ARCHIVE

THE 2025 SF ART BOOK FAIR

Presented by Minnesota Street Project Foundation
July 10 – 13, 2025
1150 25th St. / 1275 Minnesota St. / 1201 Minnesota St.
San Francisco, CA 94107

Public Hours:
Preview: Thursday, July 10: 6:00–10:00 pm
Friday, July 11: 11:00 am–6:00 pm
Saturday, July 12: 11:00 am–6:00 pm
Sunday, July 13: 11:00 am–5:00 pm


Photo by Lizzy Myers. 

2025 EXHIBITORS

* First-time SFABF exhibitor

OPENING NIGHT PREVIEW

SPONSORED BY THE EAMES INSTITUTE OF INFINITE CURIOSITY & WILLIAM STOUT ARCHITECTURAL BOOKS

Join us Thursday, July 10, 6-10pm for our opening night preview of the 2025 SFABF, with music by Fault Radio.

Featuring:
Discodelic
Jeremy Castillo
Three6Sashia
Alex Shen

Fault Radio is the ultimate advocate for our local community, acting as a dynamic bridge between the Bay Area’s thriving arts scene and the broader music world.

PROJECT SPACE A - 2nd Floor - 1275 Minnesota St.

Eames Institute Reading Room
The Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity is a nonprofit public charity that advances the dynamic legacy of Charles and Ray Eames. By sharing the things the Eameses made and loved, along with their joyful and rigorous approach to life and work, we seek to inspire creative problem-solving that positively shapes our world. The Eames Institute holds one of the most significant and comprehensive collections of Eames designs and related ephemera in the world—the majority of which originates from the Eameses themselves, and their office at 901 Washington Boulevard in Venice, California. The collection encompasses early correspondence and artwork that predate their meeting, unique prototypes and process materials, industrial products, printed communications, and even treasured personal effects. During SFABF25, the Eames Institute will bring a selection of furniture from their collection, creating a public reading room.

PROJECT SPACE D - 1st Floor, 1275 Minnesota St.

Flag Works presented by SNU Design
Flags are symbols of personal identity as well as political devices. Capturing and commenting on these topics within Korean society today, this exhibition presents a curated selection of flags by current students and faculty, and recent alumni of the Department of Design at Seoul National University Design School (SNU Design) in South Korea. Works include citizen-made protest flags and flags made in a cross-cultural exchange between students from San Francisco and Seoul. SNU Design engages in various forms of visual research and experimentation with the book format, resulting in independent publishing projects, talks, and exhibitions.

CHRONICLE BOOKS - Booth C17

Join Chronicle Books for multiple book signings celebrating art and design. Inspired by the enduring magic of books, Chronicle Books cultivates and distributes exceptional publishing that is instantly recognizable for its spirit and creativity. Their collaborations spark the passions of adults and children worldwide, encouraging them to explore, connect, and see things differently.

On Thursday, July 10 at 6pm, join Marilyn Chase for a signing of Everything She Touched: Ruth Asawa. On Saturday, July 12 at 2pm, artist, author, and designer Jessica Hische will sign copies of the latest edition of her career-spanning book, In Progress: See Inside a Renowned Lettering Artist's Creative Process. On Sunday, July 13 at 1pm, join artist and author Clarissa Potter for a signing of her book, It’s Okay to Feel Things Deeply. In celebration of the weirdness and isolation of being alive right now, Potter is also offering what she refers to as “uncomfortably long hugs” in-keeping with the overly forceful affection for which she is known. Visitors are invited to participate at will until a sense of “enoughness” is fulfilled.

