Printed Matter, Inc. presents the second annual LA Art Book Fair, from January 31 through February 2, 2014, at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Downtown LA.

Free and open to the public, Printed Matter’s LA Art Book Fair is a unique event for artists’ books, catalogs, monographs, periodicals, and zines presented by more than 260 presses, antiquarians, artists, and independent publishers from 19 countries.

The LA Art Book Fair is the companion fair to the NY Art Book Fair, held every fall in New York City. Over 26,000 artists, book buyers, collectors, dealers, curators, independent publishers, and other enthusiasts attended the NY Art Book Fair in 2013.

THE LA ART BOOK FAIR PREVIEW
Join us on Thursday, January 30, from 6 to 9 pm, at the Geffen Contemporary for a three-hour opening night preview, with a performance by 2014 Whitney Biennial artist Donelle Woolford, an outdoor stage programmed by KCHUNG Radio, and more.

Visit laartbookfair.net for details on this and other special events.

(XE)ROX & PAPER + SCISSORS
A super-sized subsection of the LA Art Book Fair; (XE)ROX & PAPER + SCISSORS takes over the Geffen annex with more than 100 international artists, zinesters, and small presses, offering a survey of independent publishing at its most innovative and affordable. Select exhibitors include: Jane & Jeremy (UK), I Never Read (Switzerland), Year of the Horse by New Territories Studio (China), Drippy Bone (Los Angeles), and many others.

The Classroom
After five years at the NY Art Book Fair, The Classroom makes its inaugural trip to the west coast for LAABF14. This curated series of informal conversations, workshops, readings and other artist-led programs is also a venue for artists, writers and publishers to feature new releases and present their publications. This year’s Classroom, organized by David Senior of the Museum of Modern Art Library, includes events featuring Aram Saroyan (Primary Information), Martine Syms (Dominica), Summer Guthery & Public Fiction, Karl Haendel, Paper Monument, Johan Kugelberg (Boo-Hooray), Steve Kado & Keith Rocka Knittel, and more. Please see here for the full Classroom schedule.

MOCAtv
This year, MOCAtv and the LA Art Book Fair team up to bring you a series of programs, including a screening of The Art of Punk created by Bryan Ray Turcotte and Bo Bushnell, as well as Jeffrey Vallance and special guests in conversation about comedy and its place in the art world. Plus the premiere of a new MOCAtv film about Jeffrey Vallance's work from 1978, Blinky the Friendly Hen. Please see here for the full MOCAtv schedule.

Contemporary Artists’ Books Conference (CABC) The Contemporary Artists’ Books Conference - an integral part of the NY Art Book Fair for the past six years - will be part of the LA Art Book Fair for the first time, presenting a Sunday of debate on emerging practices and issues within art-book culture. Highlights include Bidoun presenting an eclectic selection from a forthcoming anthology of writings by the artist and poet Etel Adnan, To look at the sea is to become what one is: An Etel Adnan Reader, and ForYourArt presenting a marathon reading of 2-3 minute passages of John Baldessari's writings on the occasion of the launch of More Than You Wanted to Know About John Baldessari, a nod to the artist’s playful 1972 performance in which he sang Sol LeWitt's Thirty-Five Statements on Conceptual Art to the tune of popular songs. Please see here for the full CABC schedule.

Friendly Fire
A diverse group of politically-minded artists and collectives focused on the intersection of art and activism, this section of (XE)ROX & PAPER + SCISSORS includes: Temporary Services/Half Letter Press (Illinois), Journal of Aesthetics and Protest (Los Angeles), Center for Urban Pedagogy (New York) and Red 76 (Oregon), and others.

Focus: Photography
A curated cross-section of photo-based books and magazines, this year’s Focus: Photography includes: J&L Books (Pennsylvania); Dashwood Books (New York); Mörel Books (UK); and TBW Books (California): Kodoji (Switzerland) and more.

KCHUNG Radio Stage
LA-based KCHUNG presents daily music programming on a stage in the courtyard – each day with at least four acts, including performances by Ducktails, Guan Wrong, LSDD, and many others. Please see here for the full KCHUNG schedule.

Exhibitor Project Spaces
Gagosian Gallery (Los Angeles) presents a live stenographer transcription of a conversation between Los Angeles-based artist Piero Golia and Andrew Berardini; Werkplaats Typografie (Netherlands), a fair favorite, presents a collaborative project by its entire student body; KCHUNG (Los Angeles) broadcasts live from the Fair continuously throughout the weekend. Other project spaces include onestar press / Three Star Books / Florence Loewy (France), Gottlund (Pennsylvania), and Karma (New York).

A full calendar of events is posted online at laartbookfair.net