New York, 22nd Street

Organized by Printed Matter and Darling Green in collaboration with Hauser & Wirth Publishers, the first-of-its-kind presentation will be on view directly next door to this year’s NY Art Book Fair fair (13 – 16 October). As a key piece of the project, a series of newly conducted interviews and conversations with current and past exhibitors will shed light on the individual experiences that make up the collective history and life of the fair.

Founded in 2006 by then Printed Matter Director AA Bronson, the NY Art Book Fair was initiated as a new platform for artists, publishers and artists’ book enthusiasts, not only for the distribution of publications but as a space for community building and the circulation of ideas. With the addition of a second fair in Los Angeles in 2013, the event grew in scale to include hundreds of additional exhibitors from across the globe, with audience numbers in the tens of thousands. Now returning to the location of the original New York event, this year’s fair provides an opportunity to reflect on the evolution and impact of Printed Matter’s Art Book Fairs.

‘An Incomplete History of Printed Matter’s Art Book Fairs’ will assemble a chorus of personal anecdotes, conversations, documentation, print materials and ephemera to give a layered narrative account of the NY and LA Art Book Fairs since their founding. The project brings together many voices to consider the Art Book Fairs as a site of dialogue, exchange and collaboration, while also exploring their role within the landscape of experimental art and artists’ book publishing.

With materials drawn from the Printed Matter archives and gathered through an open call for submissions, the presentation will unfold as a non-linear survey and composite oral history of the ever-evolving event. The exhibition project will be followed by a new print publication (Spring, 2023), published by Printed Matter and edited by Darling Green, with design by Garrick Gott and the support of Contributing Editor Lillian Wilkie. 

‘An Incomplete History of Printed Matter’s Art Book Fairs’ is on view now through 29 Oct 2022 at Hauser & Wirth New York, 22nd street.