Artist Books

The 2010 special show highlighted Artists' fanzines. Cheap
(and frequently photocopied) publications, fanzines derive their origins from a special connection that a group of readers has with a topic, a personality, or a cultural event. With the help of this vehicle, numerous artists have quickly issued their own publications, following the example of a Raymond Pettibon in the California punk scene.

But the format is now undergoing a distinctive development, even for art publications. Its committed approach, connection with a 'do-it-yourself' aesthetic, uncomplicated production, and distribution via specialist networks partly explain the fanzine's success with a new audience in the first decade of the 21st century.

Bringing together various 'historical' examples and experiments by the latest publishers, the exhibition also offers a new source for numerous hard-to-find works little concerned with classic distribution.

The exhibition, organized by Zurich-based curator and publisher Lionel Bovier, working in collaboration with AA Bronson (Printed Matter), offers the public access to a limited supply of printed matter (historical or contemporary) provided
by the publishers or the artists, thereby encouraging fresh dissemination of these projects within the exhibition setting.