Since the 1960s more than a dozen contemporary art magazines have circulated in the San Francisco Bay Area. A few have left but continued printing, but at present no printed periodical addressing contemporary art remains. There have been some gaps in coverage over the years, but looking back over the timeline, from the Sixties up to the present theres always been at least one critical journal. This doesnt, of course, mean theyve been wildly successful or even widely distributed. This turn-over and transience is typical of the Bay Area, a place where new ideas are tolerated if not encouraged, and the persistent appearance of yet another new initiative means theres always been an active scene here, if only just in the process of becoming. Read the DISPATCH here.
