Good morning, and welcome to Print Fetish. My name is Sarah Forbes Keough and I'll be one of your editors. We stayed up all night getting the site ready to go and I'm embarrassed to admit, I'm sitting here reading US Weekly and drinking a soda. It's a rare moment, but strangely soothing this early in the morning. So this blog. I'm excited to share my magazine obsession with the world at large—to wax poetic about lil mini zines found behind shelves in bookstores, to point out and giggle over the embarrassing and unfortunate choices made by glossies, to talk about the craft of making books, magazines, and works of print art. So yeah... Let's get started.

Yes... I have a problem. I spend a lot of money on magazines. I fetishize them. I don't throw them away EVER. They become furniture and decoration. I could probably afford that operation if I gave them up. I keep all my receipts and add them up for tax season - it's truly disturbing. I have an excuse, I'm a designer - so "I have to keep up to date." Yeah. Well, now I have another excuse to write off my purchases... this blog. I can now spread the word on all the hidden treasures I love, and have a soapbox to debunk the supposed quality and slickness of some of the better selling magazines. I don't care about mainstream versus underground, or any outmoded dichotomies. I do care about the glut of crass consumerism and the current obsession with celebrity gossip thats creating landfills. So I'll try to inform you about work that is simply superb, wether it's big time or DIY. Buy art!

THURS, dec 14
Book launch for David Sandlin's Swamp Preacher.
Printed Matter, 5-7pm

Dirty Hands: A Group Print Show.
Cinders Gallery, 6-10pm

Filter Magazine Party
Ben Sherman Store, 96 Spring St, 8-11pm

Have fun, my friends, and take advantage of the free booze, for god's sake.

Dirty Hands, A Group Print Show
Cinders Gallery
Brooklyn, NY
December 13-January 11, 2006

Ralph and I wandered around Thursday night drinking coffee and looking in bookstores. We ended the evening at Cinders Gallery on Havemeyer Street in Williamsburg. Cinders is a gallery which doubles as a store selling affordable and sometimes wearable art (from silk screen prints to handmade scarves). The Dirty Hands Show was opening that night and was full of new work by artists who make prints. From what I could tell most of the work was silkscreen stuff. Some of the show's stand-outs are: Julian Langendorff's etchings, the Bongout silkscreens, Marc Bell's etching and watercolors, and Ryan Jacob Smith's silkscreens.

Photos of the gallery after the jump...

Last night I was making dinner at my house when I got a phone call about the LTTR issue #5 release party and show in progress around the corner. I shoved the few remaining brussel sprouts in my mouth, grabbed my camera, and ran over. Unfortch, I missed most of the entertainment, walking in during the last act: two cute kids singing a bad cover of U Got It Bad.

Positively Nasty, the 5th issue of queer feminist art journal LTTR, looks fantastic. Thick brown cardstock cover, spiral-bound, a plastic pouch of stuff inside. I'll write more about it once I actually get a copy and read it. The party was fun, but I wish I'd gotten there earlier. Was anyone else there? If you got there on time, tell us what we missed in the comments.

More photos after the jump...

Art book publishing giant Taschen is having a bicoastal warehouse sale this weekend and I am so there. In New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and Köln from Thursday, January 18th to Sunday, January 20th. Details for the city near you are here. I'll be going to the New York one on Friday and will let you know what I get. If anyone else goes, let us know about your, heh, booty.

Oooh! This is cool. I just got an email for an opening tonight of The International Flip Book Festival at Secret Project Robot. The show is presented by Little Cakes, a small East Village gallery in the front of artists Hanna Fushihara Aron and David Aron's ground floor apartment. The show is up from January 18th to February 11th, 2007 and is at SECRET PROJECT ROBOT, 210 Kent Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211. And the opening is Thursday, January 18th from 7 to 10pm.

Artist Andrew Jeffrey Wright, a member of Space 1026 in Philadelphia, started The International Flip Book Festival four years ago as a film festival without the film. The flipbooks are submitted into one of four categories: Live Action, Animation, Experimental, and Documentary. Like a traditional film festival, The International Flipbook Festival will be awarding prizes in each category at the opening reception. Go check it out. They're also going to serve sweet treats like cupcakes!

