Printed Matter’s LA Book Fair runs this weekend (Feb. 1-3) at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.
A companion to the New York version held every fall, organizers are expecting representatives from more than 220 international presses, publishers, artists and independent sellers from 21 countries, presenting artists’ books, art catalogs, monographs, periodicals, zines and other projects.
A number of CalArts’ faculty and alumni will be exhibiting works or performing. Among them:
- X-TRA, a Contemporary Art Quarterly, co-founded and edited by CalArts faculty Ellen Birrell, presents a special book project in memory of longtime School of Art faculty member Michael Asher. Artist, writer and CalArts faculty Leslie Dick with Adriano Pedrosa (Art/Critical Studies MFA 95) have created the volume: A List of Students Enrolled in Post Studio Art, with Michael Asher at CalArts 1976-2008. The book was published by Golden Spike Press (run by two current CalArts students: Jason Roberts Dobrin [Art MFA 13] and Andy Gohlich [Art BFA 13]) and designed by Michael Ray-Von (Art BFA 12). All proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to the Michael Asher Scholarship Fund at CalArts.
- The online arts journal East of Borneo, edited by CalArts’ School of Art Dean Tom Lawson and Stacey Allan, has partnered with the Los Angeles Free Music Society (LAFMS) to produce a special edition anthology of Lightbulb, the LAFMS magazine published between 1977-1981.
- The independent publisher Les Figues Press, co-founded by CalArts instructor Teresa Carmody, exhibits at the fair and presents Word (Choose) Play in the Mezzanine Theater at MOCA on Sunday from 3-3:50 pm. Three performances are presented in three languages: real, imaginary, symbolic.
- The late artist and CalArts alumnus Mike Kelley (Art MFA 78) will be commemorated throughout the weekend. Gagosian Gallery presents John C. Welchman, co-director of The Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts, for the lecture Lent Felt: A Valedictory Lecture on the Life and Work of Mike Kelley on Saturday, Feb. 2 from 4-5:50 pm at the Ahmanson Auditorium. Gagosian also presents A Tribute to Mike Kelley in Gallery C through the weekend, creating a portrait of the artist through a “a selection of materials reflecting cultural and intellectual interests and passions that each contributor to the library associates with the late artist.”
And though it’s not taking place onsite, The Institute For Figuring (founded by CalArts’ Critical Studies faculty Christine Wertheim and her sister Margaret) hosts a book launch event for Patacritical Interrogations Vol.3, in conjunction with the LA Art Book Fair. The event features performances, screenings and readings by Christine Wertheim, Margaret Wertheim and School of Theater Properties Artisan Christian Cummings (Art BFA 05), among others. There’s also a rare screening of the 1971 interpretive dance film depiction of Protein Synthesis from Stanford University.
Printed Matter’s LA Book Fair
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
152 North Central Ave., Los Angeles
The fair runs Friday (11 am-5 pm), Saturday (11 am-6 pm) and Sunday (12-6 pm) and is free and open to the public.