New York Art Book Fair
This past weekend Magdalena and I went to the New York Art Book Fair.
A friend of a friend released a new book of watercolors with one of the publishers who had a booth there.
This year the fair took place in a big warehouse-gallery on West 22nd Street in Chelsea next door to the mega-gallery Hauser + Wirth.
According to the NYABF’s founder, Printed Matter, the purpose of the event is to celebrate the possibilities of artists' book publishing.
And indeed it does.
The art book publishing community is an eclectic bunch. Especially the small and mid-sized publishers, who represent the majority of the fair's exhibitors.
The whole ecosystem was there - artists, publishers, bookshops, and consumers - all looking for what’s next.
The high-end of the art book market was not well represented, but they don't seem to desire this type of direct consumer engagement. I didn't see any of the larger commercial houses (like Phaidon), or museum presses (MoMA), or university presses (Princeton Architectural Press) on the floor.
Although that was the case, the requirements for exhibitors to participate are high-enough to keep the quality good. They are:
1. You must publish, sell, and/or distribute art books
2. Your books must be available for sale at the event
3. You must have a publishing practice. We are looking for demonstrated dedication to bookmaking and an engaging catalog. The fair is not for showcasing a single title or project.
Beyond the booths on the show floor, event programming included lectures, readings, screenings, performances and workshops.
One workshop that caught my eye was called The Classroom. Curated by the Head of Library and Archives at SFMOMA, it highlighted new releases from around the fair and tied them to important themes in contemporary art publishing.
While the show is international, I found myself seeking out and staying longer at the New York-based publishers including Hauser + Wirth, Aperture, Zwirner, and Harpers.
But there were exceptions.
We spent some time at British publisher Mack's table, looking at the latest from Magnum photographer Alessandra Sanguinetti (a favorite of mine, discovered at the ICP's show "Close Enough").
We also spent time (and money) at Japanese distributor, Case, whose books of photographs of Tibet by Shinya Arimoto do not seem to get the circulation they deserve. (IMO, this is because the packaging - specifically the covers - are overdone and don't capture the simple beauty of the photographs inside).
We went to the NYABF on a Friday evening, and the whole block around the event was alive with interesting-looking people (carrying book totes) coming too and from. So we made the most of it, popping in to a new, neat-little art bookstore run by Harpers Gallery (Harpers Books). And stopping for a quick dinner of super-delicious fish tacos at The Mermaid Inn on the way home.
To learn more about the NYABF, the fair's website is the best place to start ... https://nyabf2022.printedmatterartbookfairs.org/
Postscriptum.
The friend is Aaron Santell. The friend of the friend is Eve Sonneman. Her new book is called "19 Watercolors". The publisher is F Publications.
