The contents of this month’s Artforum are rich and varied. Isabelle Graw writes about the enterprising young artist Jana Euler, Pamela M. Lee reviews the 11th Havana Biennial and Jonathan Horowitz files the Top Ten list, including the delicious Chipotle fast-food chain among his picks. But we are here, as we are every month, for the magazine’s advertisements. Click the slide show at left to see the month’s six finest ads.
"You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last/But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast/Yonder stands your orphan with his gun/Crying like a fire in the sun/Look out the saints are comin’ through/And it’s all over now, Baby Blue," etc. —Michael H. Miller
This is a show many years in the making and that's evident in this spiffy ad. Look at those swirls, those patterns in the chaos. This ad was clearly the product of a devoted Uecker fan who's clearly taken the time to decipher the legendary artist. —Dan Duray
An artist's name, an address, a phone number. Nothing could be more straightforward. But what is actually being advertised? What gallery has sponsored this ad? The classified ads only offer more mysteries: Snoopy for President and other "underground button" are on offer, an "experienced female singer" is looking for a group to join, a night club is hiring topless dancers. Stories and questions multiply, and explode in every direction. —A.R.
Oh, irony. I mean, there's nothing neon about this ad at all. Not even close. —M.H.M.
Like Wade Guyton's art, this ad shows how the most simple idea, honestly realized, can stun: just scan the show's cover, position the new Petzel logo in one corner, make history, repeat. —A.R.
Well do I really have to explain it? The dimension-play, the colors, the vintage VW ad, the wordplay...it's all great. Turning to this ad I felt like Don Draper on the train, looking at that other VW "Lemon" ad: roused from my otherwise dull, Ossining existence. —D.D.
