Artenol

Artenol Magazine (also known as Artenol Journal) is a quarterly publication on the arts and literature that was founded in 2014 by conceptual artist and satirist Alexander Melamid, formerly half of the Russian expatriate art duo, Komar and Melamid. Melamid had long pondered the question, “Why is today’s art so meaningless?” His response was the creation Artenol. The magazine claims to be the first arts publication of its kind, featuring articles by writers from outside the art world's critical establishment - pieces that often poke fun at contemporary art while offering serious commentary on the superficiality of much of the modernist genre and today's related styles. Artenol also differs from other arts publications in its shape: each edition has a different die-cut leading edge, giving the magazine the contours of whatever image appears on the cover. Its irreverent combination of insightful and common-sense criticism with over-the-top humor inspired The New York Times to describe Artenol as “a cross between The New Criterion and Mad magazine.”
History
In the fall of 2014, Alexander Melamid teamed up with art curator and financier Gary Krimershmoys to fulfill a longtime desire of Melamid's to create a publication that would provide an alternative view of the contemporary art world. Melmaid had become increasingly disenchanted with trends in modern art, likening its zealotry, apparent irrationality and asceticism to the religious practices of antiquity. "Christianity has taken the road from the scorched Syrian desert to the opulence of the Vatican," said Melamid. "Modern art took a route from parched Arles to the splendor of Fifth Avenue." Melamid and Krimershmoys decided the publication would be a glossy, full-color, nationally-distributed magazine that would give voice to the artist's concerns. To facilitate its production, Melamid brought in artist David Dann to act as editor and art director. Dann had first worked with Melamid in the 1990s on "Spark," a newspaper published by Komar and Melamid’s radical artists group, the "School of Bayonne." Over the next few months, the team began soliciting articles and artwork, finding a printer and distributor, and setting up production for the first issue. Because the magazine was intended to be a remedy for the ills of the art world, Melamid named it "Artenol," taking inspiration from the commercial analgesic, Tylenol. Artenol was successfully launched in July 2015; its debut cover featured a silhouette of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche with a lead article titled "The Death of Art."

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