To celebrate the launch of EY! MAGATEEN #4, ‘A NEW ARGENTEENA!’ (shot entirely by Steven Klein as a limited-edition 1000 copy format), Ponystep caught up with the Madrid-based creative to talk about inspiration. And where it it all comes from...

Dean Mayo Davies: You started with Fanzine137, a project which made your name on the international creative scene. What led you to founding it, Luis?

Luis Venegas: I began Fanzine137 in September 2004 because of my endless love since childhood of magazines. I’ve collected special magazines since I was 12, from Vanity Fair to rare issues of Avantgarde, for example. So it was my dream to make my own special magazine... and hopefully earn money doing it!

Fanzine137 is about all the things I like, about the people I admire for different reasons. Every little thing in each new issue, even the ads, is there because I like it. It's a magazine about me through the things I like through the artworks of amazing artists around the world that I admire. I like to think if someone likes my magazine the person will like me also - does that sound strange?

DMD: No, it makes total sense! What were you doing previously to Fanzine137? 

LV: I studied fashion design because I wanted to be involved in the fashion industry - I worked with Thierry Mugler in the mid-to-late 90’s and later with Spanish designer Sybilla. That's how I realised my real love was fashion images and magazines, not just clothes. So I decided to start working as a freelance art director. Since then I've collaborated with houses like Carolina Herrera, Loewe and also with some great magazines I like. I even became Spanish Marie Claire's art director for seven months. But I hated going to the office from 9 to 5. The more free I am, the happier I am and so my work is better.

DMD: Do you think you had a moment or experience that built your ideology or sensibility? I’m really interested to know. And have you always had this desire to curate and communicate since childhood?

LV: I wouldn't say since childhood as I was a very shy kid. I mean I didn't dare to ask for things in shops by myself until I was 6 or so. I grew up feeling I was shy until one day, me being a teenager, one of my teachers mentioned I was the leader of the class. That was a shock for me as I never thought about myself that way, though I realised he was probably right because all the kids in my classroom followed my suggestions and ideas even though I was quiet. I felt I had some kind of power and I guess that day I realised I had no reason to be shy anymore. So I consciously changed my usual mood. Now I'm not shy anymore and I love to communicate! I love being onstage, doing lectures - I'm a teacher too and I love to be in front of my students and entertain them! And that's exactly what I look for doing my mags. I want to entertain people, I want them to be moved, to have fun, to learn things, to be surprised...  

DMD: What I like about the zine format is the directness of it, the intimacy and energy. But what you’ve done is taken that to another level with your design and production, combining it with beautiful product. What zines have meant the most to you over the years? And are there any magazines that you feel harness this energy too?

LV: My favourites are Vanity Fair (American edition)  and Vogue America. Then, Vogue Italy in the 90’s, when there was a spectacular Steven Meisel story in each one and where you could see all the best photographers in the same issue. It's sad that Vogue Italia nowadays is not as great as it used to be, but now we have Vogue Paris! Another one I’ve always loved is Harper’s Bazaar, which has been creating myths since the 50’s, when it published Avedon; but especially in the 90’s, with Liz Tilberis and Fabien Baron, when it became serious competition for Vogue. It was like a fight to see who could get the best photographers or articles. And I think that set higher standards than ever before for magazines. Others I really like are Egoïste and Visionaire - each issue has a completely different format; it can be made of paper but also be a light box with slides. That’s the kind of work that lasts. And I enjoy each new issue of Acne Paper, W, Spanish ¡Hola!, Teen Vogue, Arena Homme Plus, Pin-Up, 032c, Bravo, Doingbird, Dazed & Confused and American GQ. From the past, I especially love Flair, Avantgarde, After Dark, Playboy and Interview then and now. I also like Purple, Self Service, Butt and Fantastic Man... though I do wish they could surprise me a little more. It’s great to have a style but what I find annoying is that if you’re faithful to a very defined style you lose the ability to experiment more - which is what happened with Alexey Brodovitch with the wonderful Portfolio, or even with Harper’s Bazaar. They were always looking for new ways to do their covers; each issue had nothing to do with the previous one. But now everything is governed much more by the rules of the market...

DMD: Are there any contributions you feel stand out for you? I really think the unique thing about your output is the way you mix heavy-hitting names with new talent...