A full list of participating artists after the jump!

I'm going to this event tonight at a cute store on Mott st. called I Heart. The event is for the release of a book of drawings called Castles and Christians by J.Penry. GHava{Press} is putting it out. Our friend Magic Andy is djing. And I'll take some pictures. I think it'll be fun. Go to it also.
Here's the info:

GHava {PRESS}, I HEART AND WILDCAT present
CASTLES AND CHRISTIANS by J.PENRY
Thursday, January 25th, 7-10pm
New original works to be hung and sold by Mr. Penry and signed limited edition copies of CASTLES AND CHRISTIANS including an original drawing in each one.

DJ: ANDY MACLEOD and JOHNNY RAD
Special guest performance by: CHEESEBURGER

I HEART
262 Mott Street
between Prince and Houston
212.219.9265

Cool lesbo magazine Girls Like Us has a new issue out with the lovely and amazing Beth Ditto of The Gossip on the cover. They are having a party for it tonight at the Slipper Room, on the corner of Stanton and Orchard. It starts at 8ish. I'll drop by after I go see Karole Armitage at the Joyce Theater.

Happy Andy Warhol Week! This Thursday is the 20th anniversary of Warhol's death and Factory Craze: A Week of Warhol at the Gershwin Hotel will be celebrating his life and work with events all week. Party promoter/curator Earl Dax went to the private opening ceremony yesterday and had this to say:

"The event was fabulously messy and filled with many off the cuff recollections. Robert Heide recalled Andy Warhol asking "When do you think Edie's going to commit suicide...? I hope she'll let us know, so we can film it," and Ultra Violet observed "The Factory was a like a multi-level marketing firm with no pay." Penny Arcade brought the room to a hush when she noted that "Warhol's greatest accomplishment was convincing the the art world that he was a painter when he really was an art director. You can see Andy Warhol's impact today because there's not a lot of art in art, but there's a lot of art in advertising."

A quick side note: I went to Penny Arcade's garage sale on my first day in New York and she gave me a fedora and told me some stories about the neighborhood. A list of events, including a panel discussion of Warhol's influence on publishing, is after the jump...

David LaChapelle signs copies of his new book Heaven to Hell (TASCHEN 2006) at the Taschen store in Soho this Thursday, February 22nd, 6 to 8PM. He's a big candy coated homo - go have a lick!

TASCHEN Store New York
107 Greene St. (between Prince and Spring streets)
212-226-2212

Zing, one of our favorite art mags, is apparently having a party - even though the fate of the magazine itself always seems in question. Come back to the 5 and dime, zingmagazine, zingmagazine.

Zing Magazine Armory Fair Celebration
Tribeca Grand: Sunday, February 25th: 8pm-1am
Music by Spencer Sweeney and Sascha P
Complimentary Cocktails 8pm-9pm
RSVP here for Zing Event

Speaking of art mags, Documenta 12 Magazine launches. Edited by the curators of Documenta 12, the contemporary arts event held in Kassel, Germany. Haven't seen it yet, but it's in our to buy list.

Yesterday we went to The Armory Show and it was seriously overwhelming. I figured the massive pier full of art would be easier to handle if we travelled in a pack and with beer. It helped. I'm not going to get into what I thought were the highlights and lowlights of the show, because honestly I have no idea where to begin. As we were leaving a friend asked me what I liked the most and all I could say was, "Hey wasn't it nice to run into Franklin at Peres Projects. What a cute hat he was wearing!" So instead I'll show you photos of the Open-Book store, the Armory's temporary art book store designed by the Acconci Studio and produced by Deitch Projects and D.A.P. The store was made from big swooping sheets of plastic anchored by wires that shocked you when you touched them. Ow! According to the Steidl site, "The Acconci Studio design takes as its starting point a horizontal plane which has been suspended, cut and folded." Steidl Books was there showing some of their big special editions including Ed Ruscha's enormous and beautiful THEN & NOW.

