Bomb (stylized in all caps as BOMB) is an American arts magazine edited by artists and writers, published quarterly in print and daily online. It is composed primarily of interviews between creative people working in a variety of disciplines—visual art, literature, film, music, theater, architecture, and dance. In addition to interviews, Bomb publishes reviews of literature, film, and music, as well as new poetry and fiction. Bomb is published by New Art Publications, Inc., a 501(c)(3)non-profit organization.[1]
Bomb was launched in 1981[2] by a group of New York City-based artists, including Betsy Sussler, Sarah Charlesworth, Glenn O'Brien, Michael McClard, and Liza Béar, who sought to record and promote public conversations between artists without mediation by critics or journalists.[3]
Jeffrey Eugenides spread for issue #81
The name Bomb is a reference to both Wyndham Lewis' Blast and the fact that the magazine's original editors expected the publication to "bomb" after one or two issues.[3] Shortly after its founding, Bomb formed a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, New Art Publications, Inc., which publishes the journal.
In 2004, Columbia University's Rare Book and Manuscript Library acquired Bomb's archives, including twenty-four years' worth of audio recordings, raw and edited interview transcripts, manuscripts, galleys, and assorted ephemera.[7]
Since 2014, Bomb's Oral History Project has staged one-on-one interviews with New York City-based visual artists of the African descent, conducted by curators, scholars, and cultural producers.
Artists Sana Musasama and Janet Olivia Henry for Bomb's 2019 installment of Oral History Project
The Oral History Project is dedicated to collecting, developing, and preserving the stories of distinguished visual artists of the African Diaspora. The Oral History Project has organized interviews including: Wangechi MutubyDeborah Willis, Kara Walker & Larry Walker, Edward ClarkbyJack Whitten, Adger Cowans by Carrie Mae Weems, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe by Kalia Brooks, Melvin Edwards by Michael Brenson, Terry Adkins by Calvin Reid, Stanley Whitney by Alteronce Gumby, Gerald Jackson by Stanley Whitney, Eldzier Cortor by Terry Carbone, Peter Bradley by Steve Cannon, Quincy Troupe & Cannon Hersey, James Little by LeRonn P. Brooks, William T. Williams by Mona Hadler, Maren HassingerbyLowery Stokes Sims, Linda Goode BryantbyRujeko Hockley, Janet Olivia Henry and Sana Musasama by Stephanie E. Goodalle.
[8]
