In an issue entirely dedicated to London, Elephant traces the rise of the city as an art capital, examining the changes which have taken place in the last two decades in stylistic and economic and geographic terms (with shifts east being followed by shifts back towards the centre, or slightly off-centre, or south, or further east…), while asking itself this intriguing question: Why London? What unique set of circumstances turned this fading ex-capital of a vanished empire into the most thriving and lively art capital in the world?

In this issue Ossian Ward draws a genealogy of the YBA phenomenon, while James Cahill asks himself whether there is such a thing as a ‘London School of Painting’ (by the way, the answer appears to be ‘yes’). Grayson Perry walks us through the changes in attitudes in those two turbulent decades, Billy Childish gives a typically provocative and thought-provoking interview, while Marcus Harvey presents a compelling picture of the lure and the dangers of mass media exposure (as well as a good example of how to survive these as an artist). Nicholas Logsdail tells us how as a young man he missed a train, went out for a walk and found his way into the pages of art history books. These are accompanied by often candid and always fascinating insights from artists and art figures young and not so young, from John Stezaker, Tim Marlow and Maureen Paley to Matt Golden, James White and Robert Orchardson.

Contents:

I. Research
18 Who do you think you are?
The Young British Artists as a family tree
by Ossian Ward
30 Entropy at work
For and against the image, or the New School of London
by James Cahill

II. Encounters
50 Lobbying for beauty: Grayson Perry's progress
by Sue Hubbard
62 Marcus Harvey: In a dangerous place
by Marc Valli
72 Billy Childish's radical traditionalism
by Joseph Wood

Destinations
82 Central London Guide
by Marc Valli & Robert Shore
96 Nicholas Logsdail
102 John Stezaker
106 Jonathan Lewis
110 James White
114 Saul Fletcher
118 Ang Tsherin Sherpa

122 East London Guide
By Margherita Dessanay & Ana Ibarra
130 Maureen Paley
134 Matt Golden
138 Robert Orchardson
142 Gareth Jones
144 Malika Favre
150 Nicholas McLeod
154 Clarisse D'Arcimoles

158 South London Guide
Guide and interviews by Natasha Hoare
166 Tim Marlow
172 Hannah Barry
176 Julia Alvarez
180 Hew Locke
184 Robert Pratt
188 Boo Ritson
192 Roger Hiorns

208 Enditorial
by Marc Valli