It’s a pleasure to have seen VNA magazine move from small time project to pro magazine. Although not the typical ‘glossy’, I find VNA to be inviting and a source of great inspiration. I’ve witnessed VNA move from black and white to colour and more recently, saddleback to perfect bound spine. VNA Issue 7 is a step above the rest. I sang VNA 6’s praises and yet Issue 7 has surprised me somewhat again.

Very Nearly Almost Magazine Issue 7 had a fair amount of hype surrounding it. Concrete Hermit even hosted a launch party, deservedly so. Issue 7 has moved outward and away from London. London’s street art scene is still well documented but VNA looks to capture a global audience as it crosses the pond to New York City.

The new issue is better organised than the previous outings. We find dedicated separate sections for each form of street art: graffiti, stickers, tags, stencils. Even the addition of a contents page is welcomed to helpfully navigate the growing number of pages, issue 7 contains a total of 82 pages (over double that of issue 6).

Issue 6 covered the original Cans festival and Issue 7 looks at Cans Festival Part 2. My previous comments in the Issue 6 review, criticising the vast documentation of the mainstream pieces at Cans, have to be taken back at this point (as well as a little bit of my pride) because what VNA have provided for both these events is an awesome, handy reminder of the great pieces which blessed Leake Street. However, I won’t take back that I’d like to see more of the smaller pieces :P.

Interviews with Cept, C215 and the One Trick Pony collective all come together to improve the quality of content in VNA. Artist C215 has probably had the most recognition recently of all three interviewees, and so it’s great to have his opinion and thoughts available to those who are interested (we’d love to get an interview with him in the future on Concrete Canvas). I personally love finding new artists ready and raring to express their artistic thoughts and opinions and the interview with OTP Collective gave this to me. Along with the interviews, VNA provides extensive examples of the artists’ work and style.

This A5 little wonder has developed into an essential piece of any street art lovers kit. I can only imagine how Issue 8 will turn out. Should the VNA boys decide to keep the setup of this issue for future issues, they’ll be onto a definite winner.

Links:
www.verynearlyalmost.com

The fantastic street art and graffiti magazine that is VNA will be hosting a launch party for Issue 7 at Concrete Hermit (no relation to us) in London this Thursday. Flyer and details are below:

Concrete Hermit
5a Club Row.
London
E1 6JX

Nearest tubes… Liverpool street and Old street.

Issue 7 boasts 84 pages of full colour graffiti and street art. As well as the most recent street activity in London, this issue includes a feature on the incredible stencil work of French artist C215, an interview with London graffiti writer Cept148, a look at the recent street art in New York and a feature on the York/London crew and design collective One Trick Pony. Plus a look at one of the best street art projects of the year so far The Chapel of St Martin by Dave the Chimp and Nothing But Print studio.

We’ve seen Very Nearly Almost (VNA) magazine move a long way from the black and white issues of 2006. The photo street artzine is now considerably smarter with its colour pages. Issue six brings with it a new style: the introduction of a spine and loss of the staples, together makes it look like a ‘proper’ magazine.  What hasn’t been lost fortunately, is the huge range of street art documented within its pages.

Issue 6 covers the stencil art of the great Cans Festival. Unfortunately, only the big names are shown such as Eelus, Banksy, Vexta etc. Whilst this will cover what the majority of people will want to see when looking for pictures of Cans Festival,  I think that Cans Festival is well documented and you don’t have to go far on Flickr to find information on the big artists. That said, the quality of the photos show the artwork in their true form beautifully and if you are unable to get to Leake Street (the Cans Festival Location) youself  or want a reminder of the event, this is a great way to view the artwork.

A highlight of the magazine is the interview with street artist Ace. One thing I personally really enjoy discovering about artists is how they were introduced to street art and I feel that the interview covers this very well. Ace comes across as a very bubbly guy and seems to be open minded where UK street art is headed. When reading the interview however, it felt as if someone had started to tell a joke but forgot the punchline - the ending felt abrupt and I would have loved the interview to have carried on for a couple more pages. With the introduction of the interview to VNA it seems its moving closer to a magazine rather than a photozine (just displaying pictures) which I believe to be a fantastic step in the right direction.

If your looking at getting a street art zine to have something interesting to sit on your coffee table then this is definately a must buy. The pictures in here are great and cover a huge range of artists and styles. If your looking at getting a street art zine to get inspiration from then again, this is definately a must buy. If your looking at getting a street art zine to have something to read whilst your on holiday then you may think again about getting this one. Even though the interview with Ace, is well… ace, its fairly short and will leave you wanting more. The addition of the interview in Issue 6 is brilliant and I hope that Issue 7 will feature more text content. At only £3 you’ll find it hard to complain about anything in this mag and I would recommend getting it to anyone, unless your only buying it to read on holiday :P. As a photozine it is superb and any artists that finds his/her work in here should be very proud.

Links:
Very Nearly Almost Website