UNDER/CURRENT

It’s been ages since my last post. I’ve got loads of magazines waiting to be blogged about and I’m feeling very bad about it all, so thank goodness for UNDER/CURRENT, which celebrated its second issue last night with a party that has jolted me back into action.

I don’t go to many parties that start with getting my hand stamped by a screeching transvestite wearing a nasty blonde wig, monstrous fake breasts and a wrestling mask, and the fact it happened for the first time last night says more about UNDER/CURRENT than it does about me. The police arrived at The Legion in Shoreditch five minutes after I did, wanting to know what the fuss was all about, and I kind of shared their bemusement at the whole art school knees-up aesthetic.

But then I spoke to ‘writing editor’ William Alderwick and actually got a chance to see the magazine and I was sold. It’s about music, books, art and fashion and it takes itself and its subject matter very seriously. Each article starts with an italicised paragraph that works as an extended standfirst, and while it’s not particularly easy reading it’s fascinating stuff. The story on ‘Nein, Onkel’, a new book of archive photography showing Nazis at play during the Second World War, showcases the arresting images but also takes the time and effort to actually understand what motivated the book’s author. And an interview with Greek artist Stelios Faitakis makes the most of his incredibly intricate paintings on the page while also illuminating the meaning behind their scenes of modern misrule, relating them to the recent rioting in Greece.

I didn’t stay until the end, but did manage to catch a band called Teeth of the Sea playing a bloody brilliant set before I went grinning on my way. UNDER/CURRENT published its first issue to coincide with last year’s London Fashion Week and it’s aiming to be a quarterly – I’m already looking forward to the next issue (and the next party).