A Guide to Printed Matter's 2016 NY Art Book Fair

To say "there’s something for everyone” at the NY Art Book Fair is probably going too far, but the fair is certainly everything to a certain someone. For in-the-know New Yorkers, the expo at PS1 is an annual rite, bringing together a massive, motley assortment of booksellers, galleries, artists, and publishers from all around the world, September 16-18. 

To be sure, the NY Art Book Fair is quite a scene, but the good kind. Everyone crams together to gaze upon wild, colorful, and weird printed works, including artists’ books, catalogs, monographs, periodicals, and zines. Bonus: you’ll probably see someone who was in Sonic Youth. 

The fair itself is actually kind of hard to describe if you haven’t been, which is why we highly, highly recommend you go see for yourself. There are few nicer ways to spend a fall day than filling a tote with incredible finds.

Shannon Michael Cane, the fair's curator, chose five things we’d be fools to miss, from Kanye’s branding guru to Gagosian’s highbrow tattoo parlor. 

Check out a new publication by the man behind Kanye's PABLO branding. The LA-based artist will be setting up shop in the small press dome with his crew, WSSF, to launch his new 468-page book OVER THE VOLCANO. WSSF is an NSFW group based in Los Angeles.

Maia Ruth Lee and Peter Sutherland present a chaotic DIY zine-making experience in which you compile pages designed by over one hundred artists blowing around inside a portable tornado. Artists include Rob Pruitt, Petra Collins, Ryan McGuinley, and Tauba Auerbach.

Andrew Roth will exhibit a large selection of posters, zines, and flyers from Toby Mott’s renowned PUNK collection. To accompany the exhibition of over 120 artifacts, they'll launch Oh So Pretty: Punk in Print, 1976-1980, published by Phaidon. This new, fully illustrated 500-page book (which will not be released publicly until later in the fall) focuses on canonical pieces of graphic printed matter, the politics that informed the music, and physical art that was left in its wake. 

Gagosian is pleased to present FLASH FLASH FLASH, an exhibition as tattoo parlor. Artists (including Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Douglas Gordon, and Kim Gordon) have created original flash art for the occasion. Professional tattoo artists will be inking these specially-commissioned designs inside the booth for the duration of the fair. Tattoos will be hand-numbered on the bodies of the purchasers. Once six people have a tattoo, the design will be retired forever. In addition to their permanence on patrons’ bodies, each original flash artwork has been produced as a limited print in an edition of six. Brian Roettinger has designed relics and a special-edition book acknowledging the authenticity of each tattoo for the project. The tattoos, prints, and books will all be available for sale on-site at the fair.

Don't miss We Have Always Risen up from the Dead; A Lamentation and a Call, at the MoMA PS1 Auditorium during the NY Art Book Fair. This live musical performance takes place on September 18th from 5 to 6pm and coincides with the debut of the book Funeral Doom Spiritual. RITA is a NYC-based independent publishing house focusing on art and photography books that advance the dialogue of the book form.