Ms. Keough is on her way to Paris to be in an art show... but she didn't bother to convey to me or anyone else anything about the show 'til just now before she boards the plane. The girl's got issues... and I'm not talking about the stack of I-D's in the bathroom. In any event, Ms. Keough's photography will be in the show "Compulsive" at the Jalou Gallery in Paris. There is an opening party on Saturday, March 3rd. I'm not sure what time, 'cuz no one bothered to tell me. Hopefully we'll see pics of the trip soon.

Coverage of this weekend's Colophon 2007 is starting to heat up over at MagCulture Blog. I just have to say, I am so so so jealous. I was hoping to try to pop by after my week in Paris but instead had to return to New York and make some money. If they do it next year, I'm there but for now at least I can read about it.

If you live in or around NYC, I'm here to help with your plans for the evening of Thursday March 22nd:

6:30-9:00
Inside Job art opening at An Earnest Cut & Sew
821 Washington Street
Btw Little W 12th & Gansevoort

Later....
Wooooo #4 Launch & Inside Job afterparty
The Anchor
310 Spring Street
Btw Hudson & Greenwich
(P.S. I'll have more on this magazine after I actually see a copy)

And here is and excerpt from the press release for the event at Earnest Sewn:

An Earnest Cut & Sew & Wooooo magazine proudly present ‘Inside Job’, and exhibition consisting of works produced by artists from Ohio to Berlin employed by galleries/museums as receptionists, art handlers, registrars, and directors. All included artists help bolster the established while quietly breaking tradition and reinventing the future of contemporary art. Their works inspire optimism and a fresh sense of narrative. Exhibition curated by Carlos Quirarte and Jason Crombie.

Friday:
Drop in and visit me as I work the gallery hours at Live With Animals in Williamsburg. The show that's up is called Fancy's Follower and is paintings and drawings by Francesco Lo Russo, Michelle Mcshane, and Linnea Vedder. It's good! Also bring me a sandwich! 4-7pm 210 Kent Ave at Metropolitain, Brooklyn.

Saturday:
Capricious Magazine & Loden Dager Invite you join
ARI MARCOPOULOS Celebrating the publication of his new photo book FLOW: Selected Photographs 1982-2006, Texts by Angelique Spaninks, Jeremy Sigler
Kate Fowle and Will Bradley, Published by MU/Veenman / Distributed by D.A.P.

7 to 9pm, Saturday April 7th, 2007
147 West 29th Street – 5th floor
Between 6th & 7th Avenue
New York City
Music by DJ Mitchalota
www.lodendager.com / www.becapricious.com / www.artbook.com

Sunday:
Hm. Sunday is Easter. So you'd think there'd be something fun to do like Metal Karaoke or I don't know something with strippers or a city-wide easter egg hunt. But I can't find anything good. I'll probs get some brunch somewhere but if anyone has any other ideas, let me know.

XO, have a good weekend.

The only good lesbo mag around, Girls Like Us, is having a party tonight for their new issue. If you're in NY, come meet us there. Here's the flyer:

Our fabulous friend Betty just started a blog called First Person List: An Insider Art Guide to Happenings, Performances, and Openings. Hm, I Can't Seem to Stop Initial Capping Every Word! whew. anyway. Check Betty's blog for something extra cool to do. She's usually in NYC but sometimes wanders off to other places like London or SF. I know this doesn't really have anything to do with print or magazines but I'm sure invites to the best magaziney parties will show up on her blog...

Printed Matter, the world's largest non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of publications made by artists and one of my favorite shopping destinations, is having a spring benefit party at Hiro Ballroom on May 15. The hilarious and genius John Waters is hosting. Performers include Terence Koh, Peaches, Flaming Fire, and the DJs MEN: JD Samson and Joanna Fateman of Le Tigre. Terence Koh's ritual spectacle will result in a limited edition fundraising multiple. MEN play music all night. There's a less expensive after party you can go to if you're not too in the money this month. We love Printed Matter. It's a great cause and you should go and give them money.

