Memo’s inaugural glossy annual is a rich tapestry, weaving together the voices and visions of our most provocative art commentators. In this debut issue, the spotlight falls on Archie Moore, the Australian torchbearer for the 2024 Venice Biennale. His work is examined through the discerning lenses of Rex Butler, Tara Heffernan, Tristen Harwood, and Hilary Thurlow, offering a nuanced portrait of an artist on the global stage.

Audrey Schmidt navigates the murky waters of Melbourne's art scene, unearthing a history of tall-poppy syndrome with a blend of sharp insight and wry humor. Philip Brophy skewers Hollywood’s art-world charades, laying bare the pretensions that often pass for profundity. Meanwhile, Cameron Hurst catches up with Dean Kissick, once a darling of Spike magazine, now navigating the quieter currents of his post-fame era.

Sean Tatol of the Manhattan Art Review casts an eye on the Dutch collective KIRAC, detailing their tangled legal entanglements with Michel Houellebecq, the aging enfant terrible of French literature.

This issue brims with a diverse array of essays and reviews that traverse both Australian and international art landscapes. Amelia Winata challenges the complacency of Melbourne’s public museums, while Callum McGrath exposes the Eurocentric myopia in Claire Bishop’s recent Artforum critique of research-based art. Helen Hughes delves into Helen Johnson’s The Birth of an Institution (2022), while Chelsea Hopper and Shaune Lakin revisit Derek Jarman’s Blue (1993). From Isa Genzken’s star power to the emergent talents of Anna Higgins and Jas H. Duke, Memo’s first volume promises a feast for the intellectually curious.