TOKYO ART BOOK FAIR 2019

TOKYO ART BOOK FAIR, launched in 2009, is Japan's first annual book fair devoted to art publishing. For this year's 10th fair, MOT will present an exhibition showing the range of America's art publishing culture, supplemented with displays of publications by Japanese artists and talk events featuring special guests. Meanwhile, the museum's public area will host a colorful gathering of stimulating art publications by publishers and galleries as well as artists' books and zines self-published by artists.

https://tokyoartbookfair.com/en/

Exhibition Area

Guest Country: United States

Guest Country is a TABF initiative that draws attention to the publishing culture of a particular country or region, with past editions focusing on Switzerland, Brazil, and Asia (China, Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore). For the TABF's 10th anniversary, this year’s Guest Country will focus on the United States – a front runner in the independent publishing culture gaining prominence around the world. Art book fairs have evolved into a world-wide phenomenon, unfolding in different regions around the globe in recent years. This movement traces its beginnings to 2006, when the non-profit bookstore Printed Matter – first founded in 1976 by visual artists in earnest exploration of printed matters as a medium of art – started the New York Art Book Fair. In this way, we see the United States unfold as a diverse and vibrant arena for art publishing, as well as home to a number of creators utilizing printed goods in artistic expression. Through two exhibitions – Radical Pages: A Selection of American Zines, and Exhibition: 10 Years of The Thing Quarterly – and a special talk event, the TABF works to unravel what defines such an ecosystem.

Exhibition 1

Radical Pages: A Selection of American Zines

Introducing the 8-Ball Community: a not-for-profit media collective and independent publishing platform headed by photographer and New York art-scene frontrunner, Lele Saveri. Among their initiatives is The Newsstand, in which the collective sells limited edition zines at a kiosk within the confines of a New York City subway station. The group would later rise to prominence after hosting a traveling exhibition series that first launched at the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Composed chiefly of volunteer staff members, their myriad activities – spanning from worldwide installations and exhibitions to their independently-run radio, television, and other media endeavors – have contributed much to the growth of independent publishing culture. This exhibition centers around a body of 150 prominent zines from the 8-Ball Community's collection, spanning from the 1970s into the present. In recent times, we see younger artists from around the world make extensive use of the zine as a familiar medium of expression. This exhibition focuses on how such events have unfolded in the United States: revisiting the rise of independent publication culture in the U.S. leading up until its culmination in the present day. Throughout the duration of the Fair, visitors can also find a special booth home to zines both created and also recommended by 8-Ball Community members (up for display and for sale). Guests may also bring their own zines to the fair to exchange for ones made available at the booth: and by extension, circulating their own zines into the 8-Ball Community collection.

Exhibition 2

10 Years of The Thing Quarterly

Released four times a year across 10 years for a total of 34 publications, The Thing Quarterly was a San Francisco-based art publication with a unique twist. While functioning as a magazine, The Thing Quarterly breaks free of pre-formatted, paper-based publications as a medium of expression – the project releases magazines not as paper-based publications, but as objects. Each issue tells the story of art's importance in the life that issue's featured artist. Whether it be a shower curtain by Miranda July, a frisbee by Gabriel Orozco, a set of cards by Ryan Gander, or a watch by Tauba Auerbach, each issue unfolds around different objects conceived by various creators. The magazine mass produces these objects – rendered by contemporary American artists – for audiences to enjoy. In the process, multitudes of "readers" are able to experience art within the familiar realm of everyday life. The Thing Quarterly occupies a distinctive place in the world of the American contemporary art, and in this exhibition we offer a look at this much-adored magazine's endeavors across its ten years of history.

Issue 1: Miranda July
Issue 2: Anne Walsh
Issue 3: Kota Ezawa
Issue 3.5: Tucker Nichols
Issue 5: Lucy Pullen
Issue 6: Allora & Calzadilla
Issue 7: Jonathan Lethem
Issue 8: Trevor Paglen
Issue 9: Ryan Gander & Europa
Issue 10: Starlee Kine
Issue 11: Chris Johanson
Issue 12: Doo.Ri
Issue 13: Matthew Higgs & Martin Creed
Issue 14:James Franco
Issue 15: Macfadden & Thorpe
Issue 16: Dave Eggers
Issue 17: Shannon Ebner
Issue 18: Mike Mills
Issue 19: David Shrigley
Issue 20: Tauba Auerbach
Issue 21: Ben Marcus
Issue 22: John Baldessari
Issue 23: David Korty
Issue 24: Rodarte
Issue 25: Brian Roettinger
Issue 26: Gabriel Orozco
Issue 27: Michelle Grabner
Issue 28: Jason Fulford & Tamara Shopsin
Issue 29:Ricky Swallow
Issue 30: Raimundas Malašauskas
Issue 31: Ken Kagami
Issue 32: Experimental Jetset
Issue 33: Amanda Ross-Ho
Issue 34: Dave Muller