Printed Matter Benifit
Tuesday 15 May 2007
Hiro Ballroom at The Maritime Hotel
371 West 16th Street
VIP Reception 7:30 – 9pm
Afterparty 9 – 11pm
tickets here

This summer Printed Matter presents a history of the legendary '60s folk rock group The Fugs. The Fugs were started by Lower East Side poets Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg. While reading up on the band just now I discovered that the word "fug" originates from a euphemism for "fuck" used in novels from the 40s and 50s. It was most famously used in Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead. The first time I heard The Fugs, a friend played me their song Group Grope and I was hooked. These guys are nuts. It's hard to put it into words, so I'll give you a lyric sample: "I'm not ever gonna go to Vietnam. I prefer to stay right here and screw your mom." I think with everything so crazy in the world, right now is a perfect time to revisit The Fugs. The war getting you down? Listen to Kill For Peace. Erosion of our civil liberties pissing you off? Try The Government Surveillance Yodel.

Printed Matter will have complete sets of Kupferberg's Yeah and Swing magazines as well as the full run of Sanders' Fuck You: A Magazine of the Arts. I've been wanting to see these for ages. The show opens this Saturday, June 2nd from 5-7 at Printed Matter, 195 Tenth Avenue, NYC. The bands' records and various other ephemera will also be on display. I'm psyched, let's go!

Danish zine gallery/store T.T.C. (Telefon Til Chefen) has a big zine show up through July called Zine Soup. If you're in the neighborhood of Denmark between now and then, go check it out and then come back and tell me about it. In the meanwhiles, there are quite a few scanned pages of beautiful looking zines to browse through on the gallery's site.

From "Moving Plastic Castles" by Tommi Musturi, 2007.

From "Alexander" by Emil Alsbo, 2005.

From "Sigrid #1" by Sigrid Astrup, 2007.

If you were unable to trek over to Luxembourg for the first Colofon International Magazine Symposium, there's a video report up on their site. Go take a look and be a part of this "great big shared love of magazines." Their site also has a whole bunch of photo galleries of the weekends' events. It's like we were there!

(Photo by Eric Chenal)

At Printed Matter tonight from 5 to 7 is a book launch for the latest title in A.R.T. Press' Between Artists series, which features Amy Sillman and Gregg Bordowitz. 195 Tenth Avenue (at 22nd Street).

From Printed Matter: The Between Artists series pairs artists whose work shares similar formal and conceptual concerns. The resulting conversations comprise books that offer straightforward, intimate investigations of artwork and related sources of interest. Following conversations between Paul Chan and Martha Rosler, Liam Gillick and Lawrence Weiner, Silvia Kolbowski and Walid Raad, the fourth and latest title in this series features a conversation between Amy Sillman and Gregg Bordowitz.

(Pictured above is Cliff 2 by Amy Sillman. I like her paintings.)

Paper Cuts, the NYT books blog, has a cool slide show of old book ads. Pictured here is Edna O'Brien looking awesome in an ad for her book August is a Wicked Month.

The Freakanomics people muse on what the world would be like without libraries. ack!

From Book Slut: Yet another article on indie publishers money problems but this time with some positive notes.

Not exactly a book event but too good not to mention... go see the hilarious genius that is Dynasty Handbag tonight at the Dixon Place Hot! Festival. They are also screening The Quiet Storm, a short film about Ms. Handbag by Hedia Maron. 258 Bowery. 8pm. $12-15.

Sunday night Jerry Stahl is reading from Love Without, his new book of stories, at the Open City Series at KGB Bar. 85 East 4th @ 2nd Ave. 7pm. Free.

FRIDAY: Photographer Mike Brodie who's book I recently reviewed has a show at SF's Needles + Pens. It opens tonight. If I were anywhere near SF I'd totally go. 6-9:30. Needles + Pens. 3253 16th Street. SF, CA.

SATURDAY: Printed Matter is finally open again after their annual inventory and I am psyched to go shopping there. This Saturday they're having a party and t-shirt sale. One Size Fits All: Artists’ T-Shirt Summer Spectacular kicks off at 4 and there'll be beers and djs and an ice cream truck and t-shirts hanging from the ceiling, the windows, and clotheslines all over the store. Here's the laundry list of artists involved: William Bahan, Douglas Groupp, Maya Hayuk, heartschallenger, Kayrock and Wolfy, Nelson Loskamp and Uzi, Noah Lyon, Maya Miller, j. morrison, Asher Penn, Jasper Sebastian Stürup, Eric Shaw, Adam Shecter, Elizabeth Sporleder. 4-7. Printed Matter. 195 Tenth Avenue. NYC.

