Avalanche (magazine)

Avalanche was an American New York City-based arts magazine that existed for the six years between 1970 and 1976. 13 issues, all in black and white, were produced.^[1] Avalanche was co-founded and co-edited by Willoughby Sharp and Liza Béar. Their aim was to cover Postminimalism from the artist's perspective, exploring conceptual art, minimal art, performance art, and land art.^[2]

Joseph Beuys on the cover of Avalanche

Editorial focus

Avalanche featured interviews with artists, done by either Béar, Sharp, or both of the editors together. The magazine featured a single, often close-cropped, portrait of an artist on almost every cover. Its editorial emphasis was to document artists' work and Postminimalism art news. It avoided standard art criticism and art reviews as a matter of editorial policy. The singular intention of the magazine was to foreground conceptual artistic ideas without mediation from art critics or other writers.^[2]

Avalanche was initially designed as a square-shaped journal similar to Artforum.^[3] Its covers resembled vinyl albums.^[4]

Among the featured artists were Vito Acconci, Laurie Anderson, Bill Beckley, Joseph Beuys, Chris Burden, Daniel Buren, Hanne Darboven, Walter De Maria, Jan Dibbets, Barbara Dilley, Simone Forti, Gilbert & George, Philip Glass, Hans Haacke, Jannis Kounellis, Meredith Monk, Barry Le Va, Sol LeWitt, Richard Long, Gordon Matta-Clark, Bruce Nauman, Dennis Oppenheim, Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainer, Klaus Rinke, Joel Shapiro, Jack Smith, Keith Sonnier, Richard Serra, Robert Smithson, George Trakas, William Wegman, Lawrence Weiner, and Jackie Winsor.^[5]

For its final five issues, Avalanche went to a tabloid format, but bankruptcy brought a halt to its run in 1976.^[2]

Legacy

In 2010 a reprint of the first eight issues of Avalanche was created by Primary Information.^[5]