The Print edition of Coagula Art Journal was founded in 1992 as an antidote to the theory-addled and fashion-driven forces in the world of contemporary art.
Coagula remains clear amidst the ambiguity of contemporary art and the neutered, star-struck art world; we don’t fuck around here.
The original bi-coastal publication employed tabloid-style commentary, gossip, and reviews of the contemporary art world, which garnered significant influence and utter contempt among art world bigshots… but they all read it.
The magazine has been referred to as “the publication that the art world loves to hate, and loves to read” (Village Voice) and dubbed “The National Enquirer of the Art World” (New York Post).
In 1998, Smart Art Press released Most Art Sucks: Five Years of Coagula.
On March 16, 2001, Coagula WON a free-speech lawsuit, brought for defamation of character against the publication by Banafsheh Zand. Sheh’s 1992 lawsuit was over articles appearing in Coagula issues #3 and #4, and was covered by major media.
In April 2012, Gleason launched Coagula Curatorial, a contemporary art gallery on Chinatown’s historic Chung King Road. Following the same spirit as the magazine, the gallery hosted solo shows by contemporary artists such as Karen Finley, Kim Dingle, Gronk, Llyn Foulkes, Sheree Rose and others. The gallery also featured guest curators, who included other prominent artists in Coagula exhibitions such as John Fleck, Diane Gamboa, Germs, Peter Shelton, Gajin Fujita, and Sue de Beer among others.
In 2022, on the week of the first issue’s 30th anniversary, Coagula Dot Com relaunched with regular editorial coverage of the international art world from a now-wisened perspective.