Guest Country Series Program

Lecture by David Senior (SFMoMA Librarian)

David Senior currently serves as the chief librarian for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA), where he oversees museum collection development – including the library’s artists’ books collection. In addition to organizing a number of the MoMA library’s exhibition projects, Senior has also hosted a variety of talk events at Printed Matters’s Art Book Fair events in both New York and Los Angeles onward from 2008. In this lecture, Senior delves into discussion on the rise of the American independent publishing movement following the first emergence of the art book fair.

[David Senior]
Senior is the Chief of Library and Archives at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Exhibitions he organized during his tenure as the Senior Bibliographer at the Museum of Modern Art Library include THE ELECTRO-LIBRARY (2016), Ray Johnson Designs (2014), Please Come to the Show (2013), Millennium Magazines (2012), and Access to Tools: Publications from the Whole Earth Catalog 1968-74 (2011). Senior released Please Come to the Show from publisher Occasional Papers in 2014 – a book in which he displays ephemera created for a variety of art exhibitions held onwards from the 1960s – and his writing has appeared in the magazines Frieze, Dot Dot Dot and ART PAPERS. Senior additionally serves on the advisory committees of Printed Matter and Art Metropole, as well as the board of directors of Primary Information and Yale Union.

Exhibition 3

Japanese Artists' Books: Then and Now

Beginning in the 20th century, artists around the world have rendered creative pieces known as “artist books,” or works utilizing printed goods as a platform for artistic expression – and the medium has achieved steady growth across the passage of time. Faithful manifestations of their creators’ innovative ideas, we see that these artist books have come to take on a life of their own. The publications undergo replication and movement: they continue to incite reciprocated “chemical reactions” in response to different catalysts, such as advances in printing technology, together with the evolution of Dada, conceptualism, minimal art, and other movements. One may even venture to say that such artist books have practically paved a new road of artistic expression: a medium that the next generations have embraced. This exhibition focuses on Japanese artists at the forefront of the contemporary Japanese art publishing scene and their respective journeys with artist books. Displays unfold around publications of each artist, together with interviews in which they reflect upon their formative experiences with artist book creation as well as the allure they find within the book as a medium. By exploring each artists’ roots and their interpretations, we trace the various ways in which Japanese artists’ books have developed over the years: through Japan’s unique photobook world, the culture of manga, modes of expression developed in tandem with the rise of foreign art trends, as well as changes brought about by the advancement of the internet. In doing so, we work to glean insight into the future of the book and its potential for expression.

*Participating Artists (listed in the order of Japanese syllabary): Misaki Kawai, Kotori Kawashima, Yoji Kuri, Fumio Tachibana, Taro Hirano, Masanao Hirayama, Takashi Honma, Daido Moriyama, Futoshi Miyagi, Daisuke Yokota, Aiko Yamada, Yuichi Yokoyama, and more.

Exhibition 4

100 Years of Shiseido Gallery: A Journey Told Through Catalogs

Reputed as the oldest gallery in Japan, Shiseido Gallery has held over 3,100 exhibitions since its opening in 1919. In commemoration of its 100th anniversary this year, this exhibition presents all of Shiseido Gallery’s exhibition catalogs up to the present day for display (with selected items available for purchase) – together with the volume, 75 Years of Shiseido Gallery, published in 1995. We invite guests to take this opportunity to witness “the discovery and creation of new beauty,” a theme Shiseido Gallery has long operated under, and to discover your favorite exhibition from the gallery’s century-long history.

Exhibitor Booth Area

Here, nearly 300 publishers, galleries, and artists – creators of unique artist books and zines – from both home and abroad come together to portray the appeal of their publications.

※ Please check the TOKYO ART BOOK FAIR website for the latest information regarding workshops, live performances, talk events, and more. https://tokyoartbookfair.com/

Information on Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Facilities (During the TOKYO ART BOOK FAIR 2019)

The 100 Spoons restaurant, the SANDWICH UPSTAIRS café & lounge, and the NADiff contemporary museum shop will be open during the TOKYO ART BOOK FAIR.

※Please check the museum website for more information. https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/guide/shop/