[2015/05/30 – Shanghai] 1933 Contemporary is pleased to announce the first release of 1933 Read / View project on May 30. It is committed to establishing a well-planned reading room, with a goal of providing curated books on contemporary art practice and thingking. Featuring book and art, artistic events and special series of exhibitions are in planning.
Print and Release, inaugural event of 1933 Read / View project, is curated by artist and writer Wang Yiquan, featuring artist’s books, collections of eassay, bookshop, and self-publishing studios by seven artists and independent publishers. Participating artists and publishers includes yuet nam by Lin Aojie and Zhu Jianlin, Fongfo monthly magazine by Fong Wai King, Zhu Jianlin, Ce Yijie, WTF zine by Nathan Zhou, PDF by Lu Pingyuan, Hu Yun, Li Mu, Jiazazhi by Yan You, Pulsasir by Fen Lei, and Bananafish Books by publisher Qing & Wei.
Transforming printing and distribution, the two important process in publishing, Print and Release brings the most active figures in Chinese contemporary art scene into 1933 Contemporary’s artistc live event, highlighting spontaneous and persistent individual practice of artists and publishers.
At the live event,artist writing project yuet nam will release the latest book of Xu Tan, Keyword: Visual Oppression, 游戏(You Xi); Fongfo monthly will produce a new magazine on-site; artist Nathan Zhou will showcase his manuscripts and brand new series of WTF zine; PDF will exhibit its special paper reprints; Jiazazhi will launch its 2015’s new photo books; Pulsasir will introduce recent issue of New Arts created in cooperation with China Academy of Art and other books; Bananafish Books will present its collection of more than 150 independent publications.
Exhibitors :
yuet nam
yuet nam is a publishing project launched by artist Lin Aojie and Zhu Jianlin, and focuses on writings by artists beyond their art creation and critic’s independent reviews beyond writing for media. It plans to publish six editions annually, with articles of 3,000-20,000 words in length by artists or critics, both in Chinese and English. The first issue coming out in May of 2015 features artist Xu Tan’s Keyword: Visual Oppression, 游戏(You Xi). yuet nam is at a price of RMB 20 each.
Fongfo
Fongfo magazine was founded on January 8, 2013 in Guangzhou. During March of that same year, the first issue of the privately owned magazine published 50 copies for public sale. The magazine is run by four people, including the editor-in-chief of Fong Wai King, the publishing and advertising director Zhu Jianlin, and producer and coordinator Liu Jiawen, , and it’s mascot artist Ce Yijie. Currently they use their inkjet printers from home and manual production methods. The monthly production of about 150, at 1 RMB per copy, and does not pay for cover designer and contributors. Each edition has three pages of ads, which cost 50 yuan per page.
WTF zine
The name of WTF zine is derived from a Cantonese “Diu Na Xing,” and it was founded by the artist Nathan Zhou in Shanghai in 2012. He uses the semi-handmade magazine as a means of personal expression against utopianism, releasing various paintings independently, to skip traditional distribution channels and catalogue form. So far, the WTF zine has released three annual editions, namely the WTF zine, Bleach and 2015′s Nine-Box Baby Bear”, each with 50-200 copies at RMB 100-200 per copy, depending on the edition. Weibo: @奶粉zhou, Instagram: @nathanslab
PDF is an online monthly magazine by the artists Hu Yun, Li Mu, and Lu Pingyuan launched in 2012 as a platform to exchange ideas and share knowledge. It can be free subscribed and downloaded via e-mail, forums, websites and other channels. After the release of its 12th issues, PDF paused publishing till now. Contact: nowpdf@gmail.com
Jiazazhi
Jiazazhi, is a institute on photo art publishing, devoting to exploring the possibilities of photo work presentation off the wall. Our practices include blogzine, publishing project, distributing project, quarterly magazine (under working). So far, Jiazazhi publishing project has published 11 photo books, including OBSESSED (Sun Yanchu), Digital Building (Liu Yuan), THEY(Zhang Xiao), TRIFLES (Taca Sui), Going Home (Muge), Bright, Bright Day (Zhu Mo), THE YELLOW RIVER (Zhang Kechun), COASTLINE (Zhang Xiao), Artificial Thearter (Zhang Wei), 10 Days in Kraków (Yuanyuan Yang), and Timekeepers (Matjaž Tančič). Jiazazhi distributing project has now distributed more than 20 books. Website: www.jiazazhi.com
Pulsasir