1201 MINNESOTA ST.

Thursday, July 10: 6–10pm
Friday, July 11: 11am–6pm
Saturday, July 12: 11am–6pm
Sunday, July 13: 11am–5pm

2024 Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook Awards Shortlist Exhibition
View the West Coast debut of the 2024 Paris Photo–Aperture PhotoBook Awards Shortlist—an annual celebration of the photobook’s enduring role within the evolving narrative of photography. Now in its 12th year, the awards recognize excellence in three major categories of photobook publishing: First PhotoBook, PhotoBook of the Year, and Photography Catalog of the Year. The shortlist represents more than just the most highly produced, classically beautiful books—it is also an expression of the possibilities of bookmaking across a broad spectrum of resources, intentions, and storytelling techniques.
Presented by Minnesota Street Project Foundation

Thursday, July 10: 6–10pm
Friday, July 11: 11am–6pm
Saturday, July 12: 11am–6pm
Sunday, July 13: 11am–5pm

The Stoutmobile
William Stout Architectural Books brings its storied collection beyond the walls of its beloved Jackson Square bookstore with the debut of The Stoutmobile at SFABF25. For 50 years, Stout has been a vital source for books on architecture, art, design, and visual culture, serving generations of designers, artists, and readers worldwide. The Stoutmobile reimagines this spirit of discovery as a traveling outpost curated specifically for wider audiences. Visitors will find an edited selection of rare, out-of-print, and newly published titles alongside a range of archival catalogs, artist books, and cultural ephemera. The Stoutmobile extends the bookstore's ethos into public space, creating opportunities for dialogue, serendipity, and tactile engagement with books as objects.
Presented by William Stout Architectural Books

Thursday, July 10: 6pm – 10pm
Friday, July 11: 11am – 4pm
Saturday, July 12: 11am – 6pm

Screening Program curated by San Francisco Cinematheque  
San Francisco Cinematheque is a 64-year-old nonprofit dedicated to the cultivation of the international field of avant-garde cinema through curated exhibitions, publications, and archives projects. Cinematheque's work inspires aesthetic dialog between artists, stimulates critical discourse and encourages appreciation of artist-made cinema across the broader cultural landscape. As part of SFABF, Cinematheque will activate the Screening Gallery through the presentation of twenty-nine multi-channel film/video works presented across nearly 70 feet of gallery space including installation work and single-channel film work expanded and remixed for this weekend only. Programs curated by Steve Polta. For complete details, visit: www.sfcinematheque.org/cinematheque-sfabf25/

Thursday, July 10

6pm
Cauleen Smith, Blue Scrubs, Yellow Scrubs, Trustees All Above / Orange Jumpsuit (2019), 24 mins.

6:30pm
Makino Takashi, Memento Stella (2018), 12 mins.
Makino Takashi, cinéma concret (2015), 30 mins.
Total run-time: 42 mins.

7:15pm
Michael Snow, WVLNT: Wavelength For Those Who Don’t Have the Time (2003), 15 mins. *
Matt Whitman, HOW MUCH LONGER (ON BALLOONS) / CAN'T ANSWER YOU ANY MORE (ON FACES) / MARY (ON FLOWERS) / PHONE IN HAND (ON BALLOONS WITH A SHEET OVER DEAD BELONGINGS) / ALL HER PRECIOUS JPEGS (ON YELLOW) (2019), 10 mins. looped
Jeanne Liotta, Climate Fictions (2017), 4 mins.
Scott Stark, Shimmering Spectacles (2015), 8 mins.
Aura Satz, Warnings in Waiting (2023), 24 mins.
Total run-time: 61 mins.

8:30pm
Peter Burr, THE CONTINUOUS MONUMENT (2021), 72 mins.

Friday, July 11

11am
Cauleen Smith, Blue Scrubs, Yellow Scrubs, Trustees All Above / Orange Jumpsuit (2019), 24 mins.
Zach Iannazzi, Wild Pitch (2025), 5 mins.
Esperanza Collado, Trágame nube (el cuerpo establece el ritmo) / The Word Was Deleted (2023), 13 mins.
Matt Whitman, Film digitalia, profile pictures, No. 4; Film digitalia, profile pictures, No. 5; Film digitalia, profile pictures, No. 8; Film digitalia, profile pictures, No. 9 (2019), 16 mins. looped
Ayanna Dozier, Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above (2023) / Bounded Intimacy (2024) / It's Just Business, Baby (2023), 6 mins.
P. Staff, Pure Means (2021), 5 mins.
Total run-time: 69 mins.

