This week we are pleased to feature material related to Printed Matter's founding and early history. Begun in 1976, Printed Matter was established in response to the historical phenomenon of contemporary artists realizing their work as books. Focusing on the artists' book as an inexpensive and widely accessible art form, Printed Matter's founding mission was to foster the distribution, understanding and appreciation of artists' books to the broadest audience possible. Our mission remains the same to this day. We will continue to feature rare material from our institutional archive in upcoming emails and on social media.  

"The Founding and Early Years of Printed Matter"
Panel at Judson Church
February 13, 2015
In a special conversation at Judson Memorial Church, Mike Glier, Lucy Lippard, Clive Phillpot, Pat Steir, and Martha Wilson discuss the early history of Printed Matter. Bringing together several PM founders and others closely connected to the organization, the roundtable explores both the founding vision and the more tangible experience of getting the organization off the ground. Moderated by Director Max Schumann. Watch here.

 Collaborative Projects & Printed Matter Inc. Present Art Direct Items for the Home or Office, staple bound, 1983, (Design & Layout: Tom Otterness), cover.A Selection of Printed Matter Catalogs 
Beginning in 1976 — before there was even a public location— Printed Matter started to produce mail-order catalogs in formats ranging from folded flyers to bound books. Mail order was a critical component of Printed Matter's mission to make experimental art in book form available to the widest possible audience, including those living outside of urban cultural centers. As a whole, the Printed Matter catalogs comprise one of the most extensive bibliographic records of artists' books and reflect the trajectory of contemporary art as it evolved in real-time. View here. 

Printed Matter in The Brooklyn Rail
In last month’s issue of The Brooklyn Rail, writer Megan N. Liberty (Editor of the Art Books in Review section) visited the Printed Matter archives to dive into the organization's origin. The long-form piece traces the first meetings at the Franklin Furnace office space on Hudson Street through to the present moment, bringing in many voices of recent PM collaborators. Read here.

 Clockwise from left: NYABF2010, LAABF2016, NYABF2007, NYABF2015, LAABF2017, NYABF2010

In celebration of Printed Matter’s History, above are some images from past Printed Matter’s Art Book Fairs. We also encourage you to explore Printed Matter Fair's poster designs and other content from past years in the Fair Archives here. 

We’d like to thank the amazing 2020 LA Art Book Fair community for sharing new publications, projects, videos, and and virtual tables this past #laabf2020online weekend!! 

Stay tuned as we regularly update the LAABF 2020 website, and make sure to follow the Printed Matter Fairs account on Instagram as we continue to share more incredible new work throughout this month of April!

Early Printed Matter Publications 1976-1977