Sunday, February 28, 2021

Esmaa Mohamoud | Faith in the Seeds 1







Esmaa Mohamoud
Faith in the Seeds 1
Toronto, Canada: Self-published, 2020
21.6 × 30.5 × 22.9 cm
Edition of 12 [+ 1AP]


"The dandelion, though a wildflower, is commonly labelled as a weed to be eradicated at all costs, believed to ruin landscapes with its pervasiveness. Due to many qualities, including to its strong roots, the dandelion is one of the most resilient plants—thriving in many difficult conditions. One of the most magical aspects of the dandelion is its ability to spread its seeds through the air to grow and thrive in new places. This makes me think of the African diaspora and how we, as Black people, have had to spread our seeds and thrive and grow in new places. As such, this wildflower is here used to symbolize the ability to rise above life’s challenges. This work is dedicated to the resilience of the Black community and in particular, to those we’ve lost to police brutality. I want this installation to serve as a reminder of the resilience of Black people and as a beacon of hope for future generations.”

- Esmaa Mohamoud

Friday, February 26, 2021

Felix Gonzalez-Torres | Photostats




Felix Gonzalez-Torres
Photostats
Siglio Press, 2020
88 pp., 8.25 x 6.5", hardcover
Edition size unknown


Released in November of last year, this volume is co-edited by Richard Kraft and Lisa Pearson, with writings by Mónica de la Torre and Ann Lauterbach.

Available from the publisher, here, for $36 US. 

Visit Siglio Press all weekend long at the Printed Matter Virtual Artist Book Fair. 



"Made at the height of the AIDS crisis, in a pre-internet era, the photostats—a series of fixed works with white serif text on black fields framed behind glass to create a reflective surface—are profoundly suggestive lists of political, cultural, and historical references. These works disrupt linear time, the seemingly causal relationships of chronology, and hierarchies of information as they ask how we receive and prioritize information, how we remember and forget, and how we continuously create new meaning. The photostats have a deep kinship with poetry in their use of specificity and ambiguity, operating as open fields: each juxtaposition and its oblique friction illuminates connections and disconnections.

The photostats also recall the screen—the television, and now the computer and phone—in which information is furiously delivered, and we are challenged to parse substance from surface, what we choose to assimilate from what we choose to reject. In the gallery, the glass surface of the framed photostats brings the viewer into an intimate relationship with the work as she may literally see herself in it—reflecting, too, her own assumptions. Now, as we find ourselves thirty years later, in a global pandemic, with a national reckoning in the face of enduring protests against police brutality and racial injustice, there is more to see of ourselves in the photostats and their uncanny multiplicity: layers of history with which we are only beginning to grapple as a society, grief in the wake of devastating loss, and the possibility of reinvention and regeneration.

Intended as discrete space to closely read the photostats with sustained attention, this elegant, clothbound volume opens from both sides: on one side, the framed photostats are reproduced as objects as one might encounter them in a gallery; on the other, white texts appear on full-bleed black fields to be read as writing. Its intimate size and its attention to the book as a physical object create a new way to experience the photostats.

In between the two sides, there are gorgeous and thought-provoking writings by poets Mónica de la Torre and Ann Lauterbach that do not explicate the work but instead enter it. Lauterbach penetrates the atmosphere of the photostats, contemplating mourning and memory while invoking Gonzalez-Torres’s spirit of generosity. De la Torre mines Gonzalez-Torres’s dates and references in her constraint-based essay, tracing time from past to present, while keenly attentive to the impossibility of linearity. Both demonstrate the richness of the work and its potential to inspire multiple readings."
- press release
 

Thursday, February 25, 2021

Benjamin Critton | Evil People in Modernist Homes in Popular Films




Benjamin Critton
Evil People in Modernist Homes in Popular Films  
New Haven, USA: Draw Down Books, 2013
24 pp., 11.5 × 15 in., newsprint
Second Edition

An investigation into the representation of modernist architecture in popular film, reflecting on the convention of associating evil characters and events with modern buildings, and also, more generally, on the relation between cinema and architecture. A series of film stills, quotes and accompanying texts point to examples in The Damned Don't Cry (1950), Diamonds are Forever (1971), Blade Runner (1982), Body Double (1984), Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), L.A. Confidential (1997), The Big Lebowski (1998), and Twilight (2008). Designed by Critton, the publication includes essays by Steve Rose, Jon Yoder, and Joseph Rosa.

