{"id":129143,"date":"2025-09-11T04:22:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T04:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/129143\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T04:22:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T04:22:08","slug":"inside-index-magazine-the-cultural-bible-of-90s-indie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/129143\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Index Magazine, the Cultural Bible of 90s Indie"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new exhibition in Paris revisits the cutting-edge 90s magazine, which featured early shoots by Wolfgang Tillmans and Juergen Teller, and paved the way for print culture todaySeptember 10, 2025<\/p>\n

A pivotal figure in the Neo-Conceptualist movement that had emerged a decade prior, Peter Halley was already established in the art world when the first issue of his magazine Index hit newsstands in 1996. \u201cIt was a wonderful, chaotic time in my life as an artist, but I thrived on it,\u201d he says. A product of its New York surroundings, largely inspired by Andy Warhol\u2019s Interview<\/a> and Halley\u2019s dissatisfaction with the art scene at the time, Index was a cultural bible anchored in 90s indie sentiment. Co-founded with curator Bob Nickas, the operation was based out of Halley\u2019s Chelsea studio. \u201cI would be working on my paintings and people would come in and out to talk to our editorial staff. Sometimes I\u2019d stop and join in, sometimes I\u2019d keep working, barely aware of who was coming and going.\u201d<\/p>\n

15The Index Magazine Retrospective<\/a><\/p>\n

After 51 issues and nearly ten years, the title was discontinued in 2005, leaving behind a rich digital archive and a blueprint for future media. Its legacy was burnished in 2014 with the Rizzoli book, Index A to Z: Art, Design, Fashion, Film and Music in the Indie Era, and an Instagram account arrived in 2021. Now, 20 years after Index’s final issue \u2013 which featured cover star Eugene H\u00fctz of Gogol Bordello shot by Bruce LaBruce<\/a> \u2013 Paris-based research and ideation firm Wahter Studio has curated a retrospective. Part photography exhibition and part research centre, the show includes a reading room that allows visitors to sample iconic conversations like Bj\u00f6rk<\/a>\u2019s 2003 interview with Alexander McQueen<\/a>, or read a Werner Herzog<\/a> story by Doug Aitken<\/a> from 2004.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIndex made me realise that \u2018indie\u2019 wasn\u2019t just about being small or alternative; it was about building a new framework for culture,\u201d says Freddie Wahter, who heads up the studio. \u201cIt had the same spirit of independence and experimentation as other DIY publications, but was sharper, more expansive. I first encountered it through the archive site, and for years it felt like a secret reference. The more time I spent with the archive, it became clear how much of today\u2019s cultural landscape can be traced back to Index. That\u2019s where the idea of a retrospective started \u2013 as a way to reframe Index as a living part of our cultural lineage.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Pin<\/a>\"TheBjork, 2001Photography by Juergen Teller<\/p>\n

Illustrating the magazine\u2019s extensive interview features \u2013 often conducted by friends of the subject, and mostly outside formulaic press schedules, allowing for genuine intimacy \u2013 were then-early career photographers like Wolfgang Tillmans<\/a>, Juergen Teller<\/a>\u00a0and Mark Borthwick<\/a>. \u201cThey created a v\u00e9rit\u00e9-style for our photographic essays that was unique to magazines at the time, and their approach encouraged a new generation of photographers to value authenticity over slickness,\u201d says Halley. Tillmans in particular, who photographed the magazine\u2019s first six covers, was key to shaping the title\u2019s visual language. \u201cEven though Wolfgang is 15 years younger than I am, he will always be a hero to me,\u201d says Halley.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeter would tell us how Wolfgang Tillmans shot Bianca Jagger last minute at the airport, or how Willem Dafoe<\/a> ended up on the cover almost accidentally. These stories made the magazine come alive in a new way; you could feel the spontaneity and risk-taking that defined its DNA,\u201d continues Wahter. \u201cWe spent time on the phone with him to understand the informal culture that surrounded the magazine \u2013 the release parties and the way the office functioned. What struck us most was that Index wasn\u2019t just a publication, it was a community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pin<\/a>\"TheIsabelle Huppert, 2002Photography by Juergen Teller<\/p>\n

With similar frameworks now more prevalent across certain corners of the media landscape, I\u2019m curious what Halley makes of the relationship between the indie principles that moulded the magazine\u2019s philosophy and where we\u2019re at today. Tethered to our phones, can indie persist in the same way? \u201cSocial media provides almost infinite opportunities for indie statements \u2013 think of all the podcasts, Substacks, and TikTok videos,\u201d he reasons. \u201cBut I think the values Index represented are still relevant, and there is still a vital role for small magazines to play. In the age of Instagram, the editorial decision-making inherent to magazines is important because it necessitates a level of choice and commitment that is largely absent from social media. I love magazines, and don\u2019t think printed material will disappear anytime soon, but printing costs money. Digital media have democratised communication in both good ways and bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Index Magazine Retrospective<\/a> is on show at C\u00f8r Studio in Paris until 14 September 2025.<\/p>\n