On the Occasion of Our Last Issue

by Danny Kopel, December 2012

Dear Reader,

In my last letter this spring, I wrote to tell you about the exciting merger of our Quarterly edition and our Monthly issues into a single unified publication that would marry our Quarterly’s spirit of academic inquiry with our Monthly’s zest for all things current in the art world. After this last letter to you, we stood back and let the work speak for itself without any introduction or framework. As we came to trust that the work we were producing was strong and impactful in its own right, this letter seemed more and more accessory.

But today, it felt necessary to communicate with you directly on the occasion of our last issue which follows this letter. It is difficult to write, and it is not without a heavy heart that I share the news of our decision to interrupt the regular publication of Artwrit. I’ve always regarded this project as a living one, as all projects should be. It ebbs and flows, it ages and matures, it shifts from one phase into the next, and it is precisely that which has brought us to the decision to refocus our mission.

After this issue, the website will be reformatted as a live archive so that our work of the last three years is available as a resource to all, as we pour our efforts into the production of a book that will collect and celebrate the finest work in this archive. Last winter we took some first steps towards this goal of publishing something you can hold, presenting a “proof” of Collection No. 1 to patrons of the magazine at an event in February 2012. Then a slim volume and with only a few in rotation, it thrills us to now revisit and expand on this proposal. We trust that you, faithful reader, will stay in touch with us as more information about this development becomes available.

It goes almost without saying that without you Artwrit would not be in existence, and for your constant support we are unendingly grateful. I invite you to read on and enjoy this special issue of Artwrit, our last. I’ve asked some of our original writers and strongest voices to contribute to this final digest to ensure that the spirit of Artwrit, our commitment to excellence in art writing, was never more apparent.

Onward,

Danny Kopel
Editor-in-Chief | Founder
Artwrit