Available from the publisher, here, for $50.00. 

Visit DrawDown Books at the Printed Matter Virtual Art Book Fair this weekend. 


San Francisco Sex and Protest 1988-2003


 


Starting in one hour (2pm): 


Dark Room: online event with Phyllis Christopher, Michelle Tea & Laura Guy

"At the 2021 Printed Matter Virtual Book Fair, Book Works will present an online event to present Dark Room: San Francisco Sex and Protest 1988-2003 – the first ever collection of Phyllis Christopher’s trailblazing photography of lesbian erotic life and political struggle. The event will stream live as part of the Classroom programme at Printed Matter on 25th February 2021 at 2pm EST (7pm GMT).

In 1988, at the age of 24, Phyllis Christopher was drawn to San Francisco with her camera to capture a thriving lesbian counterculture involving sex parties, kiss-ins, and street demonstrations. This program features an intimate conversation about lesbian sexuality and documentary on the occasion of Phyllis Christopher’s debut solo publication, Dark Room (Book Works, 2021). The conversation will include Christopher and acclaimed author Michelle Tea, moderated by Laura Guy, editor of Dark Room."


Lucy Lippard | I See / You Mean




Lucy Lippard
I See / You Mean
Los Angeles, USA: New Documents, 2021
224 pp., 13.75 x 21.5 cm., hardcover
Edition size unknown

Originally published in 1979 (see below) by Chrysalis Books, Lippard's experimental novel is about mirrors, maps, relationships, the ocean, elusive success and possible happiness. Through a collage of verbal photographs, overheard dialogue, sexual encounters, found material and self-identification devices (astrology, the I Ching, palmistry, Tarot), it chars from past to future the changing currents between two women and two man: a model/stockbroker/maybe dictator, a photographer, and an actor.

A new edition by New Documents is available for pre-order now, at the sale price of $24 US (from $30). Edited by Jeff Khonsary, the title is supplemented by a new afterword by Susana Torre. It ships in April of 2021. 

Visit New Documents this weekend at the Printed Matter Virtual Art Book Fair. 








Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Art Metropole Retail Catalogue #19




Garry Neill Kennedy
Art Metropole Retail Catalogue #19
Toronto, Canada: Art Metropole, 1997
64 pp., 27.5 x 21.5 cm., staple-bound
Edition size unknown

Art Metropole's 19th retail catalogue, with a cover design by Garry Neill Kennedy featuring bosses admonishing employees, sourced from corporate conflict resolution manuals. The work was later made into a wallpaper edition published by the NSCAD press, titled Seizures

The work can be purchased from Jonathan Hill, Booksellers, here, for $125 US. Both Jonathan Hill and Art Metropole can be visited virtually this weekend, as part of the Printed Matter Virtual Art Book Fair. 



The Printed Matter Virtual Art Book Fair








PMVABF launches today at 4pm with countless participating vendors, including Art Metropole, backbonebooks, Book Works, Bywater Bros. Editions, Draw Down Books, Fillip, Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, NERO EDITIONS, New Documents, Nieves, Primary Information, RE/Search and Search & Destroy, RITE Editions, siglio, Slow Editions, Tenderbooks, Three Star Books, White Columns, Whitechapel Gallery and dozens and dozens of others. 

Watch for a live worldwide drawing event in honour of the late Jason Polan, and a performance by ambient musician Laraaji. 

An incomplete list of the many vendors participating this year: 


