Last year I subscribed to Art in America for the first time, and I’ve really been enjoying it. I must admit that I mostly look at the pictures, because I often don’t understand or am uninterested in the articles — although now and again one really captures my attention. But the pictures are worth the expense! I bookmark the ones I want to study, and then I look up the artist on the internet. Sometimes I see work I don’t know by old friends like Frankenthaler, Rothko, Mitchell, Richter or Close.
Frankenthaler Crossing 1983
But more often it is younger artists whose work I am unfamiliar with such as MaryBeth Thielhelm, http://www.searspeyton.com/html/artistresults.asp?artist=304&testing=true
Thielhelm Forest Sage Sea 2007
Stuart Shils, http://www.hackettfreedman.com/templates/exhibition.jsp?id=51,
Stuart Shils
Stuart Shils
or Lousie Fishman
http://www.cheimread.com/artists/louise-fishman/?view=selected
Fishman AllNight and All Day 2008
I was delighted to come across Robert Kushner again after reading about him in Pattern and Decoration (ed Anne Swartz). http://www.sharksink.com/artists.asp?artists=8
Kushner Cherries
And when I checked out
Albert Oehlen at the Luhring Augustine site
http://www.luhringaugustine.com/index.php?mode=current
I discovered a gallery that fascinates me – it’s like architecture. Plus I like or am interested in or intrigued by a lot of the work in the archives.
As an added bonus some photographs of Greenland set me on an internet hunt which led me to Ultima Thule (literally the ends of the earth) and this site http://www.arcticthule.com/ ( I must admit to being somewhat obsessed by Greenland.)
Greenland
As a group we fiber artists can be very close knit 🙂 which is generally great, but can lead to insularity and inadvertant similarities in work. I find it helps me tremendously to simply look outside my comfort zone and see what’s happening in the art world today.
Angela Moll
clairan
eileen
gabrielleswain
Jane Davila
june
karenmusgrave2013
kate
kathleenloomis
lindafrost
martinehouse
mcooter3
olganorris
pamdora
sandyw
snicklefritzin43
terrygrant
websandthreads
Ragged Cloth Cafe, serving Art and Textiles 
Hey Nice blog here I’m adding it to my rss feeder, hope you update often!
I agree with so much of what you say in this post. I do not subscribe to Art in America but buy it from time to time, dipping in, or plunging into intese study. And yes, the ads are just as nutritous as the articles.
I agree about it being important to range over disciplines. I used to subscribe to Sculpture magazine before the exchange rate made it too costly for me. I found it one of the few mags which I read from cover to cover. Another in that category is the Australian Craft Arts: http://www.craftarts.com.au/current.asp
As well as sculpture, ceramics is another love of mine, and I buy Ceramic Review magazine once or twice a year when the contents attract me. http://www.ceramicreview.com/
A good magazine is a glorious resource, especially as a springboard for internet exploration, as you say. Coincidentally, I too am drawn to things Arctic, and rising up my Amazon wish list is The Ice Museum: In Search of the Lost Land of Thule by Joanna Kavenna. So we fibre folks can be close knit even in our diversity!
I’m sure she’s the idol of many of us — and we’re rarely idle! But seriously, it’s wonderful to come across her work when you don’t expect it!
too bad we can’t edit – I meant Frankenthaler was my “idol” not idle – lolol. A senior moment for sure!
a.n.t.
I subscribed to Art in America for many years, then they sort of “lost” me – and I tried Art Forum for a while, then Art News came on the scene. While I’m a mixed media artist, which includes a large portion of fiber, I started out as a painter so I’m always interested in what is au currant in the mainstream artstream. I love the artists’ work you selected to mention – especially the paintings by Shils. But Frankenthaler – my all time favorite – have many books about her as she was my idle while I was working on my BFA – gave me feminist hope!
Artfully speaking,
Anna Rice – Tampa FL
Oh yes, I absolutely look closely at the ads.
I’ve been subscribing for a couple of years. They did a major overhaul of the magazine a few months ago and it is a bit less dense. This is one of the few publications where I scrutinize the ads as much as the articles. It is a good way to see what’s being shown in the broader art world.