SUNDAY: And Sunday? Well, hm. I want to go see Husbands at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. Perhaps I'll drop by P.S. 1 on my way and see the Linder show. Linder is the British artist who did the Buzzcocks' Orgasm Addict cover among other cool things.

The 7th annual Portland Zine Symposium starts tomorrow and I wish I was there for it. I'm not a big conference attender or group activity participator but I am pro traveling around and meeting new people. And I seriously love Portland. And that rare occasion where you attend one of these events and unearth some fantastic little zine/record/person makes it worth showing up. Over the next two days, they'll be tons of workshops that cover everything from tips for Gocco printing to queer zines to how to make a zine for free as well as a big room of tables selling zines and other lil stuff. I believe there are also some parties with bands. See the site for more info and a schedule. If you're in the neighborhood, go to the Zine Symposium and come back and tell us about it. And make sure to take advantage of the many other things Portland has to offer, including but certainly not limited to beer, sitting on porches, Powell's Books (the largest independent bookstore in the world!), thrift shopping, cheap food, nice pals, cute boys, and late night wanderings. Pictured above is the poster from the 2001 zine symposium. This years' dates are August 11-12.

DUMBO's PowerHouse Books kicks off their big summer sale tomorrow but rumor has it, it's already begun. They have tons of art, fashion, and pop culture books as well as limited editions, weird objects and children's books. According to their site, the sale includes books by Larry Fink, Danny Lyon, Patrick McMullan, Jeff Bridges, Helen Levitt, Bruce Gilden, Ari Marcopoulos, David Yellen, Janette Beckman, Martha Cooper, Ricky Powell, Richard Hell, and the Beastie Boys, among many others. Get down there and buy yourself some end of summer presents. 37 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY. For info, call 212 604-9074 x101 or check the site.

Printed Matter's annual New York Art Book Fair kicks off tonight at 548 West 22nd St. with a benefit preview from 6-9. The main fair starts tomorrow at 11am and ends Sunday at 5pm and it's free! Over 120 publishers from all over will be there to show and sell contemporary art books, art catalogues, artists' books, art periodicals, and ’zines. Cool events this year include J+L Books' DVD release party, a discussion and book signing with the Evil Twins, Ian Svenonius reading from his bizarro manifesto/book The Psychic Soviet at the ANP launch party, and more! Full list of events here. Mr. Mcginnis and I will be in attendance. Expect book fair coverage from us early next week. Woo.

Mr. Mcginnis and I took a nice stroll through the New York Art Book Fair on Saturday. So much to see! So many books! So many tote bags! Two floors of the Dia:Chelsea building full of tables staffed by cute, well dressed nerds. The first floor was mostly larger companies, like D.A.P., and rare art book sellers, like Glenn Horowitz Booksellers. I went to an opening at Glenn Horowitz's once and they have so many things I want... for so much $$$. Then up to the second floor where the cool kids had their booths. The first stop on the way in was the ANP Quarterly booth. Their new issue is awesome but more on that later. Also upstairs was an exhibit called Friendly Fire, a curated selection of independent publishing by artists. For me discovering little small books and art items at the artists' tables is the reason to go to the fair. Edie Fake was cutting and folding a new lil magazine next to the Islands Fold table of really cool looking comics and across the way from my old friend Darin Klein who was selling a selection of his old zines, a box he made, and art by friends. Over the next week or so, Mr. Mcginnis and I will be reviewing the stuff we bought and talking more about what we saw and who we met at the fair. But for now.... some pictures!

People browsing.

One Star Press' really cool shelf.

The fair made me feel incredibly poor... especially the snarky OneStar Press French dude who showed me a $10,000.00 book by Austrian artist Heino Zobernig. Doesn't that miss the point of the accessibility of books? Just saying. He wouldn't let us photograph it either! Fortunately, right next to him was a free copy of ANP. Maybe I could have gotten more free junk if I'd bothered to have Print Fetish cards made up... but I keep forgetting. As luck would have it, our famous asses were given some pretty books by Brian Kennon from 2nd Cannons and Nick Neubeck of Seems Books. I have no problem paying, but by the time I got to their tables, I had already spent too much. This is an expensive "hobby," let me tell you.

