What’s Happening at Interview Magazine and Art in America?
January 29th, 2008
Sandra Brant and Ingrid Sischy
Photo: via New York Observer
On January 23, Ingrid Sischy announced her resignation as editor-in-chief of Interview Magazine after 18 years at the helm.
Her decision came about after Sandra Brant, CEO and Publisher of Brant Publications which publishes Interview Magazine as well as Art in America sold her 50% share to her ex-husband Peter Brant who had been co-owner.
In a press release sent out by Sischy’s spokesperson Sischy writes that “With Sandra Brant’s decision to sell her interest in Brant Publications, it is only appropriate that I resign at this time. Sandy and I have worked together as a team, and that has been a huge part of the fun of it.”
Interview Magazine, conceived by Andy Warhol and Gerard Melanga in 1969, has maintained its place as a leading authority on pop culture, fashion and art over the decades. When Andy Warhol died in 1987 the magazine had seemed in danger of losing its rank. Ingrid Sischy was recruited shortly after Warhol’s death and is largely credited with the magazine’s remarkable growth in ad revenue and circulation, and its still continued success.
This week Interview named Glenn O’Brien and Fabien Baron as its new joint editorial directors. O’Brien had worked at Interview during the Warhol years and more recently has been a writer and editor for New York Magazine. Fabien Baron was recently the creative director of French Vogue. The team will also oversee two other Brant Publications, Art in America and The Magazine Antiques.
According to the New York Times, O’Brien claims that all three magazines will expand their internet presence and try to appeal to a younger generation. He also said that Interview will especially undergo changes in hopes to become “more international and artistic — and definitely funnier.”
Cover of first issue of Interview via Warhol Stars
Links:
Sischy and Brant Resign at Interview [WWD]
Interview Editor Ingrid Sischy Quits [NYO]
Preparing for a Sischy-less Interview [Media Bistro]
Interview Names New Directors [NYT]
Sischy and Brant Out at Interview [NYMAG]
Peter Brant Takes Over Interview [NYP]
Ingrid’s Cold Interview Exit [NYP]
Interview Magazine Website
January 29th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Ingrid Sischy ruined Interview magazine. I’m glad she’s out. Talent, she has none.
February 20th, 2008 at 1:57 am
I am so thrilled that Ingrid is leaving, and so is everyone else I know. When I did shoots for Interview, I remember Ingrid telling someone that her goal was to make Interview disposable. And she did, it was always perfect to be thrown away.
November 18th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Interview magazine has gone down hill since Ingrid left. The ads are all main stream, the photography is less artistic and more about breasts than ever before, and nearly all the reviews are gone. You could definitely feel the switch. A cold shudder is still close at hand when I think about it. You new boys at the editors desk now little about what Andy intended in the first place. Celebrities, beauties, vapid culture, gossip, glitz and all things fabulous.