[acc-cca-l] CFP | PUBLIC 74: Publishing Arists, ed., Jayne Wilkinson | Deadline: March 2nd

[public]

[△EXTERNAL]


CALL FOR PROPOSALS – PUBLIC 74: Publishing Artists
Edited by Jayne Wilkinson
(Fall 2026)

The seventy-fourth issue of PUBLIC considers publishing as a unique form of artistic practice, one with its own concepts and methods, canons and anti-canons, legacies and futures. In the last decade, artist-led publishing has continued to evolve, as new generations of artists find ways to build publics, networks, and experimental communities by distributing, sharing, printing, reproducing, and exchanging artwork.

What role does this expansive medium—publishing as an aesthetic medium—take up in the contemporary art world? What are the textures and nuances of publishing as an artistic practice? Can artist-led publishing offer a more democratic, accessible experience of art, and what are the capacities for the expression of more radical thought in aesthetics?

This issue of PUBLIC is an exercise in thinking through the conceptual, historical, and social tendencies of both artist-led and institutional approaches; foregrounding artists’ perspectives but also including the work of scholars, writers, activists, and researchers who contextualize diverse and varied methods of publishing in the current moment.

TOPICS

Books, magazines, objects: Artist books, editions, photo books, print cultures, printed matter; flat aesthetics; artist-run magazines; reproduction and appropriation; exhibitions in print.

Distribution: Art book fairs and the public sphere; social networks; distribution; libraries, archives, and repositories.

Histories: Conceptual and post-conceptual legacies/histories; institutional critique.

Public sphere: Politics, activisms, radical organizing; critical design; manifestos; collaboration and collectives.

Media: Mail art and forms of exchange; newspapers, flyers, and broadsheets; digital, post-digital, and social media; independent or DIY presses; zines; polls, surveys, questionnaires, directories, and indexes.


TYPES OF CONTRIBUTIONS

+ Academic papers (methodologies, histories, monographs, etc.) [5,000 words]
+ Experimental, narrative, or personal essays [3,000 words max.]
+ Dialogues or round tables [2,000 words max.]
+ Short texts, manifestos, calls for action [1,000–1,500 words]
+ Photo/image-based essays [1,000–1,500 words]
+ Poetry [1–5 pieces for consideration]
+ Artist projects [~1,000 words text + 8 images max.]
+ Ideas that may not fit these categories

PUBLIC is committed to supporting a diversity of voices, ideas, and perspectives in our publishing. We welcome contributions from Black, Brown, Indigenous, and POC scholars, artists, writers, and curators of all abilities, genders, and sexual orientations. In the context of artist-led publishing, we are particularly interested in the perspectives of those whose voices have historically been excluded from its genres.

DEADLINE — March 2, 2026, by 11:59pm (EDT)

Find full details and submit a proposal at: publicjournal.ca/submit<http://publicjournal.ca/submit>
General inquiries: public at yorku.ca<mailto:public at yorku.ca>

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About the Editor
Issue 74 guest editor, Jayne Wilkinson, is an art writer, editor, and occasional curator based in Toronto and Berlin. She holds an MA in art history and theory from the University of British Columbia (Vancouver), where her research focused on photographic histories, contemporary image discourses, and the politics of surveillance cultures. She writes essays and reviews for art publications including Artforum, Berlin Art Link, Border Crossings, Camera Austria, C Magazine, e-flux Criticism, esse art + ideas, Momus, and various journals. Previously, she was editor-in-chief at Canadian Art and, since 2022, has worked as a freelance editor on dozens of artists’ books, print projects, and digital platforms. She currently sits on the board of directors of C Magazine and is a member of PUBLIC’s editorial collective.

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PUBLIC: Art | Culture | Ideas is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal that explores the intersection of visual cultures and critical studies. Since 1988, it has served as an intellectual and creative forum that focuses on the intersections of aesthetic, theoretical, and critical issues. In each themed issue, PUBLIC encourages a broad range of dialogue by bringing together artists, theorists, curators, philosophers, creative writers, and historians.
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