& Half Letter Press
3 Hole Press
8-Ball Community
A Magic Mountain
A Published Event
A.I.R. Gallery
a/b Books
Aarati Akkapeddi & Philipp Schmitt
Aaron Krach
ABC (Artists’ Books Cooperative)
After 8 Books
 aka Bunker Basement
AKIO NAGASAWA Gallery | Publishing
Alder & Frankia
Alicia's Klassic Kool Shoppe
Allied Productions, Inc./Le Petit Versailles
Almighty & Insane Books
Almine Rech Editions
Alternate Projects
AMBruno
André Frère Éditions
Andrew Miksys
Animal Press
Anteism Books x The Hole
Antenna's Press Street Press
Anthology Editions
Anthology Film Archives
Aperture
Arcana: Books on the Arts
Arcangel Surfware
Archive Books
Arquitectura y fantasía 
Art Metropole
Art Museum
Art Resources Transfer (A.R.T. Press)
ARTFORUM/BOOKFORUM
Arthur Fournier Fine & Rare
Artphilein Editions
Atelier Éditions
Autonomedia 
AVARIE
B&D Press
backbonebooks 
Bad Student Press
Bard Graduate Center Publications
BASEMENT
Beijing Inside-Out Art Museum
billy ocallaghan / 
Bitter
blisterZine
BLOW UP PRESS
BOA NOITE
BOM DIA BOA TARDE 
BOMB Magazine
Book Works
Books for All Press
Brain Washing from Phone Towers 
Bread and Puppet Press
Brian Cassidy Bookseller 
Brick Press
Bricks from the Kiln
Bronze Age
BULK SPACE
Bywater Bros. Editions
Caboose / The Smudge
Calipso Press
CAMP BOOKS
Candor Arts
Capricious 
Carlo Quispe
Carnage NYC
Caroline Paquita-Kern
Case Publishing
Cash Machine
CASSANDRA Press
Center for Book Arts
Centre d'édition 
Chimurenga 
Christina Martinelli
Christopher Branson
Clifton Meador
Clown Kisses Press
Co—Conspirator Press
Cody DeFranco
Cold Cube Press
COLLI independent art gallery
Colour Code
Coloured Publishing
Colpa Press
Connecticut
Contemporary Art Review 
Conveyor Editions
Corraini Edizioni
Cory Emma Siegler
Counterbound
cpress
crevasse
cripple
CRISIS EDITIONS + DANE PRESS
Dale Wittig
Danarti Zine
Dancing Foxes Press
Datz Press 
David Kordansky Gallery
David Zwirner Books
Deadbeat Club
DelMonico Books
Desapê
Dia Art Foundation
Diagonal Press
diasporan savant press
dispersed holdings
District of Columbia (D.C.)
Dizzy Magazine
dmp editions
Dobbin Books
Dongola Limited Editions
Draw Down Books
Dream Press
Drum Machine Editions
East of Borneo
ECU Press/Libby Leshgold Gallery
Ecuador
Ediciones El Fuerte
Edition Patrick Frey
Edition Taube
Edizione Multicolore
EFA Robert Blackburn 
EMBAJADA 
Endless Editions
EXILE Books
EYE IN VISION
F Magazine
Façadomy
Fair Enough (Boabooks, edition fink, 
Farside Collective
FAW
Feixue Mei
Felicita Felli Maynard
Fillip
Florida
Floss Editions
Flower Press
FotoEvidence
Frans Masereel Centrum
frieze
Futurepoem books
Gato Negro Ediciones
GenderFail
Ginger
Gnomic Book
Gold Rain
GOST Books
Gravel Projects
Gregory R. Miller & Co.
GRRRR
HAMBRE HAMBRE HAMBRE
Hammer Museum
Harper’s Books
Hassla
Hauser & Wirth Publishers
Heather Benjamin
Helen Douglas/Weproductions 
Hesse Press
Hi-Bred
Homie House Press
HOMOCATS
Hotam Press
HUMOBOOKS
HUNTERS POINT PRESS
Hyperlink Press
ice fog press
IDEA BOOKS / AMSTERDAM
IKREK
Image Text Ithaca
Infinite Kisses - Artist Zines 
Ink Cap Press, Inc. | GroundWork
Instantes Gráficos
Institute 193
Institute for Interspecies Art 
Interference Archive 
Inventory Press
Irrelevant Press
Issue Press
J&L Books
Jamiyla Lowe
Jason Rovito, Bookseller
JBE Books
Jo Rosenthal & Friends
Jody Zellen
Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller
Justseeds Artists' Cooperative
Juxta Press
K. Verlag 
KARMA
Kaunas Gallery Books
Kayrock Screenprinting
Kentucky
KGP | MONOLITH
