Catalogue 7.0: Plaster Runs Riot on Cork Street is out now

Cork Street Galleries is thrilled to announce Plaster Magazine – instantly recognisable for its discerning, humorous editorial approach, becoming a celebrated alternative voice and irreverent force within the art world – as guest editor of CATALOGUE, Cork Street Galleries’ journal for contemporary art.

Editorial-led and highly collectible, CATALOGUE is driven by concept, every edition seen through a different collaborative lens, both relating to and catalysing its moment. Issue 7.0 boldly goes where it has never been before as a ‘magazine within a magazine’, launching into the stratosphere with fourteen special poster editions by Cork Street artists.

Inside, psychic medium and art enthusiast Kim Alexis embarks upon a mysterious journey to discover the ghosts of Cork Street past, with uncanny results. Meanwhile, Plaster Magazine’s quiz promises to reveal which kind of gallery-goer you are, whilst pitting your knowledge of the street against that of artificial intelligence giant Chat GPT.

This edition unpicks the innermost workings of Cork Street, whether it be Alison Jacques’ morning commute from Primrose Hill, or tracking down those behind the scenes who make it all happen. There’s Caroline Coon’s ‘Rejection Letter’ and interviews with two of the most exciting young artists working today – Emma Prempeh and Dominique Fung.

Fourteen collectible posters by artists represent Cork Street’s galleries. Placed at random, one per copy, they include Sir John Akomfrah, Sophie Barber, Murray Clarke, Virginia Chihota, Lenz Geerk, Muyeong Kim, Mona Kuhn, Sam Nhlengethwa, Tony Oursler, Tuesday Riddell, Eric Tucker, Fabienne Verdier and Yooyun Yang. Sir John Akomfrah’s new work follows The Secret Life of Memorable Things (2024) which been exhibited on banners above Cork Street since May, and will continue to be displayed into 2025.

John Akomfrah, Becoming Wind, 2023,
Five channel HD video, colour, black & white,
7.1 surround sound, 31 minutes 45 seconds,
© Smoking Dogs Films, Courtesy of Lisson Gallery

Designed by Hingston Studio since the magazine was established in 2016, CATALOGUE’s previous guest editors include Hans Ulrich Obrist, Daniel Birnbaum and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster. The legacies of their editions are the realisation of artists’ previously unrealised projects; London’s first augmented reality art exhibition in association with Acute Art featuring Precious Okoyomon, Koo Jeong A and Tomás Saraceno; and the inauguration of the revered Cork Street Banners Commission.

“Since its inception by brothers Finn Constantine and Milo Astaire in 2020, the London-based art publication Plaster Magazine has been increasingly on our radar, as it has many a gallerist’s desk, for its forthrightness and wit, personality barely held in place by the confines of its pages,” says Dean Mayo Davies, Editor of CATALOGUE.

“Cork Street is a fascinating place. Its history is rich and its community of art galleries is even richer. We wanted to anchor the magazine on the street, but lift the curtain on those glossy facades,” adds Plaster Magazine.

Eric Tucker, Alon Zakaim Fine Art; Lenz Geerk, MASSIMODECARLO; Muyeong Kim, Frieze No.9 Cork Street; Murray Clarke, Nahmad Projects; Sam Fogg; Mona Kuhn, Flowers Gallery; Sam Nhlengethwa, Goodman Gallery; Tony Oursler, Holtermann Fine Art; Sophie Barber, Alison Jacques; Tuesday Riddell, Messums Org; Virginia Chihota, Tiwani Contemporary; Yooyun Yang, Stephen Friedman Gallery

As well as becoming the unrivalled hub for Surrealism during the 1930s, Cork Street launched the careers of some of the leading forces in art from the past century. Modern artists such as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth have exhibited on the street, while Francis Bacon’s work was seen publicly for the first time in a group exhibition in 1933. The highest concentration of galleries in London, it has remained at the forefront of cutting-edge art movements since the first gallery opened on the street in 1925. As the epicentre of the London art scene, Cork Street is the spiritual home of modern and contemporary art.