Hi-Fructose magazine’s masthead description is “Under the Counter Culture.” This cute fusion of the phrases “counter culture” and “under the [store] counter or [drug] counter” is very apt. The artwork inside does have a counter culture-ish vibe, like the real counter culture artists of the 1960s some of who appropriated an older 1930s-40s cartooning style to speak of serious subjects like war and holocaust.
Within its pages, Hi-Fructose artists exaggerate with graffiti and the repurposing of found mast-market images and nick-knacks in a way that is sweet and ironic. The chemically enhanced reference of the magazine’s title is only implied as far as I can tell. I have read no overt messages inside the magazine concerning the talking of drugs, but it probably can be taken for granted that drugs were involved with the creation of the artworks. Much of the art looks like elaborate doodles that would require a level of concentration that, I imagine, might be attainable with a little help.
I was looking at Volume 8, which I picked off the rack at Borders books. You might call this art kitsch, but it is a type of kitsch I found very attractive. The magazine is divided into interviews of the artists along with examples of their work.
I will pass the issue on to my nephew, it may inspire his inner artist.