14 Very Cool Things You Need To Do At The New York Art Book Fair
The annual, weekend-long celebration of print media can be a little overwhelming. We’re here to help.
Let’s not sugarcoat it: The New York Art Book Fair is stressful. With publishers and artists and vendors from all over the goddamn Earth, there’s a ton of beautiful things to see, and even more people trying to see them. In an attempt to make the experience less daunting, we put together a little guide featuring 14 of the things — photo books, tees, a ceramic vase shaped like a penis — worth braving the mob scene for.
1. Hang out in this room of rare punk posters.
Andrew Roth's room on the second floor is plastered with the coolest of cool tour posters and flyers from Buzzcocks, Richard Hell, The Slits, and more. They're on loan from Toby Matt's PUNK collection, which Phaidon published in the form of a 500-page book called Oh So Pretty: Punk in Print 1976-1980.
2. Flip through a photo memoir that'll make you want to hug your best friend.
Molly Matalon, who sometimes shoots really pretty photos for The FADER, and her collaborator Damien Maloney, just released a new photo book called Olive Juice that's described as "part road trip journal, part romantic travel memoir." Full disclosure: it includes a conversation with The FADER's photo director Emily Keegin, which we can't wait to read. Grab it from the VUU Studio booth on the 2nd floor.
3. Go to an open forum on sex and dating.
N.Y.C. publishing company Badlands Unlimited is hosting a short reading Saturday at 4 p.m. called Ask New Lovers with hosts Larissa Pham and Bettina Davis, the authors of the two latest New Lovers erotic novels.
4. Make friends in the queer section of the zine tent.
There’s great queer art everywhere at the fair, but it’s maybe most concentrated on the far right row of the zine tent, where you'll find booths from Gayletter, Daily Life Storage, Raw Meat Collective, and more.
5. Revel in the funniest self-portraits on the planet.
Russian artist Ebecho Muslimova's wacky ink pieces feature her illustrated alter-ego exploring her orifices. Swing by the One Star Press room in and be prepared to giggle.
6. Learn about the photo world's Next Big Things.
MATTE Magazine and MOSSLESS — two beautiful, glossy publications featuring photos by and interviews with some of our favorite up-and-coming photographers — share a table on the second floor. Pretty convenient, right?
7. Enjoy poems and pictures that fit together like peas in a pod.
Aidan Koch's set up in the back of "the zine tent," near all the punks, where her gentle drawings and words exist in contrast to some of the more frantic designs.
8. Color in Gucci Mane's face tats.
Kayrock Screenprinting is selling a hand-bound coloring book in which you can doodle inside (or outside) the lines of E.T. and Gucci Mane's faces.
9. Check out scrappy designs from New York and records from Japan.
Exciting New York artist Emma Kohlmann will be hanging out side by side with Japanese label Big Love Tokyo in the dome — the big space on the left in the courtyard. Find them underneath a poster that says "Fire Alarm" on it.
10. Buy this weirdly beautiful ceramic penis vase.
Nos Books is a super cool press from Taipei. Their 2nd-floor table is adorned with ceramics and holographic "flicker cards," a.k.a. IRL GIFs.
11. See some striking composite images about how one artist’s identity was shaped by the AIDS crisis.
In this new book based on a solo exhibition called Tear Sheets, Pacifico Silano appropriates decades-old gay smut for a moving statement about memory, queer history, and his own life. Find it in the zine tent at booth A49.
12. Explore the entire Kim Gordon section.
DESTE Foundation is selling Body/Head records and posters, and Kim Gordon's new book, Noise Name Paintings and Sculptures of Rock Bands That Are Broken Up in the M room on the first floor of the museum.
13. Peruse the selection of really great tees, including one dedicated to Winona Ryder's filmography.
L.A.'s Vacancy Projects and Silent Sound's must-see tables are right across from each other, smack in the middle of the fair's most chaotic room. (They don't just have shirts, there are books and pins as well.)
14. Step into a literal tornado of zines.
It’s a $10, 15-second free-for-all, like a challenge from the best DIY-themed game show that never was. Find it outside the dome.