We’re very pleased to announce the launch of an ongoing collaboration between Printed Matter and the Aspen Art Museum (Aspen, Colorado). The partnership features a long-term space within the Museum’s bookshop committed to showcasing a rotating selection of contemporary and vintage artist books chosen by Printed Matter. To kick off the partnership, our own Max Schumann, Acting Executive Director, is headed to Aspen this week to discuss the history and possibilities of artists’ books. If you are in the area please join him this Thursday, October 30, 6PM. Details here.

The Curated Shelf program aims to establish a network of partnerships with art institutions committed to supporting artists’ books, providing a forum for the broader disseminating of these works as an affordable and accessible medium. We’re especially excited that the launch of the Printed Matter shelf at AAM coincides with the museum’s move, August 2014, into a gorgeous new facility featuring 17,500 square feet of exhibition space in downtown Aspen. Last year Printed Matter launched its first collaboration of its kind at The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN.

Schumann’s talk will address considerations relating to the state of artists’ publishing practice. The mainstream publishing industry remains in an extended period of crisis. Luminaries proclaim the death of the book in the digital age. In spite of this, artists’ publishing is experiencing a significant resurgence in activity and public interest. Schumann will examine this renaissance in relation to the history of contemporary artists’ books, as well as the context of the digital information revolution with its socio-political implications.

Printed Matter’s Curated Shelf Program is generously supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.