The Standard

(Rachel Harrison installation, as seen in Museum with Walls book)

Today is the big day. It’s time for another tantalizing excursion of book art to appease the senses. Technically, the New York Art Book Fair begins Friday, Nov 5th running through Nov 7th, but if you happen to have spare time and cannot wait one more minute, the Preview begins tonight, Thursday from 6:00-9:00 pm.

If you’ve never attended, here’s what to expect. Printed Matter presents a Fair hosting over 200 international presses, booksellers, antiquarian dealers, artists and publishers from twenty countries, offering the best in contemporary art book publishing. The visual journey takes place at MoMA PS1, Long Island City, Queens. The best part is that it is free and open to the public. 

Here is our first big “tip-off” of one exciting event to attend. On Friday, November 5th, at 1pm (in the Museum Lobby) artist Rachel Harrison will be signing copies of her new book Museum With Walls.

(Rachel Harrison installation, as seen in Museum with Walls, the book)

Rachel Harrison is one of the most exciting artists making sculptures today. Her assemblages of found and constructed objects carry a provisional quality, a wry sense of humor and an all-embracing intelligence. Playing with materials ranging from plinth, pedestal and corrugated cardboard to plastic ketchup bottles, insulated travel mugs and Barbie’s wheelchair-bound friend, Harrison creates colorful, canny, thought-provoking constructions that are worthy peers of Rauschenberg’s Combines.

(Rachel Harrison Installation, as seen in Museum with Walls, the book)

Her book, which she will be signing, is the most comprehensive monograph of Harrison’s sculpture, video and painting to date. It provides documentation of the past 15 years of her work and includes essays by Tom Eccles, David Joselit, Iwona Blazwick and Jack Bankowsky, plus contributions from Paul Chan, John Kelsey, Allan McCollum, Lucy Raven, Amy Sillman and Steven Stern. 

(Rachel Harrison, as seen in Museum with Walls, the book)

Overall, the 3 day event is worth attending for so many reasons. Get yourself over to the MoMA PS1 located at 22-25 Jackson Ave at the intersection of 46th Ave Long Island City, NY 11101. Confused where that is at? No worries, a free bus will operate Saturday, Nov. 6 from 1-5 pm, providing transport for NY Art Book Fair visitors to Long Island City’s many cultural institutions, including Sculpture Center, Flux Factory, Fisher Landau Center for Art, Socrates Sculpture Park, and Noguchi Museum. Sponsored by the Long Island City Cultural Alliance.

In terms of hours for the overall NY Art Book Art Fair:

Thursday, November 4, 2010, PREVIEW, 6pm - 9pm.

Friday/Saturday, November 5-6, 2010, 11am - 7pm.

Sunday, November 7, 2010, 11am - 5pm. 

For more details, go to NY Art Book Fair. Don’t forget, each Standard Culture Reader gets that special 30% discount on all books purchased at ArtBook.com.