H-155. The History of Artists’ Books since 1950 - Advance Reading List

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  • Preliminary Advices

    This course is intended as a basic introduction to the recent history of contemporary artists’ books, artists’ publishing, and related book formats.

    For students enrolled in this course, please complete all of the required readings: most are quite short in length, interspersed with many photo illustrations. Please pay attention to the content of the writings with an eye to the publication date as you progress through the reading list. If you have time, I also suggest the recommended readings, but these will not be required.

    Students will benefit from reviewing the websites listed. This list is not exhaustive but provides a reasonable foundation from which to start. Take time to explore each site and the additional resources often included within: resources, lists of fairs, libraries and study collections, and use of terminology for publication types.

    I have included a list of titles that are suggested readings. We may not discuss these during the course, but you will get more out of the class if you read—or closely browse—them. As with the other resources listed for this class, you will benefit from an awareness of these publications, who the authors are, and where they fit in the history of artists’ books and artists’ publishing.

  • Required Reading

    • Allen, Gwen. Artists’ Magazines: An Alternative Space for Art. Boston: MIT Press, 2011. “The Magazine as an Alternative Space: Art-Rite 1973-1978” (pp. 135-142).

    • Bright, Betty. No Longer Innocent: Book Art in America 1960-1980. New York, NY: Granary Books, 2005. “Introduction,” (pp. 1-15).

    • Bright, Betty. Off the shelf and on-line: computers move the book arts into twenty-first century design. Minnesota Center for Book Arts, 1992. “Thoughts on technology: the book arts, and postmodernism,” by Margot Lovejoy (pp. 9-16).

    • Coplans, John. “Concerning ‘Various Small Fires’: Edward Ruscha Discusses His Perplexing Publications.” Artforum 3, no. 5 (February 1965): 24–25.

    • Drucker, Johanna. “Critical Issues / Exemplary Works.” The Bonefolder: an e-journal for the bookbinder and book artist v. 1 no. 2 (Spring 2005): 3-15.

    • Drucker, Johanna. Figuring the Word: Essays on Books, Writing, and Visual Poetics. New York: Granary Books, 1998. Read “The Myth of the Democratic Multiple” (pp. 175–183) and “Offset: The Work of Mechanical Art in the Age of Electronic (Re)production” (pp. 184–193).

    • Lucius, Wulf D. von, The Artist Book in a Global World. Germany: Stuttgart, 2003. “A mythical animal encountered in unknown lands,” by Didier Mutel (pp. 19-32).

    • Lyons, Joan, ed. Artists’ Books: A Critical Anthology and Sourcebook. Rochester, NY: Visual Studies Workshop Press, 1985. Read “The New Art of Making Books,” by Ulises Carrión (pp. 31-44); “Conspicuous Consumption: New Artists’ Books,” by Lucy R. Lippard (pp. 49-58).

    • Pichler, Michalis, ed. by. Publishing Manifestos. Warsaw, Poland: Miss Read, 2018. “Post-digital print: a future scenario,” by Alessandro Ludovico, 2012 (pp. 132-137); “The Twelve Tasks of the Publisher,” by Jan Wenzel, 2015 (pp. 170-173).

    • Romberger, Kayla. Publishing as Practice. Philadelphia/Los Angeles: Ulises/Inventory Press, 2019. “The Reach of Retail: The Artist’s Bookshop Goes Public,” by Gee Wesley and Lauren Downing (pp. 98-107).

    • Walkup, Kathleen. “Books in a New Language.”

    • White, Tony. “The (R)evolutionary Artist Book” Book 2.0 3, no. 2 (2013): 163–183.

  • Websites

  • Fairs in 2026

  • Suggested Readings