I know it's early in the day for me to be telling you where to go at 6pm, but I trust you will be able to handle this information....

Our friends at Capricious magazine are launching their 7th issue at 147 West 29th street 5th floor between 6th and 7th aves from 6-9. Drop in, let them know how rad they are and grab an issue! Flyer below:

Tuesday October 23rd: Ed Hamilton, writer and Chelsea Hotel blogger, is reading from his new book Legends of the Chelsea Hotel at the 6th Ave Barnes and Noble. 675 Sixth Ave @ 22nd St. 7pm. Free.

Also tonight at 7pm, you can truck up to the Guggenheim for a panel discussion entitled The Worst of Warhol. I'd like to go to this. From the email about it: "Focusing on Warhol as publisher, collector, chronicler, publicist, and progenitor of a larger-than-life public persona, discussants entertain the provocation: Is the worst of Warhol really the best of Warhol?" Panelists include Richard Prince and Robert Nickas. Guggenheim Museum. 1071 5th Avenue @ 89th St. 7pm. $10.

Wednesday October 24th: Luc Sante and Tim McLoughlin are reading from New York Calling: From Blackout to Bloomberg at Spoonbill and Sugartown in Williamsburg. New York Calling was put together by blogger/New York historian Brian Berger of Who Walk in Brooklyn. Berger will also be at the reading to talk about stuff, things, and his book. 218 Bedford Avenue. 7pm. Free.

Saturday October 27: The School of Visual Arts is having an open house for its new MFA program in design criticism. The program's Chair, Alice Twemlow, will be presenting an overview of the curriculum, while faculty members Philip Nobel, Alexandra Lange, Emily Gordon and Steven Heller (also the program's co-founder) will be there to answer questions. 133 West 21st street, 1st floor. 2-4pm. Free. (via Core 77)

Through Sunday October 28th: This week is your last chance to see Mike Nelson's mind-blowing installation, "A Psychic Vacuum," at the old Essex Market building on Delancey and Essex. Brought to us by Creative Time, this dizzying maze of rooms, items and smells reminds us that great things still happen in New York. Go, get lost, be amazed. 117 Delancey @ Essex. Friday through Sunday. 12-6pm. Free.

Photo from A Psychic Vacuum by f. trainer.

Tuesday October 30: Writer, critic, interesting fellow Greil Marcus reads from his new book The Shape of Things to Come: Prophecy in the American Voice at the Union Square Barnes & Noble. Go early, cruise the mag racks and then listen to Marcus talk about America, Twin Peaks, political speeches and Philip Roth. Barnes & Noble, 33 E 17th St. 7pm. Free.

Wednesday October 31: Happy Halloween! I always have a hard time deciding what to do on Halloween. Email list Nonsense NYC sums it up, "Halloween can be really shitty....Somehow it's become a major business too, with elaborate store-bought costumes turning everyone into pop culture jokes or slutty parodies: Last year we went out in Manhattan and it was pretty much a Boschian nightmare of naughty nurses, sexy cops, and drunk asshole vampires." So what do you do? If you've never been to the Halloween Parade, you should probably go check it out. This year's parade has a "Wings of Desire" theme. Let's see, you could go as an angel, a German, Peter Falk, a piece of the Berlin Wall? The parade starts at Spring St. and goes up 6th Ave. 7pm. Free. If you're not in the mood for that, I say make yourself a costume and go walk around looking for a party to crash. If you're in SF, I guess just stay home. What a drag.

OR Night of the Living Dead is playing at MOMA. 11 W. 53rd St., nr. Fifth Ave. 6pm and 8pm. $10.

Thursday November 1-Sunday November 4: Editions/Art Books Fair 2007. This year the E|AB celebrates their 10th anniversary by moving into The Tunnel in Chelsea. That space is huge. I can't wait to go look at all the books and items. Here is a full list of the many participants. The gala is on Thursday night, costs $50, and benefits P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center. The rest of the weekend the fair is open to the public for free. The Tunnel, New York, 261 11th Ave.