Printed Matter’s LA Art Book Fair was held January 31st to February 2nd at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. I attended on February 1st and spent five hours perusing the books presented by 250+ vendors. I concentrated my search on photography books only, which cut out at least half of the vendors.
At Conveyor Editions I picked up a signed copy of Strange Paradise by Charlie Rubin, which also came with a small paper bag containing two postcards, a sticker and a poem. Conveyor Editions were also showing Visible Spectrum, a set of books by Penelope Umbrico, Hannah Whitaker, Brea Souders, Andrey Bogush, Robert Canali, Inka & Niclas, Dillon DeWaters, and Nicholas Gottlund.
At Pau Wau Publications I picked up Muses Volume 3 with work by Francesco Nazardo & Chiara Clarke Siravo, Fryd Frydendahl, Jen Davis, Jim Mangan, and Jordan Sullivan. This is a set of five booklets, each containing eight pages which unfold into a poster, all enclosed in an envelope with a slip sheet. This is one of the more unique handmade books I saw at the fair. I would’ve liked to have seen more books like this.
I picked up a signed copy of Todd Hido’s Excerpts From Silver Meadows at the Ampersand Gallery and Fine Books space. The book is a whopping 14″x17″x1″. Heading to the airport the next morning, I wondered if the book would count as my small personal carry on item. Luckily, the flight wasn’t full so I was able to carry it and my bag onto the plane after TSA searched my bag, which is a fairly common occurrence when I travel with cameras. This time, a Holga and six rolls of film, a Canon PowerShot, and a GoPro. On the flight to L.A., the bag made it through okay, but TSA had to swab my hands for residue. I guess they need to do something.
Bought a copy of Printed Web #1 at the Library of the Printed Web table. Printed on newsprint, almost the size of the Hido book, it contains the work of Hito Steyerl, Joachim Schmid, Penelope Umbrico, Christian Bok, Clement Valla, Kenneth Goldsmith, David Horvitz, Chris Alexander, Mishka Henner, &, and Benjamin Shaykin. It’ll be interesting to see what comes in the second edition.
And finally, I purchased a copy of Supermarket by Rudy VanderLans from Gallery 16 for less than half price. I like the design and page layout of this book.