Knust/Extrapool
Kodoji Press
Kunstinstituut Melly 
Kwago
L'Arengario Studio Bibliografico
L'Artiere
LAGON REVUE / SAMMY STEIN
Landfill Editions
Las Injurias
Letter16 Press
LIFTA
Linus Bill + Adrien Horni
Lisson Gallery
Little Mountain Press
Lodret Vandret
Look Back and Laugh
Los Sumergidos
Louis M Schmidt
lucky risograph
Lugemik
Maamoul Press 
MACK
Marcus Campbell Art Books
Margaux Bigou
Maria Editions
Marian Goodman Gallery
Martian Press
Más Allá
Matthew Marks Gallery
McGilvery, Laurence
Mega Press/Panayiotis Terzis
MEMBRANA
Mi Casita Press
Michalis Pichler
microutopías
Migrant Journal
Mike Mandel and Chantal Zakari
Miniature Garden
MIT Press
mixedgreens
Moniker Press
Monograph Bookwerks
Most Ancient
Mousse Magazine & Publishing
Multinational Enterprises
NANG Magazine
Naranja Publicaciones
National Monument Press
NERO EDITIONS
New Documents
Nichole Shinn
nico fontana
Nieves
NIGHTED
NOAH LYON
NoRoutine Books
Norsk Risoforening
OAZA BOOKS
Offset Projects
OOF Books
Ooga Booga
Open Projects Press
Oranbeg Press 
Orange Crush: The Journal 
Other Forms
Other Publishing
OUTER SPACE PRESS
Pace Gallery
Pacific
Palm* Studios
Paper Crown Press
Paper Cuts
Paper Monument
Papertown & Nuts! Company
Paradise Systems
Passenger Pigeon Press 
Paul Zelevansky
Pegacorn Press/
per(r)ucho
Peradam Press 
Perfectly Acceptable Press
Perimeter Editions
Pioneer Works Press
PPP Editions/Andrew Roth Inc.
Precog Magazine
Press Press
Primary Information
Primrose Press
Printed Matter, Inc.
Printmaking Workshop
PrintRoom
prompt:
PromptPress
Publication Studio Vancouver
Queer.Archive.Work
Rabbit Rabbit Press / Alaska Bookmobile
Radix Media
Random Man Editions
Raw Meat Collective
RE/Search and Search & Destroy
Reconstructed Magazine
Red Letter Distro
Red Pocket Press
Redboldface
Redfoxpress & Antic-Ham
Rhode Island
Rhombus Press
Richard Kostelanetz /Archae Editions
Rinny Perkins
Ripopée
RITE Editions
Rollo Press feat Yellow Pages
Roma Publications
ROMAN NVMERALS
Ruja Press
RxART 
S U N 
Sacred Bones
Scott McCarney VisualBooks
Seaton Street Press
Secret Riso Club
Shining Life Press
Shortt Editions 
SICK magazine
siglio
Sigrid Calon
Silent Face Projects
Silent Sound
simple project NY
Sims Reed Ltd. 
Slow Editions
Small Editions
Sming Sming Books
Soberscove Press
Social Species
Space Sisters Press
Special Special
Spend Time Zine Mart
Spheres Projects
Stefan Marx
Stefanie Leinhos
Sternberg Press
Stolen Books
Stop Over Press
Street Salad
Strike Design Studio
Sugarcane Magazine 
sweaterqueens
Taller California
TBW Books
Temblores Publicaciones
Temporary Services 
Tenderbooks
Terminal Ediciones
Terranova
The Aldrich Contemporary 
The Black School
The Brooklyn Rail  & Rail Editions
The Concern Newsstand
The Eriskay Connection
The Everyday Press 
The Fulcrum Press
THE ICE PLANT
The New Gallery
The Renaissance Society
The Southland Institute 
The Teachers Project
theretherenow. 
Thick Press
Three Star Books
TIS books
Torpedo Press
TORTILLAGURL
Triangle Books
Tricia Treacy
Tropic Editions
Twin Palms Publishers
TXTbooks
Ugly Duckling Presse
Ulises
Unknown Unknowns
UPON
Vacancy Projects
Valiz
Visible Publications
Visual AIDS
Void
Volatile [redux]
Volker Renner
Water With Water / فسر الماء بالماء
Wave Books
Wendy's Subway
Werkplaats Typografie 
White Columns
Whitechapel Gallery 
Women's Studio Workshop
Wordshape 
WORK/PLAY
X-TRA
Yes Press / NOMag
Yoffy Press
Zatara Press
Zavod P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E.
ZINE COOP
ZOLO PRESS