Pulsasir, established in 2007 by publisher Fen Lei, is a young academic community, committed to writing in the alternative context, academic thought and artistic action. It has established the Pulsasir Award for literature, and is involved in independent publishing and advocating for pre-subscriptions. The 2012 initiative Pulsasir Mutual Project is intended to bring the meaning of contemporary art movements to light; in 2013 it launched the Pulsasir Poetry Reflection project to promote poetry as a carrier of intercultural dialogue; the Video New Writing workshop, launched in 2014, explores the significance of the video writing in China today. From 2015 onward, Pulsasir collaborates with Multi-Future and Fuben Books to create Zero Year of Asia, a project to recognize Asian possibilities and its events. WeChat: pulsasir
Bananafish Books
Bananafish Books is a Shanghai-based online bookstore and design studio by Qing & Wei, founded in January 2010. It specializes in selling all kinds of independently published books around the world. In addition to being a bookstore, Bananafish Books continues to publish its unique style of handmade and limited-edition books, having produced more than 10 portfolios for photographers and artists. Bananafish Books gives independence with two characteristics: firstly, the design of its books reflects the two founders’ distinct personal style; second, Bananafish Books have no ISBN number yet, thus the books are read only by a small audience. Website: www.bananafish-books.com
Curator:
Wang Yiquan
Wang Yiquan was born in 1987 in Beijing, whose artistic practice combines complexity and diversity, concentrating in performance, object and text, three independent yet correlative fields. His works and performances have been exhibited at V Art Center (2015), chi K11 Art Museum (2015), CAFA Art Museum (2015), Basement 6 Collective (2014), Penghao Theatre (2014), am art space Shanghai (2013), Today Art Museum (2012), etc. In addition to being an artist, he also writes intensively about art, he had served as senior editor of the international art media BLOUIN ARTINFO in Beijing, and his essays and reviews have been published in Artforum Chinese edition, Art Times Magazine, Global Times, and Christie’s Magazine among other publications. He currently lives in Shanghai, working as a senior editor at Art World Magazine.
ABOUT 1933 READ / VIEW PROJECT
1933 Read / View is a non-profit and culturally valuable project newly launched by 1933 Contemporary. We are committed to building a well-planned art reading room.
1933 Read / View aims to collect curated booked about contemporary art practice and thinking, and make it open to art practitioners as well as genreal public, shaping a knowledge platform to artist, curator, critic, researcher and student.In addition to the reading experience, 1933 Read / View is planning to hold series of event and exhibition curated by artists and publishers.
1933 Read / View is a reaction to the deficiency of art books and publishing in China. We are devoted to building up our collection of art books, catalogues, and historical arvhives by generous donation and recommendation of art institutions and professionals, along with our acquisition.
1933 Read / View continues to enrich its collection, and we are welcoming book donation ,and enquiries for futher collaboration.
ABOUT 1933 CONTEMPORARY
Located in the 1933 Shanghai complex, a unique building combining the historical architecture of art deco with the oriental feature of a square outside and round inside structure, 1933 Contemporary is well situated with a memorable space. It reflects the unique building structure and its spatial relationship as a former abattoir and derelict factory, recognizably the last remaining of its design in the world. With approximately 700 square metres in construction and an exhibition space of 400 square metres, the gallery is committed to representing and exhibiting fascinating visions produced by both emerging and established artists with an annual program that comprises at least six exhibitions, accompanied by catalogues and publications as well as a presence at various international art fairs.
Founded in 2011, the gallery was previously located in the M50 art complex of Shanghai, in which it worked as a platform for emerging talents, having launched and fostered the careers of some of China’s most prominent young artists, while established itself as a gallery that maintains a vision on both institutional perspectives and the market.
