Kevin McGarry reviews the debut issue of *Even*, a new print art journal launched by *Guardian* contributor Jason Farago during Frieze New York. Named after a phrase from Marcel Duchamp's *The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even*, the magazine is a small, paperback-sized publication that prioritizes text over images, positioning itself as an antidote to market-driven art discourse. The first issue features a lengthy essay on artist Joan Jonas by Elisabeth Lebovici, timed to Jonas's U.S. pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale, and a piece by Zachary Woolfe on the Björk exhibition at MoMA. McGarry critiques the journal's ambition to revitalize art criticism, noting that while its goals are lofty, the content sometimes falls back on familiar artspeak.
This review matters because it captures a moment of tension in the art world between commercial and critical discourse. *Even* attempts to carve out space for serious, unfashionable writing about art at a time when print media is declining and visual culture is dominated by social media and market forces. McGarry's analysis highlights the challenges of sustaining rigorous art criticism in 2015, making the article relevant to ongoing debates about the role of criticism, the viability of print, and the search for meaningful engagement with contemporary art.