Installation view of zingmagazine in Momoyo Torimitsu’s Room.

As you meander through the rooms of the Dikeou Collection, you see clear plastic shelves holding various books and other bound creations with vintage photos on the covers. This is zingmagazine. The placement of each copy of zing is very purposeful and intertwined not only to the artist in the room that the magazine resides, but also to the owner of the collection, Devon Dikeou and her art practice. This trifecta of practice, collection, and magazine create a way for the audience to see not just one artist’s work, but a career that encompasses hundreds if not thousands more voices to be heard.

zingmagazine #24.

Devon is the founder, editor, and publisher of zingmagazine, a curated arts magazine that has no boundaries on contents or media, as long as the project fits within the allotted 16 page limit. zingmagazine was created in 1995 as an extension or better, an integral platform, for Devon’s art practice, and a way to broaden her connections to her contemporaries. zingmagazine precedes the Dikeou Collection which was founded three years later by Devon and her brother Pany. Most of the artists presented in the collection have curated projects in zingmagazine, hence the display of so many issues in the galleries.

Installation view of What’s Love Got to do With It.

What’s Love Got to do With It for Decorous Beliefs.

Lining the hallway as you enter the collection is a series of directory boards created by Devon Dikeou entitled What’s Love Got to do With It, which began in 1991 and continues today. The boards reference the one found in the lobby outside of Leo Castelli Gallery, which announced the current exhibition and the artists on view. Conglomerating into approximately 125 boards they describe either an issue of zingmagazine or a group exhibition in which Devon has participated. As you make your way down the hall to the front doors of the collection, the directory boards set the stage and introduce you to Devon’s artistic practice and its relationship to zingmagazine and the collection.

A sense of community can be seen in these boards, as multiple artists are listed in various exhibitions with Devon, as participants in zing, or the have their work on view at the collection. These names and places are more than just a referential note of someone’s exhibition or publication history - these names are references to shared experiences. This community of artists listed on the walls gave way to her wanting to recognize their work in another platform, like a magazine, and sometimes a space in her collection.

-Madeliene Kattman