Magazines are brilliant. Little bundles of paper filled with countless ideas and images and writing. I grew up reading magazines way more than books, from Time and The Beano to Kerrang! and Guitar World and then all sorts of niche art things as I got older. They’re places of comfort and safety and distraction for me, something I turn to when everything feels a little overwhelming and scary, and I’m willing to bet they’re something similar for you. So what better way to distract ourselves from these whackadoodle times than with a selection of amazing art publications that you can get sent right to your door. When the world feels a little crazy, and your eyes are sore from too much TV and your brain isn’t ready for the commitment of a book, magazines might just be the friend you need.
London art magazines to get you through self-isolation
Missing the galleries? Desperate for some arty eye-fuel? Here are some great London-based art magazines to see you through these weird times
Big ones
This is the journal of record for the art world. It’s all the big stories and analysis you’d expect from a newspaper, except it’s about Caravaggio and Tracey Emin instead of Boris and asbos. All on high-end newsprint, too. Lovely. It also has an excellent podcast.
It does what it says on the tin, and it does it really damn well. The British Journal of Photography is your one-stop shop for all of your photography needs, filled with gorgeous features and in-depth looks at some of the best snappers ever to have wielded a camera.
Art Monthly is not about big shiny pictures and easily digestible, snackable content; this is serious business, with serious longform articles and serious analysis of serious art. It’s a mag for diving deep, really deep, on the art world.
Smaller ones
Founded in 2011, The White Review takes an analytical approach to visual art and literature, coming across more like a lovingly in-depth journal than a traditional magazine, and it’s all the better for it. Plus Sally Rooney has written for it: ooh, fancy.
Ultra-specialised ones
This art and literature zine – beautifully printed on raw, rough paper – explores the boundaries between forests and black metal. Well, you wanted niche, you got niche. It’s fascinating, gorgeous and very, very metal.
This pretty little mag specialises in looking at everyday interiors, spaces that might be forgotten or overlooked but that are full of potential. Beautiful photos, weird topics and excellent writing: what more could you want?
Missing seeing the best of London? Check out the most beautiful pics of the city here
Our definitive list of the best photographs of London ever taken, ever, for proof that pictures of our city are as diverse as London itself
Support Time Out
We see you’re using an ad-blocker. Ad revenue is Time Out’s main source of income. The content you’re reading is made by independent, expert local journalists.
Support Time Out directly today and help us champion the people and places which make the city tick. Cheers!
Donate nowDiscover Time Out original video