12:30pm
Peter Burr, DROP CITY (2019), 7 mins.
Jodie Mack, Stained Glass Daydream (2025), 11 mins.
Colectivo Los Ingrávidos, Coyote / Xiuhtecuhtli / Ritual / Mictlantecuhtli (2023), 16 mins.
Matt Whitman, HOW MUCH LONGER (ON BALLOONS) / CAN'T ANSWER YOU ANY MORE (ON FACES) / MARY (ON FLOWERS) / PHONE IN HAND (ON BALLOONS WITH A SHEET OVER DEAD BELONGINGS) / ALL HER PRECIOUS JPEGS (ON YELLOW) (2019), 10 mins. looped
Michael Damm, Field Guide to San Lorenzo Creek, Castro Valley, California (2025), 8 mins.
Total run-time: 52 mins.

1:45pm
Michael Snow, WVLNT: Wavelength For Those Who Don’t Have the Time (2003), 15 mins. *
Peter Burr, PATTERN LANGUAGE (2016), 11 mins.
Jeanne Liotta, Climate Fictions (2017), 4 mins.
Scott Stark, Shimmering Spectacles (2015), 8 mins.
Aura Satz, Warnings in Waiting (2023), 24 mins.
Total run-time: 62 mins.

3:15pm
Makino Takashi, Memento Stella (2018), 12 mins.
Makino Takashi, cinéma concret (2015), 30 mins.
Total run-time: 42 mins.

Saturday, July 12

11am
Peter Burr, THE CONTINUOUS MONUMENT (2021), 72 mins.

12:45pm
Michael Snow, WVLNT: Wavelength For Those Who Don’t Have the Time (2003), 15 mins. *
Peter Burr, PATTERN LANGUAGE (2016), 11 mins.
Jeanne Liotta, Climate Fictions (2017), 4 mins.
Scott Stark, Shimmering Spectacles (2015), 8 mins.
Aura Satz, Warnings in Waiting (2023), 24 mins.
Total run-time: 62 mins.

4pm
Esperanza Collado, Trágame nube (el cuerpo establece el ritmo) / The Word Was Deleted (2023), 13 mins.
Ayanna Dozier, Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above (2023) / Bounded Intimacy (2024) / It's Just Business, Baby (2023), 6 mins.
Zach Iannazzi, Wild Pitch (2025), 5 mins.
Matt Whitman, Film digitalia, profile pictures, No. 4; Film digitalia, profile pictures, No. 5; Film digitalia, profile pictures, No. 8; Film digitalia, profile pictures, No. 9 (2019), 16 mins. looped
P. Staff, Pure Means (2021), 5 mins.
Total run-time: 45 mins.

5pm
Peter Burr, DROP CITY (2019), 7 mins.
Jodie Mack, Stained Glass Daydream (2025), 11 mins.
Colectivo Los Ingrávidos, Coyote / Xiuhtecuhtli / Ritual / Mictlantecuhtli (2023), 16 mins.
Matt Whitman, HOW MUCH LONGER (ON BALLOONS) / CAN'T ANSWER YOU ANY MORE (ON FACES) / MARY (ON FLOWERS) / PHONE IN HAND (ON BALLOONS WITH A SHEET OVER DEAD BELONGINGS) / ALL HER PRECIOUS JPEGS (ON YELLOW) (2019), 10 mins. looped
Michael Damm, Field Guide to San Lorenzo Creek, Castro Valley, California (2025), 8 mins.
Total run-time: 52 mins.

All works courtesy of the artist unless otherwise indicated.
*Four-channel presentation exclusive to SFABF with permission from the Estate of Michael Snow. Courtesy of the Estate of Michael Snow.
Presented by Minnesota Street Project Foundation


Friday, July 11: 4pm - 6pm
Exquisite Corpse Book-Making with the American Bookbinders Museum
Invented by French Surrealists, the Exquisite Corpse is a game of collaboration and creativity, inviting artists to draw, write, or make a collage together, without seeing each other’s work until the end–when the individual contributions come together in a singular artform! In this workshop, create and stitch together a mix-and-match book of figurative drawings (including drawings by artist Nathaniel Russell), to absurdly imaginative outcomes! This family friendly, drop-in workshop is free and open to the public. Space is limited.