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Ulises Carrión | The Muxlows




Ulises Carrión
The Muxlows
Düsseldorf, Germany: Verlaggalerie Leaman, 1978
[unpaginated], 23 x 11 cm., softcover
Edition of 300 


A list of names dating back to 1835 when the titular Thomas Muxlow was born, arranged under the chapter headings: “Parents names”,  “Childrens names”, “Marriages” and “Other family events”. Only names and dates of birth and death are listed. 

"'The Muxlows' is the history of an English family from Yorkshire. I found it in 1972, in the city of Leeds, in the last pages of a badly damaged bible." 
- Ulises Carrión








Monday, February 22, 2021

Jean Dubuffet | L'Art brut préféré aux arts culturels






Jean Dubuffet
L'Art brut préféré aux arts culturels 
Paris, France: René Drouin, 1949 
52 pp., 20 x 17 cm., staple-bound
Edition size unknown

The term outsider art was coined by art critic and professor at the University of Kent, Roger Cardinal in 1972. The term was an English synonym for the French term Art Brut, or "raw art" or "rough art"), a term used by Jean Dubuffet to describe art created outside the boundaries of official culture. 

He viewed fine art as too influenced by academic training, and favoured graffiti, and the work of
psychiatric hospital patients, children and "primitive" artists untrammelled by convention. He began incorporating these qualities into his own practice. 

This volume was published on the occasion of an exhibition of Art Brut organized by the Compagnie de l'Art Brut at Galerie Rene Drouin in Paris, the venue that gave Dubuffet his very first exhibition. 

He penned an impassioned catalogue essay, which came to be regarded as the group's manifesto. Alongside this text are 52 black and white illustrations and a checklist of 200 works by 63 artists. Fittingly, the volume is printed on cheap brown and pink paper. 


"Those works created from solitude and from pure and authentic creative impulses – where the worries of competition, acclaim and social promotion do not interfere – are, because of these very facts, more precious than the productions of professionals. After a certain familiarity with these flourishings of an exalted feverishness, lived so fully and so intensely by their authors, we cannot avoid the feeling that in relation to these works, cultural art in its entirety appears to be the game of a futile society, a fallacious parade." 
- Jean Dubuffet

Sunday, February 21, 2021

Joëlle Tuerlinckx | This Book, Like a Book





Joëlle Tuerlinckx
This Book, like a Book
Gent, Belgium: S.M.A.K., 1999
112 pp., 23.5 x 16.5 cm., softcover
Edition size unknown


"This Book, Like A Book took place at the S.M.A.K. while the museum was still under construction. This exhibition was a record of Joëlle Tuerlinckx’s own museography, composed of the remains of exhibitions accumulated over several years. On this occasion, this museographic ensemble was integrated into the exhibition space, spread out in a large display and among these remains, the paper documents were transformed into volumes, or into those objects which are books. In her work, the term object is not to be considered in the traditional sense. Rather, an object is, I quote, “a visible and palpable manifestation of my own thought. In reality, they are sorts of tools that help me see and that I eventually name, grouping them under the generic term ‘objects’, for example: barres, bâtons, volumes, boules, boulettes”."


Saturday, February 20, 2021

Maria Eichhorn | The Artist’s Contract

 


Maria Eichhorn
The Artist’s Contract
Cologne, Germany: Walther König, 2009
336 pp., 24 x 16.5 cm., softcover
Edition size unknown

 
Between 1996 and 2005, the artist conducted interviews with artists, gallerists and other art world figures including Carl Andre, Michael Asher, Paula Cooper, Hans Haacke, Jenny Holzer, Adrian Piper, Robert Ryman, John Weber, Lawrence Weiner and Jackie Winsor. Their discussions were centred around the sale of artworks, speculation, the role of collectors and museums and artists’ rights.

Earlier this week it was announced that Eichhorn will represent Germany at the 2022 Venice Biennale. 

“Maria Eichhorn is the artist I have always wanted to see in the German Pavilion,” said Ylmaz Dziewior, director of Cologne’s Museum Ludwig, who is curating the German Pavilion.“In my view there are few artists who address themselves to German history and its impact on the present in as multifaceted and intensive a manner.”



Friday, February 19, 2021

White Fungus #16




[Ron Hanson, editor in chief]
White Fungus #16
Taichung City, Taiwan: White Fungus, 
234 pp., 26 x 19 x 1 cm., softcover
Edition size unknown


This was sent to me ages ago and I never got around to posting it. It's an impressive periodical that began as a photocopied protest zine and has morphed into a slick production. 