LV: I'm super-grateful to every single one of my contributors. I love them all. I simply couldn't chose just some of them. Since the beginning I was aiming for mixing top names with younger ones, I find that exciting. All the big names were young once too and they like anyone else needed that ‘first chance’ to show their work. To say I was sure I would reach this mix would be going a bit far, but I did sort of hope for it and trust that Bruce Weber would be in the magazine one day; and Steven Klein, Wolfgang Tillmans, Terry Richardson. I think it’s kind of like American musicals, you just have to have faith in something for it to end up happening. If you want something strongly enough and have enough conviction it’ll happen. Everything has been like that for me. But anyway, the best is still to come!

DMD: What does the internet mean to you? Will you integrate it into your practice or do you consciously want to keep things streamlined to print? What does that mean for the future?

LV: The internet is super-exciting! The internet is absolutely affecting all levels of communication, luckily. I have no fear about this amazing change. We’re talking now because of the internet. I think in 100 years someone will make a "before and after" analysis of life since the internet. Things become faster and it’s a wonderful way to communicate. I always want to find time to launch the websites for Fanzine137 and EY! but can't find the right moment... hopefully this summer! I want them to be as simple, direct and clean as possible. I find super-boring all those magazine websites filled with endless content, who has time to watch all that? Anyway, I may be an old-fashioned guy, I love the printed matter. I think good magazines in paper have an almost magical quality.

DMD: EY! MAGATEEN is your newest cult, an unabashedly pop celebration of youth. That, in contrast to Fanzine137 has a particular vision. Can you tell us about that?

LV: I started EY! MAGATEEN because I felt I needed another step forward and also to do a magazine very different from Fanzine137... I wanted it to be lighter, even more funny and as sexy as possible. I love young boys and all the excitement around them, so I decided to put it all together! EY! addresses the energy and power of young age. It’s an exciting, sexy, open, colourful and fun publication which celebrates the magnificent vitality of youth - and especially of young men. Each issue of EY! is dedicated to a country and a photographer, so it’s like an art portfolio of new images and it’s really important to me that this portfolio turns out very well. 

DMD: The last issues have been photographed by Doug Inglish, Alasdair McLellan and now Steven Klein, really definitive names. How did you meet? And how do you find the youth featured - is it through a series of repercussions, almost like a happening?

LV: Again, I'm sooo grateful to all EY! photographers. There's no big secret to "catching" them, I simply ask them politely if they would like to shoot an entire issue... and luckily they usually agree. The casting of each new EY! issue is super-important, of course; we work on it differently depending on the photographer and his circumstances. Of course through model agencies but also street casting, or upcoming actors, etc. I can make suggestions to them, or they suggest to me and we edit together. It's a very collaborative and exciting process.

DMD: Do people sometimes think you push things too far with EY!? I can imagine it really alienates and infuriates the conservative press...

LV: Oh, what can I say? I've never heard any negative reaction in that sense. I really don't know who these conservative people are, so I don't care how they feel about EY!, I guess they're not my audience. But I can say honestly I never try to infuriate anybody. I simply try to make my mag as good and exciting and funny as possible. How could that infuriate anybody? At the same time, I feel like a good magazine also has to be provocative somehow, it has to push a bit some rules to be interesting and relevant; at least that's a quality I like in magazines and is something I always try to do not only with EY! but also with Fanzine137 somehow. I'm sure conservative people are also intelligent and they can realise the difference between provocative contents and bad taste. Anyway, if anyone feels bad about EY!, well, the solution is simple: don't buy it.

DMD: Who were your heroes as a youth? And do they remain so today?

LV: As a child my first big heroes were the bad women in American TV series from the 80’s, especially Alexis Morrell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan, played by Joan Collins in Dynasty, and Diana, the evil lizard in V played by Jane Badler. And also Racine, Morgan Fairchild’s character in Paper Dolls. Powerful women with perfect hairdos, makeup and clothing and all those jewels, who would stop at nothing to get what they wanted. Since then, many other heroes have come to my personal altar of icons - I'm an incurable myth maker. But of course those super women remain amongst my personal heroes today...

DMD: Who did you have as a pin-up, stuck up on your bedroom wall?

LV: I used to pin-up all the iconic images Annie Leibovitz took for Vanity Fair in the late 80’s/early 90’s. I didn't care a lot about the people featured, I loved - and still love - all those amazing photos she did!

DMD: Finally, what’s been the craziest feedback you’ve had about your publications? Or encounter with a fan? Do you have any stalkers?

LV: Oh, it's always so moving to receive feedback on my mags from people around the world... I love it! I can't remember a craziest one, usually they're enthusiastic but respectful. Thank God. I have no stalkers... or at least not because of my mags! :-)

DMD

EY! MAGATEEN #4: A NEW ARGENTEENA! by Steven Klein is available now.