Saturday, July 12: 2pm - 4pm
LEGO® Letterpress with Arion Press
Join Arion Press and learn about letterpress printing! Participants will design and create a print using LEGO® bricks, inks, and a tabletop letterpress. This family friendly, drop-in workshop is free and open to the public (children must be 6+ years of age). Space is limited.


Saturday, July 12: 7pm
SOUND AND VISION with LAND AND SEA, in conjunction with Latitudes
Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe (Brooklyn, NY)
Peaces (Oakland, CA)
Joel St. Julien (San Francisco, CA)
The Urxed (Los Angeles, CA)

LAND AND SEA, in conjunction with Latitudes, is pleased to present a night of sound and vision, bringing together past presenting artist/musicians to celebrate the launch of their most recent effort–a limited edition 7" record, PEACES, from Oakland-based duo Peaces (Zekarias Musele Thompson and Joshua Wismans). Joining the celebration, Aventures LTD will present their recent release, TRIPS, a limited edition cassette by The Urxed (Robert Laird Barber). This is a family affair. All are welcome.

LAND AND SEA is an independent publisher of books, records, zines, and cassette tapes run by Maria Otero and Christopher Robin Duncan.

Other Minds is a global New Music community where composers, students, and listeners discover and learn about fine innovative music by composers from all over the world.

$20 suggested donation.
Presented by Other Minds


Sunday, July 13: 11am – 5pm
SFABF x KUSF Rock‘N’Swap
KUSF’s Rock’N’Swap pop-up record fair dates back to 1983 as a destination event for music lovers and collectors. Everyone from passionate collectors to the simply curious can dive into hundreds of crates to browse and shop records, CDs, tapes, music memorabilia, and posters from over 40 vendors, offering a variety of genres from jazz to rock and roll and everything in between. Come discover bargains along with hard-to-find rarities and collector’s items. Curated by Miranda Morris.
Co-presented by Minnesota Street Project Foundation and Noise Pop


Sunday, July 13: 11:30am – 12:30pm
West Coast Launch of Peace Makers in the Summer Time with Creative Growth
Marking the season, Creative Growth is bringing us the West Coast launch of Peace Makers in the Summer Time, a collaborative record by Creative Growth artist William Scott and Studio Route 29 artist BJ Armour. This special release, blending visual art and music, will kick off the SFABF x KUSF Rock’N’Swap event. Through this project, Scott and Armour explore themes of unity, resilience, and community, offering a new way to experience their work.

Creative Growth Art Center, based in Oakland, California, is a globally recognized nonprofit supporting artists with developmental disabilities through a professional studio and gallery program. For over 50 years, Creative Growth has championed inclusivity and creativity, offering artists the space, materials, and support to develop their practice and share their work with the world.
Presented by Minnesota Street Project Foundation.


Sunday, July 13: 1pm – 5pm
Listening Room with Discogs

Join Discogs, the world’s leading music discovery and record-collecting platform, for the Listening Room, where artists chat about their favorite albums and the stories behind each. Special guests will drop the needle on their personal selection of records, played live. Part conversation, part high-fidelity audio experience, the Listening Room is a space for sharing a love of vinyl.

Walk-in registration is welcome; pre-registration is recommended, as space is limited.

Pre-register here.

Presented by Minnesota Street Project Foundation and Noise Pop

1240 MINNESOTA ST.

Saturday, July 12: 12pm, 1pm, 2pm
Open Studios

Visit the private Artists Studios at 1240 Minnesota Street and connect with some of the career artists working year-round behind closed doors. The Artists Studios, which is a program operated by Minnesota Street Project Foundation, provides 43 below-market rate studio spaces and several shared facilities, including a wood shop, ceramics area, wet dark room, digital print lab, analog print room, and staging gallery. Learn how this long-running program that started in 2016 continues to support the San Francisco Bay Area arts community.

As part of Open Studios, studio artists Klea McKenna and Trina Michelle Robinson will be on site demonstrating shaped-plate Intaglio printing techniques on a newly acquired etching press. Visitors can learn about the process in-passing and collaborate informally in making a unique shaped-plate Intaglio print.

Walk-in registration is welcome; pre-registration is recommended, as space is limited.
Pre-register here.

