JUXTAPOZ 1

Juxtapoz issue #1 from Winter 1994 arrives like a spray-painted manifesto announcing the birth of “newbrow” culture, pulling together custom car art, underground comics, outsider painting, tattoo aesthetics and punk visual culture long before the mainstream art world knew what to do with any of it. The debut issue is packed with future legends and cultural outsiders, from digital painter Trici Venola and underground comix chaos in Zap #13 to custom-car gods Von Dutch and Ed Roth. Craig Stecyk III’s writing turns hot rod culture into outlaw mythology, while John Pound’s Garbage Pail Kids grotesqueries and Manuel Ocampo’s furious anti-style paintings make the entire issue feel unstable, rebellious and completely alive.

What makes the first issue so important is how clearly it defines the magazine’s mission from the start: art belongs to obsessives, weirdos, skaters, lowrider builders, comic artists, tattooists and self-taught visionaries just as much as gallery institutions. Robert Williams’ cover painting sets the tone with apocalyptic absurdity and hyper-detailed madness, while the editorial manifesto reads like a rallying cry against creative complacency. Mixed with gallery listings, underground reviews, Dr. Lakra collages, Spain Rodriguez sketches and freewheeling cultural commentary, the issue captures a moment when alternative art culture was still largely undocumented, existing in garages, tattoo shops, comic stores and back-alley studios instead of museums. 

Some minor wear to spine.