One year after the appointment of new leadership and celebration of its tenth anniversary, Atlanta-based nonprofit Burnaway debuts a new brand identity and announces the release of a print edition of its digital magazine next month. This news comes in advance of Burnaway’s first participation in an international art fair with a large booth at NADA Miami 2019.
Developed by Atlanta-based marketing agency Moxie as a generous donation to the organization, Burnaway’s new logo and brand identity reflect the magazine’s critical seriousness and cultural savvy while also indicating its independent, vernacular roots. Drawing on sources ranging from contemporary art to typography design to punk zines, Burnaway’s new brand is equally at home on the screen and on the page. This new identity will drive the aesthetic direction for a website redesign to debut in early 2020.
Stranger, Harder, Brighter: The 2019 Burnaway Reader is Burnaway’s first print publication in five years and its most ambitious yet, marking a renewed editorial vision and expanded cultural scope for the magazine. As a whole, the publication focuses on intersections between the American South and Global South, the fraught dynamics between art, labor, class, and technology today, and longform profiles of some of the region’s most exciting contemporary artists.
The anthology features some of Burnaway’s best stories published this year alongside newly commissioned print exclusives, including a profile of artist Coulter Fussell, an essay by painter Emma McMillan about the legacy of architect John Portman, and brief sketches of eight artists across the South by curator Daniel Fuller. Stranger, Harder, Brighter is not only a critical anthology but also a guidebook for contemporary art in the South, featuring indexes of museums, galleries, and DIY spaces in Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville, New Orleans, and Miami.
Burnaway editor Logan Lockner says, “Reviving Burnaway’s print edition was one of the primary goals I set out to accomplish during my first year as editor. This collection represents the past year of hard work and collaboration shared by dozens of artists and writers across the region and beyond.”
The Atlanta launch of the publication will take place on November 8th at ASW Distillery and will feature a limited edition single malt whiskey released to mark the occasion. More details can be found here.
Pioneering a new role for non-profit publications in the twenty-first century, Burnaway will participate in the 17th edition of the NADA Miami art fair as both a cultural partner and exhibitor. Presenting a booth of works by five Georgia painters—Suzanne Jackson, Carol John, Hasani Sahlehe, Mark Starling, and Hannah Tarr—Burnaway’s sales at the fair will support its operating expenses and programming in 2020 and beyond. This initiative positions Burnaway as a uniquely versatile contemporary art organization and offers an alternative method of generating funds while providing greater visibility and richer context for the artists it supports.
Burnaway executive director Erin Jane Nelson says, “The role of the art media has changed dramatically over the last fifty years and I see opportunities to expand Burnaway’s role to advocate for the Southern artists we aspire to cover and promote. Participating in NADA allows us to introduce the international art world to some of the talented and woefully underrepresented artists in our region while also raising vital funds for the organization and the artists we serve.”
