I went to the NY Art book fair this weekend and I LOVED the event. I went at around 5 pm so it was quite crowded but the weather that day was really nice, which added to the experience and the overall atmosphere. I would definitely recommend people to go, I can’t wait for the book fair next year!
I went around and met a lot of artists and below are the three books/zines that really caught my eye:
The artists’ name/Book/Zine Name: Primary Interactions by Gonzalo Guerrero
where it was published: Secret Riso Club
what materials were used: screen print on paper that felt a lot like newsprint
Describe the Use of text and font: Text was used to emphasize the artwork but was not the main focus because I feel like the imagery and colors were the focal points. Any text that was used was minimal, blunt and cut straight to the point. The artist also played around with the layout and size of the text in each of the print. The font used
Describe the use of imagery: The two dominant colors used were red and blue as they were present in almost all the prints in the book. The imagery of people was often used, which worked effectively with the theme of immigration and the discrimination that comes with it.
Describe the content: This book was mainly focused on immigrants in the United States and the discrimination that comes with it. The book was next to a book named “White Privilege” and the themes and color scheme/style were similar.
Describe layout: the book was around the size of an A4 paper and each page was filled up with different prints and designs on each page.
Is it a collaborative work or singular vision? collaborative work
The artists’ name/Book/Zine Name: Robot Cat & Electric Dog (roughly translated) By Lianhuanhua
where it was published: Lianhuanhua
what materials were used: paper and print
Describe the Use of text and font: Text is small and used mostly in the speech bubble.
Describe the use of imagery: A very funky art style is used in this comic book and the colors intensify that experience, which was why I was drawn to this book. The front cover of the comic almost resembles a graffiti type art style.
Describe the content: This is a small comic book about the adventures of robot cat and electric dog.
Describe layout: Just like a normal comic book, there are panels that read from light to right, top to bottom. Each page is filled with illustrations and is mainly composed of the colors blue and red.
Is it a collaborative work or singular vision? Singular Vision
The artists’ name/Book/Zine Name: “All images approximately 1993 – early 2000’s found in various shoeboxes and envelopes. Locations are SF and NYC. Shot mostly with a Yashica T4 and maybe a random Minolta point and shoot.” By Craig Costello
where it was published: Krink
what materials were used: High-quality prints of photographs taken all by Craig Costello
Describe the Use of text and font: No text was used in this zine
Describe the use of imagery: Each page has one or more photos of objects or things printed. I really liked the images as they had an almost “homey” feel to them.
Describe the content: photographs of various objects. The long title describes what the photos represent.
Describe layout: Each page has a photo (or more) with a white background. The use of white space was well crafted and kept the focus on the photo. I liked how there was variation in the layout (not just one photo in the center of the page on every page) and how some photos were landscape and some pages had two photos together.
Is it a collaborative work or singular vision? singular
