“I always wanted to be an artist, nothing else interested me.” I use this as a starting point for the Spring 2018 issue because rarely do we get such a succinct and simple declaration of intent that sums up all that will come after. I’m not sure it’s a case of arriving at a particular age myself, or maybe a few questions raised in an interview I did a few months ago with fellow writer/curator, Jeff Hamada, but I have been obsessed with the timeline in which creative people just sort of… go for it. They push away the societal pressure, or the financial comforts of maybe being a doctor, lawyer or hedge fund manager to become what is at times the best thing to tell guests at a dinner party, and the most in need of explanation. I am an artist, and nothing else interests me.
“I always wanted to be an artist, nothing else interested me.” I use this as a starting point for the Spring 2018 issue because rarely do we get such a succinct and simple declaration of intent that sums up all that will come after. I’m not sure it’s a case of arriving at a particular age myself, or maybe a few questions raised in an interview I did a few months ago with fellow writer/curator, Jeff Hamada, but I have been obsessed with the timeline in which creative people just sort of… go for it. They push away the societal pressure, or the financial comforts of maybe being a doctor, lawyer or hedge fund manager to become what is at times the best thing to tell guests at a dinner party, and the most in need of explanation. I am an artist, and nothing else interests me.
Spoken by Rebecca Louise Law, the London-based installation artist who you will read about later in this issue, these words echo in the interviews with Serge Lowrider, Theresa Chromati, cover artist Inès Longevial, recently-graduated art school student Abigail Muñoz, street artists Franco Fasoli and Escif, and even one of contemporary art’s most famed painters, Julian Schnabel. The interviews in this issue are about a certain kind of boldness in defying expectations. Regardless of the country of your birth, or how ingrained artistic culture is within your life, to follow through and actively participate in the arts as a profession might feel like an insane thing to tell parents, friends or teachers, math test in hand. I assume that more than 50% of the people in your life thought you were crazy if you did this. I’m sure people told Serge Lowrider that traditional and classic hand-painted signs were outmoded, a career of the past. I can only assume James Jean shocked a few family members when his love of illustration made him one of the most famous comic book artists ever. Inès Longevial could have continued to successfully focus on commercial art for the rest of her life, but a love of fine art painting was such a constant exploration, she is now known widely around the world for her beautiful works. “I always wanted to be an artist, nothing else interested me.” It makes so much sense for so many artists.
It’s important to reiterate these words because I wish more people in my youth had told me to go for it. I seemed to be screaming it at anyone who would listen, but school structure, at times, can thwart such interests. Be an artist. Be a writer. I didn’t have that encouragement, nor do I think many people do. And so, sometimes I think it’s powerful that a kid from England wanted nothing else but to be an artist, and, 20 years later, created a breathtaking flower installation at Art Basel like Rebecca Louise Law did. Artists make art because they can’t help it. Theresa Chromati, born in Baltimore, showed paintings at Untitled in Miami Beach this past December that flipped perspectives and were some of the best works I’ve seen all year. Serge Lowrider saw the beginnings of the digital age take over design, and 30 years later, he’s running a studio producing some of the finest screen printing the world can buy. From Argentina to Asheville, this magazine will always celebrate the artists who defy trends and traditions. —Evan Pricco
Enjoy Spring 2018!
Read our cover story with Inès Longevial here.
Subscribe to Juxtapoz Magazine here.
See a full preview of Spring 2018 here. 