Issue #16 features Kurt Gottschalk reporting on a performance of Max Richter's Sleep, Tobias Fischer on animal music, an article about 2018 Turner Prize–nominee Luke Willis Thompson, curator Jeph Lo on the emergence of noise music in Taiwan, and a photo essay on political demonstrations held during the islands transition out of military rule. 

But most notable is a 50-page interview by Ron Hanson with Carolee Schneemann. It's one of the last major interviews with the artist before her death in March of 2019. 

Schneemann candidly recounts running away from home at 15 and going to Mexico, changing her name at 18 (in part to keep her parents away from her work), and losing her teaching job at Rutgers in 1999 because her male counterparts thought she was a witch. Stan Brakhage (best friends with her partner James Tenney) apparently thought she was a monster also - for identifying as more than a wife. She recounts the story of how he insisted his bride burn everything pertaining to her life before they married:

"When he meets Jane [Wodening], his life-partner for 35 years, he has her burn all of her things on the side of the mountain where they lived: her diaries, her paintings, her clothes, her books. Everything is set on fire. And then she has a handmade dress that she wears as his bride. So her life is consecrated to him.

After five children, and all the creative work together, Stan says, “I don’t want to live with you anymore; I’m changing my life.” So I’m reading a lot of her writing because she’s an amazing writer, a profound naturalist. And she moves into her old car and drives across the country for two years.

That’s a pattern that we’ve discovered for women whose marriages are solid and coherent and consistent. When their marriages are suddenly blown apart by the male partner, they often start driving. They don’t know who they are; they don’t know where they want to be."

Schneemann discusses spending time Joseph Cornell's place: 

"I found a drawing from Rauschenberg signed "To Joseph, with great admiration". And I said, "Look what I found. And he said "Put that away! I don't want to see that thing!". 

She also describes her most acclaimed artist publication: 

"I began a work that would be titled "ABC - We Print Anything - In The Cards". I was really devastated and gathered advice from my friends over the phone. The women friends suggested "Well, make him his favorite dinner. Invite him over and have candlelight, and he'll feel how close you still are." So I wrote that on a card and that in the drawer. And then the next friend would say , "Tell him to fuck off! Got out and get stoned , and don't pay him any attention. So I write that down. I begin to have that drawer full of contrary advice. I thought, "Oh, this is good. This is really interesting. This is wonderful.""

The issue can be purchased here for $10. 








Thursday, February 18, 2021

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Cindy Sherman | Madame de pompadour (née Poisson) tea set






Cindy Sherman
Madame de pompadour (née Poisson) tea set
New York City, USA: Artes Magnus, 1990
Dimensions vary
Edition of 300 (75 of each of four colours)

A twenty-one piece set of porcelain tea service, including a teapot, sugar bowl, creamer, six cups, six saucers and six dessert plates. 

Currently valued at between eight and ten thousand dollars. 

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Richard Long | Walking and Sleeping


















Richard Long
Walking and Sleeping
Madrid, Spain: Ivorypress, 2003
24.5 x 70 x 55 cm.
Edition of 58 [+ 2 AP] signed and numbered copies


An artist book comprised of 11 offset lithographs and 22 pages of accompanying text by the artist, with original mud drawing, on handmade paper, the full sheets and with margins, the sheets mounted to a linen concertina and hand-sewn with hemp, the book wrapped in natural canvas, contained in the original wooden box within a grey painted wooden traveling case.

Designed by Long and Herman Lelie, the project was directed by Elena Foster. The letterpress and lithography were made by Francis Atterbury and the boxes were produced by Paul de Bock under Long’s close supervision. The paper was hand-made with straw and stones by Ruscombe Paper Mill especially for the edition and was supervised by Richard Long, who also mixed the inks. 

The work has exhibited in London (Victoria and Albert Museum, Tate Britain, London, Whitechapel Gallery), Venice (Palazzo Fortuny) and Madrid (Ivorypress, the publisher). 

An edition of 58, only the first sixteen includes the mud drawing. The remaining forty-two contain a reproduction. There is an artist proof for both versions. 

The title is valued at approximately four to five thousand dollars. 




Monday, February 15, 2021

Kablusiak Felt Kitties

 






Kablusiak
Felt Kitties
Calgary, Canada: Self-published, 2020
14.5 x 14.5 cm
Edition size unknown


Hand stitched felt swatch images of cats, complete with cross-stitched anuses. 

