WENDY WEITMAN: Printed page-art can be found in artist’s books, journals, and even mailers that are available free to the public. Art & Project Bulletin was one such example. It was issued by a gallery in Amsterdam from 1968 to 1989. It took the form of a single sheet, folded in two, that was sent out to their mailing list. Artists enjoyed producing these mailers and appreciated the fact that so many people were getting their art. Art & Project Bulletin also served as an exhibition announcement for the gallery. On occasion, the mailer itself was the exhibition -- no other works were on display. It became both the invitation, and the show itself!
DEBBY WYE: Here, at the left, you also have a contemporary equivalent of the Art & Project Bulletin in a free broadside called Point of Irony. This is a project from Paris, published by Agnès b., a fashion designer who is also a major patron of the arts. It is in a larger, glossier format than the Art & Project Bulletin, but the concept is similar. It allows artists to make a printed artwork that is distributed free of charge to a broad audience. In this case, stacks of broadsides are placed in over 100 Agnès b. boutiques, and at other locations internationally. Each piece by an individual artist is printed up to 300,000 times. That’s quite an extraordinary incursion of art into everyday life.