Hosted by Minnesota Street Project Foundation

STREET ACTIVATION

Saturday, July 12: 12pm – 4pm
Ben Kinmont's Street press activation

Ben Kinmont’s Our commons are free presents an exhibition portrait of the San Francisco Diggers through their publications. Radical community actors who emerged within the Haight Ashbury counterculture of the 1960s, the Diggers used mimeographs and offset printing to establish a “free” economy: free food, free medical care, free goods, free housing, and free information. These publications served to build community, share resources, and empower revolutionary living.

Kinmont brings his Street press, on view in the exhibition, to the neighborhood to print and give away Eric Noble’s A short history of the San Francisco Diggers, a 38-page illustrated essay written by Noble for Our commons are free; six different San Francisco Digger flyers from 1967; and a more recent street sheet written by original Digger Billy Murcott, Noble, and Kinmont.

Our commons are free is on view through August 10th at The Store House (Building D) at Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture.

OFF-SITE

Thursday, July 10: 9pm - 1am
SFABF25 AFTER PARTY
OFF NIGHT at El Valenciano, 1153 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94110

Join us out on the wooden dance floor at OFF NIGHT to celebrate the 2025 San Francisco Art Book Fair. Music by Jeremy Castillo and Pascual. No cover!


Friday, July 11: 6pm - 8:30pm
SFABF25 Industry Night with Et al.
Et al. & Et al. books, 2831A Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94110

Our friends at Et al. invite SFABF25 exhibitors, friends, and family to industry night. Make your way across town to the Mission District for pizza, beer, and even more art books! Free pizza for SFABF25 exhibitors with a badge.

2025 SPONSORS

The 2025 San Francisco Art Book Fair would like to thank our generous sponsors:

Preview Sponsors:
Eames Institute, William Stout Architectural Books

Sponsors:
Chronicle Books, Dogpatch Business Association

Media Sponsor:
Hyperallergic, KEXP

In-Kind Sponsors:
Abbey Party Rents, American Bookbinders Museum, Babylon Burning, Lightsource SF, Outpost Studio SF, Poppy Press, Shapco Printing, Small Works, Tiny Splendor

In-Kind Bar Sponsors:
Best Day Brewing, Culture Pop, Fort Point Beer Co., Marine Layer Wines, Missing Thorn, Salt Point, Una Lou, Waterloo

The SFABF is presented by:

Minnesota Street Project Foundation: Emma-Caitlin Cooper, Lisa Ellsworth, Trinity West
With additional support from: Temi Adamolekun, Wendy Chang

Director, SF Art Book Fair: Gaelan McKeown

Programming Curator, The Lounge: David Senior

Branding and Identity: Quality Time

Opening night music provided by: Fault Radio

Minnesota Street Project Foundation extends thanks to:
Jamie Alexander, Luca Antonucci, David Kasprzak
Miranda Morris, Steve Polta
Sarah Hotchkiss, Sean McFarland
Iain McKay
Deborah and Andy Rappaport
Minnesota Street Project: Segfred Amoyan, Sarah Austin, Cherisse Baird, Julie Casemor, Aimee Le Duc, Michael Rubel, Jonathan Runcio, Jamie Sandoval, Jaelynn Walls
Minnesota Street Project Art Services
Minnesota Street Project Galleries: Casemore Gallery, Eleanor Harwood Gallery, Hashimoto Contemporary
Additional thanks to: Besharam, Romer Young

Special thanks to all of the SFABF25 volunteers!

THE 2024 SF ART BOOK FAIR

Presented by Minnesota Street Project Foundation
July 18 – 21, 2024
1150 25th St. / 1275 Minnesota St. / 1201 Minnesota St.
San Francisco, CA 94107

Public Hours:
Preview: Thursday, July 18: 6:00–10:00 pm
Friday, July 19: 11:00 am–6:00 pm
Saturday, July 20: 11:00 am–6:00 pm
Sunday, July 21: 11:00 am–5:00 pm


Photo by Andre Huffaker.

Photo: Aaron Wojack

2023 PROGRAMMING

Our Director of Programming is David Senior.
To download the 2023 SFABF program guide, click here.