Produced for the Undecimal Mail Art Group, likely in an edition of twelve or thirteen (with each a unique colour). 








Sunday, February 14, 2021

The Sweetest Little Thing



The Sweetest Little Thing event takes place tonight, including an online auction of affordable small artworks. These are two things we won last year, by Amanda Fauteux and Hannah Bridger: a cigarette as candy and cheezie as sculpture. This year’s event includes a work by Roula Partheniou (see previous post) as well as works by Micah Lexier & Jon Sasaki, Andrea Mortson, Lacey Decker Hawthorne, Paul Butler, Kerri Reid (A Bernie Sanders w/Mittens finger puppet), Derek Sullivan, etc. etc. 

All funds raised benefit Struts Gallery and The Owens Art Gallery. 

To bid, visit the 32Auctions site, here:

Saturday, February 13, 2021

Roula Partheniou | Prize Ribbon (Red)



Roula Partheniou
Prize Ribbon (Red)
Sackville, Canada: Self-published, 2021
4 layer screenprint on Kozuke paper, Yamoto glue
28 x 10 x 2.5 cm
Edition of 5 signed and numbered copies

Prize Ribbon (Red) adopts the "Red-white-blue" Chinatown tote bag motif, synonymous with practicality, affordability, durability and the resilience of the working-class and migrant populations around the world, and equates it with a symbol of honour and tribute. The grid was hand-drawn and then translated into a 4-layer screenprint on Kozuke paper. Printed by Jess Palmer at Open Studio, Toronto. The edition (numbered on an accompanying certificate) consists of five ribbons, each unique. 

The work is available as part of the fundraising auction The Sweetest Little Thing, an annual event whose proceeds benefit Struts Gallery and the Owens Art Gallery. 

Bid here: 


Friday, February 12, 2021

Gerald E.Smith | Firing Squad Match Co.




Gerald E.Smith
Firing Squad Match Co. 
Toronto, Canada: Gorgonzola Press, 1983
5/8 x 2-3/16"
Edition of 50 copies


A matchbook containing a single match, published on April 11th, 1983 as the third issue of Gorgonzola.

Available from jwcurry, here

Thursday, February 11, 2021

Thomas Schütte | Reserve








Thomas Schütte
Reserve
Düsseldorf, Germany: Self-published, 1993
7.3 x 18 x 12.9 cm
Edition of 50

Painted ceramic lightbulbs housed in a wooden crate. 

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Guerrilla Girls Cancel Phaidon Book Contract



Last week the Guerrilla Girls announced that they have canceled their book contract with Phaidon, citing Leon Black's association with convicted sex offender and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. 

Phaidon is a multi-national publisher of books on art, architecture, design, fashion, photography, and popular culture, based out of London and New York City, with additional offices in Paris and Berlin. 
Phaidon has over 1500 titles in print and has sold more than 42 million books worldwide. Founded in Vienna in 1923, the company was sold to Black in 2012. 

“In 2018, the Guerrilla Girls contracted with Phaidon Press to publish our dream book of all our work from 1985 to today: conceptualized, designed and written by us,” the Guerrilla Girls said in a statement. “In 2019, the world learned about Black’s extensive and shady dealings with shady pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, before and after Epstein’s conviction for sex trafficking young girls. We decided we could not work with Phaidon.”

They have also called for Black, to step down from his post as chair of the board of directors of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

“How to explain MoMA’s silence? And why does MoMA tolerate people like Black and [Glenn] Dubin on its board in the first place?” queried the Guerrilla Girls. “If we’re stuck with a system where our tax-exempt, educational institutions have to depend on money from the super rich, they should at least choose board members who make the world a better, not a worse place.”

Monday, February 8, 2021

Primary Information







The previous post concludes a week of Primary Information titles. Fourteen posts are, of course, not enough to do justice to the publisher, and there are several glaring omissions: 

Fantastic Architecture and An Anthology of Concrete Poetry, which I never bought as I have the original Something Else Press titles. Both are essential. 

James Hoff’s TopTen, which I was also lucky enough to get the original, pre-PI version. 

The box set of Great Bear Pamphlets, which deserve a full week themselves. I’ll try to get to them next month. 

Women in Concrete Poetry, which deserves a deeper dive than I can accommodate right now. 

Tony Conrad’s Writings, which I need to finish reading. 

Avalanche, which I missed out on and which is now sold-out. 

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