Over the course of four days, Printed Matter’s NY Art Book Fair offers dozens of opportunities for engagement, with free conversations, workshops, performances, and other artist-led programs.
Programs also include an Opening Night celebration, the Block Party, exhibitor awards, curated exhibitor projects, as well as offsite programs at partnering institutions in Chelsea.
Coming soon... to the NY Art Book Fair! Back to back trailers and teasers of 20+ new books launching this weekend.
Screening at Hauser & Wirth on 18th St from 10am–2pm on Saurday, April 27.
Screening at Hauser & Wirth on 18th St from 10am–2pm on Saurday, April 27.
This long-running program provides space for artists, writers, designers, and publishers to highlight new releases at NYABF and fosters dialogue around important themes in artists’ book publishing. NYABF 2024 participants include Omar Berrada, Ohan Breiding, Thomas F. DeFrantz, and Annie-B Parson, among many others. The NYABF 2024 Classroom is organized in collaboration with Emmy Catedral, Curator of Public Programs at CARA and David Senior, Director of Library at SFMOMA. Hosted by Dia Art Foundation at 537 W 22nd St and generously supported by Cargo.
The Classroom is free to attend. RSVP recommended.
Register here
The Stage
Taking place on the rooftop during the Fair and on the street during Saturday’s Block Party, The Stage is curated by X-TRA.SERVICES. Featuring performances by 7038634357 + Drumloop, Bergsonist, Dissensus, Hiro Kone, Purelink, and many more!
Block Party
The second ever NYABF Block Party is on Saturday, April 27, from noon to 6pm! Free and open to the public on 22nd St between 10th and 11th Ave, the event features a range of fun projects, with food, music, workshops, performances, mutual aid, and kids activities. Participants include Bushwick Chess Club, Crude Tapes, Maggie Boyd & Molasses Books, Olamina Botanicals, The Other Almanac, P.A.D., School For Poetic Computation, Toy Box Coffin, Wyrm Farm, and many more.
The Shannon Michael Cane Award
This award is granted to emerging artists (artists, artists’ book publishers, or collectives in the early stages of their career) who would be first-time exhibitors in a Printed Matter Art Book Fair. Each recipient is granted a complimentary table and an unrestricted stipend. Exhibitor applications were reviewed by a panel comprised of the founders of the Shannon Michael Cane Memorial Fund and Printed Matter staff. This year’s winners are Camila Giraldo (New York), Page Bureau / RELATED DEPARTMENT (China), QRWHZGUB (California), and Trashboy (Louisiana).
Volume Grant
This funding opportunity is for artists and publishers who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color. Recipients are granted a complimentary table at the Fair and an unrestricted stipend. This grant supports the ongoing creative work happening in marginalized communities through assistance with production, travel, and other necessary expenses. This year’s winners are Homie House Press (Maryland), Khabar Keslan Magazine خبر كسلان مجلة (Lebanon + New York), Proyecto Piranha (Argentina), and Reliable Copy (India). This year’s NYABF Volume Grant jury included Kris Graves, Lorena Gomez Mostajo, and Vivian Sming.
Support for the NYABF 2024 Volume Grant is generously provided by Jane Hait and Justin Beal, with additional support by the NYABF Committee.
Women’s History Museum has designed a new paper necklace charm. The work references an acrylic “peep show” booth from their 2020 fashion show, SEZX. The graphics bring together images and text found on "girlie" vintage matchbooks advertising burlesque and strip clubs. For this NYABF 2024 ticket edition, the artist duo transform an enamel charm of similar design into an editioned paper one, returning to the original reference point of matchbooks—a piece of paper ephemera ready to be collected, and in this case, worn.
Purchase your Opening Night ticket here
Exhibitor Projects
These special publication-focused projects are presented by select Fair exhibitors, hosted by Printed Matter. This year’s projects include a geopolitical gardening project by Passenger Pigeon Press and friends; an exhibition of multidisciplinary artists’ books by Three Star Books; an exploration of collaborative publishing among five Italian publishers in Image Ecology; an installation of Lilit with talismans, spells, and drawings in the stairwell by Tamar Ettun; and a rooftop publishing experiment with Werkplaats Typografie.
The Jason Polan Award
Printed Matter is proud to announce The Jason Polan Award, a new opportunity honoring the legacy of friend and artist Jason Polan (1982-2020). Jason was a longtime exhibitor at the NY Art Book Fair, and his practice inspired countless artists and illustrators. This award will acknowledge two exhibitors who work with illustration through an unrestricted grant announced during the Fair. Our gratitude to the Jason Polan Award Fund Group for their generous support.
Friendly Fire
A cornerstone of the NYABF, Friendly Fire features several social justice organizations and politically-minded artist publishers at the Fair. In addition to forefronting a number of urgent issues, this year's Friendly Fire will highlight exhibitors whose work is dedicated to interconnected solidarity, decolonization, and the urgency of the Palestinian cause. Participants include Artists Against Displacement (AAD), Falgoush, Gato Negro Ediciones, Justseeds Artists' Cooperative, Bread & Puppet Press, and Radix Media, among others.
Offsite Programming
These include an exhibition on histories of resistance from South Asia by Editions JOJO and a display of the seminal serial publication Top Stories at Printed Matter’s Chelsea store, plus two new window installations by NYABF Latin American exhibitors Balam in Chelsea, and Club del Prado at our St. Marks location.