Book Drive

Photo courtesy of Su Barber

Since 2003, annual art publication North Drive Press has walked the line between a collectible art object and a curated publication available as an editioned set. It’s an unbound book set that in five issues has increasingly revolved around the series of artist-produced multiples included, says founder and artist Matt Keegan, “When the project started, the first issue had mostly straight reproductions of artworks, in addition to interviews and even some poetry. There was about a half-dozen multiples. But it was clear from the beginning there was so much possibility for the multiples.”

Co-founded by Keegan (whose conceptual, text-based practice often borders on book-dom) and Lizzy Lee, the bulk of the journal complements comprises interviews between artists. Last issue featured a conversation between kindred conceptual photographers Eileen Quinlan and Liz Deschenes, among others), which the journal also publishes online. Following the premier issue, the NDP multiples took a turn for the increasingly irreverent, according to Keegan. “People do very tailored projects for us. Adam Putnam did a temporary tattoo, and David Kennedy Cutler produced handmade soaps in the shape of Antartica.” NDP‘s fifth and final issue, co-edited by Sadie Laska, is in production, but the market for portfolios of multiples by emerging artists is, well, not quite recession-proof. Tonight, a fundraiser is being held at White Columns to support the production of NDP # 5. Editions of artworks (by Jakob Kolding, Aurel Schmidt, and Marthe Friedman, among many others) commissioned by the journal will be sold at a silent auction. Tickets to the event are priced between $25 and $250.

The North Drive Press Benefit is from 7–10 PM. White Columns is located at 320 W. 13th St, new York.