Imprint93 at Printed Matter

Imprint93, an archive exhibition of Mattew Higgs' stellar mail art publishing venture opens tomorrow evening at Printed Matter, from six to eight pm. 

Artist, writer and current Director of White Columns, Higgs published and disseminated over fifty works under the banner of Imprint93, between the years 1993 and 1998. Higgs invited artists to create works of art that could fit inside an envelope to be distributed, unsolicited, by mail to an informal group of friends, artists, and curators. Mostly printed on an office photocopier, Higgs self-financed the production and mailing costs. 

The artists involved were often at the beginnings of their careers, working on the periphery of the then emerging 'YBA' movement. Their subsequent success speaks to Higgs' keen eye and knowledge of the scene. The exhibition features the work of Fiona Banner, Martin Creed, Jeremy Deller, Peter Doig, Ceal Floyer, Alan Kane, Hilary Lloyd, Paul Noble, Chris Ofili, Elizabeth Peyton, Bob and Roberta Smith, Jessica Voorsanger and Stephen Willats, and many others. Highlights include Martin Creed’s Work no. 88 (1994) - a crumpled ball of A4 paper that the Tate Gallery returned flattened inside an envelope, 'rejected' as an unsolicited donation.

Originating at the Whitechapel Gallery in 2016, this presentation marks the first North American showing of the project in its entirety, including many rarely-seen works and related ephemera. 

Accompanying the exhibition are reissues of editions by Jeremy Deller, Peter Doig, and Martin Creed (signed and numbered, edition of 50 each), as as well as a second printing of Elizabeth Peyton's Untitled Imprint contribution, a zine featuring video stills of Kurt Cobain performing in 1993.