Art journals online

Garage Library holds a wide selection of Russian and international periodicals on art, architecture and design. Unfortunately, most of them are not available online in their entirety, but some of their content is. The team at Garage have prepared an overview of websites allowing free access to the materials from magazines featured at the library. 

Visual art

One of the most influential academic journals on contemporary art, October is associated with some of the most influential authors in Western art history, including Douglas Crimp and Rosalind Krauss among others. Quite a few articles from October can be found on the website of MIT Press. For easier navigation, a “most read” filter is available. Of the most recent additions, see an essay on American minimalist artist Robert Morris (who, as we learn from the article, had departed from minimalism by the 1980s) and an analysis of the Trump-era political caricature.

Another pillar of the Western art criticism is Artforum. Less academic than October, it focuses on the analysis of the current developments in art. Its website features a newsfeed as well as some of the articles from the printed edition, such as Huang Yong Ping's obituary from the January issue (his installation was part of the exhibition The Coming World at Garage), an analysis of a major exhibition of the French symbolist painter Pierre Bonnard from November 2019 ,and a selection of materials on the legacy of a key American critic and postmodernist theorist Douglas Crimp.

Our personal favourite is the British Art Monthly. Along with serious long reads it features reviews of important exhibitions and interviews with artists, curators and critics—a great source for staying informed about the latest trends in art. Art Monthly publishes one article from every issue online.

Another journal stocked by the library is the Italian Mousse Magazine, whose original design is also reflected in the structure of its website. Free materials include essays on artists and interviews with them as well as exhibition reviews. This might be one of the best sources for those who want to follow developments in art.

Perhaps, the only periodical that has all of its materials available online is the British Frieze. Frieze collaborates with professional critics and art historians, and if you are searching for a particular artist online, you will often come across a link to their pages—a good option for those who want to learn more about art.

BOMB Magazine publishes interviews with artists and by artists, offering literally first-hand information on art.  

One of the most recognized editions in the field, The Art Newspaper has websites in English, Russian and French. It publishes daily news and needs no recommendation.  

One source that is not available at Garage Library, but will definitely be of use to anyone interested in Eastern European art is Blok Magazine. One of its recent articles is a review of the exhibition Theft and Destruction at the Arsenal Gallery in Białystok, Poland, which featured some Russian artists among others.

Photography

If you are interested in contemporary photography be sure to follow the blog of Aperture, one of the key American editions on the subject. Aperture do not re-publish their articles online, but in their blog, they review new photographic books, exhibitions, and projects by international star photographers.

Camera Austria publish previews of articles from their latest issues as well as fragments from photographic books. Their page can be a good starting point for further online searches.

We also recommend checking out the Telegram channel of our colleague, photography historian Viktoria Musvik, who ran two seasons of reading groups on photography theory and visual studies at Garage Library.

Architecture and design

Domus is one of the world’s key journals on architecture and needs no introduction. A lot of their articles are available for free on their website. 

For a panoramic view of contemporary architecture and architectural critique, visit Architectural Review. The website has a convenient search feature, however, not all of the articles are available for free. 

Abitare is published in English and Italian and features materials on a variety of visual practices including design, art, and architecture.