writes – and comprises contributions from artists, writers, architects, filmmakers, sculptors, and photographers, most of which is previously unpublished.
Some of these include 1976 text by French film director Agnès Varda on Claude Nori’s photographs, a cross-genre dialogue between Lucas Arruda’s paintings and a poem by Edouard Glissant, while architect India Mahdavi and Egyptian writer Alaa Al Aswany share their joint experiences of Cairo. Other artists include Sophie Calle, Frida Orupabo and François Halard.
‘We wanted them to be able to use Magma as freely and as intimately as possible, and for readers, in turn, to enjoy an unmediated experience of art and writing,’ Olivennes continued in an Instagram post.
The project is supported by Bottega Veneta, which under current creative director Matthieu Blazy has undertaken a number of publishing projects, including a recent series of books and zines to coincide with the house’s Summer 2023 collection. One celebrated Blazy’s lifelong love of model Kate Moss, another documented his collaboration with Italian designer Gaetano Pesce.
Magma is available for pre-order at kdpresse.com.