THE LOUNGE

Friday, July 14

11am-12pm
Cyberfeminism Index, with a performative reading by Mindy Seu, who will be joining remotely, followed by an in-person discussion with Kishonna Gray
Edited by designer, professor, and researcher Mindy Seu, CYBERFEMINISM INDEX includes more than 700 short entries of radical techno-critical activism, academic articles, hackerspaces, software education, net art, and more. Both a vital introduction for laypeople and a robust resource guide for educators, CYBERFEMINISM INDEX—an anti-canon, of sorts—celebrates and makes visible cyberfeminism’s long-ignored origins and its expansive legacy. Presented by Inventory Press.

1-2pm
The Molotov’s Poetry: Queer, Trans, and Feminist Self-Publishing, with golden dreamsong
In the last fifty years, self-publishing has been critical in the dissemination of a number of seminal queer and feminist works, including Audre Lorde’s Sister Outsider and Larry Mitchell’s The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions. Diasporan Savant Press’s golden dreamsong would like to take you on a tour of some of their favorite examples of feminist, queer, and trans works published by small publishing houses throughout history, as well as contemporary independent publishers keeping the tradition alive! Presented by Diasporan Savant Press.

2-3pm
40 Years of Zines, Monographs, and Collaborative Art Publications by Creativity Explored Artists
Creativity Explored presents over two dozen artful books, zines, and collaborative projects by artists with developmental disabilities. Meet several Creativity Explored artists and learn about their growing contributions to the world of art publishing.  Featuring Fears of Your Life and Imaginationally, both by Michael Bernard Loggins, Lancescapes by Colter Jacobson, Tell You What series by NY Times best-selling author Beth Lisick, Wonderful Blackiful People by CE’s Blackiful Collective, and a selection of original art books.

3-4pm
New Life in the Public Domain, with Jessi Haley
Our cultural heritages contain a vast trove of material that can inform understanding of our current moment and inspire new work. Readers and creators can get their hands on tens of thousands of books, images, and other media in the public domain–all free to consume and adapt. Curation and accessibility are essential to finding and nurturing the legacies of works by marginalized and avant-garde artists. How can designers and artists draw from this body of work? Cita Press is an open access, design-focused feminist press that honors the principles of decentralization, collective knowledge production, and equitable access to knowledge. Join us for an exploration of how we can help those works breathe new life into our present. Presented by Cita Press.

4-5pm
Gregory Rick: Book Launch Event, in coversation with Chris Grunder
Headlands Center for the Arts presents the publication of artist Gregory Rick’s first artist monograph, which features a new commissioned essay by artist, writer, and educator Brooks Turner along with new paintings completed during Rick’s time at Headlands. This publication is the culminating project of the artist’s 2022-2023 Tournesol Award, an award which recognizes one Bay Area painter each year with a generous cash prize and a yearlong studio residency. The event features an intimate conversation between the artist and Chris Grunder. It will be followed by a book signing.

5-6pm
A brief history of Mexico’s LGBTQ+ Publications, with Ricardo Velmor
Mexico’s LGBTQ+ movement has been enriched and spread out through time, thanks to independent publications. Many of them were made by the same people who first walked in the streets to fight for rights and freedoms of this community. However, the first mentions of LGBTQ+ people in printed matter were all about judging, demonizing and criminalizing sexual behaviors different from heteronormativity. Both sides are part of Mexican LGBTQ+ history and both will be part of this discussion by Ricardo Velmor, featuring materials from a growing archive of Mexican LGBTQ+ publications called Archivo Anal. Presented by Anal Magazine.

Saturday, July 15

11am-12pm
Saturday Morning Cartoons with Koak
Koak shares a selection of her favorite pioneering and experimental animations from the 1930s-1990s including the likes of Charley Bowers, Ladislas Starevich, Norman McClaren, Jan Švankmajer, and others (approx. run time 1hr). Presented by Altman Siegel.

11am-12pm
How To Breathe Underwater, breathwork with Rohini Moradi and edition by Carissa Potter.
Meet us outside the lounge at 11am and together we will walk to a green spot for some relaxation and magic.  Presented by Rite Editions & People I've Loved.

