Sleek magazine repositions contemporary art in a smart and compelling way

If you’ve rummaged through the art magazines in a well-stocked bookshop of late, you’ll likely have found yourself face to face with the glossy red cover of the new issue of Sleek magazine. A quarterly publication operating out of Berlin, Sleek takes contemporary art and recontextualises it as being just one element of visual culture as a whole, all of which is interesting, it argues. So instead of warding off would-be readers with inaccessible fine art speak and conceptual ideas, Sleek looks at photography, fashion and even topics like Greek mythology and health as being one and the same with art with a capital “A,” and covers the lot. Well, why wouldn’t it?

Case in point: the new issue features an investigation into the concept of Dark Ecology, an interview with Lynda Benglis, a piece about why “fictional artists are better than their real life counterparts,” and a series of photographs by brilliant Lena C. Emery about the boundary between nakedness and nudity. Designed by the eponymous studio of editor-in-chief and creative director Mario Lombardo, the design feels welcoming, with ample visual evidence to back up intriguing ideas, and a series of rich visual features.