12-1pm
Personal Projects: Strategies for Publishing, with Gabriela Hasbun, Janet Delaney and Kelsey McClellan
Join photographer Gabriela Hasbun to discuss the creation of her first print publication with Chronicle books, THE NEW BLACK WEST: Photographs from America’s only touring Black Rodeo. Hasbun will be joined by Janet Delaney and Kelsey McClellan to discuss the ins and outs of pitching your work to publishers after creating a long-term photographic project.

1-2pm
On Latin American Expanded Photography, with Luis Cobelo
Expanded photography has hybridization, fragmentation, and constant resignification as its fundamental characteristics, where the limits between the traditional pictorial representation and the production of images by the territories of abstraction can coexist with artistic, documentary, or journalistic practice. There is more than ever a need to expand from the image in a historic moment, where Latin America is redefining itself inwards, in community, and towards the world.

Raya Editorial and La Chancleta Voladora are independent publishers, created by Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo and Luis Cobelo, that focus on the design and promotion of photobooks & zines by authors who use photography to reflect on human and political tensions by using mixed techniques and visual narratives. Through the way we face and carry out our artistic photographic projects, our understanding of ourselves expands, and all of this multiplies necessary reflections and a better and broader understanding of our Latin American continent.

2-3pm
Social Documentary Photography & The Humanist Vision, with Ken Light and Wessam Al-Badry
Documentary photography aims to witness and shed light on social issues and injustices. It focuses on capturing images that tell stories and provoke dialogue about important political and cultural topics. Ken Light and Wesaam Al-Badry both work in this tradition and are driven by their desire to create awareness and stimulate change through their photographs and projects. Light’s photobooks have long been a part of this tradition as well. He has been actively involved in the field of photography for five decades as photographer and Professor at UC Berkeley. His powerful photographs explore innumerable social and political issues as seen through his numerous books, including Delta Time, Texas Death Row, Midnight La Frontera and Course of the Empire. Wesaam Al-Badry, an Iraqi refugee, multi-talented visual artist and part of the new contemporary generation of social photographers, will discuss with Ken the practice of this powerful medium for storytelling and advocating for social change as witnessed through their photos and publications. Presented by Documerica Books.

3-4pm
A TIME MACHINE: From personal to community archives, with Adriana Monsalve, Alex Arzt, and Marc Fischer, moderated by Lindsay Buchman
While it has been written about extensively, the archive continues to circulate in contemporary art discourse. Image-making, publishing, and the history of print coalesce into a complex, provisional space. Through this lens, A TIME MACHINE examines how archival histories inform artists’ books by asking independent publishers Adriana Monsalve (Homie House Press), Alex Arzt (A Magic Mountain), and Marc Fischer (Half Letterpress / Temporary Services) about the urgency and role of archives in their work. This conversation explores what we might learn from the suture between past, present, and future while centering on how personal and community archives continue to inspire generations of artists’ books. Presented by Seaton Street Press.

4-5pm
Héctor Muñoz-Guzmán: Brown Eyes from Russell Street
Join us for a conversation with Héctor Muñoz- Guzmán and Vivian Sming, in celebration of the launch of Brown Eyes from Russell Street. Brown Eyes from Russell Street traces Héctor Muñoz-Guzmán’s artistic practice during a transformative and critical period in his life— contending with isolation, mental health struggles, hospitalization, and alcoholism. The book weaves together ideas, memories, thoughts that provide continual sources of reflection, illustrating the range of Muñoz- Guzmán’s experiences—growing up in South Berkeley, attending RISD, being diagnosed with bipolar, working in the agave fields of Tepatitlán, and staying connected to family. Whether the subject is community, depression, or agrarian life, Muñoz-Guzmán treats them with the same attention, care, and grace, recognizing that all of these people, places, and states of mind inform who he is as a person today. Presented by Sming Sming Books.

5-6pm
Kawabata, the Writer, the Travesti Philosopher, and the Fish, with Shook and Mario Bellatin
With longtime collaborator Shook, Mexican prose stylist and Documenta guest curator Mario Bellatin presents a performative reading of Gato Negro’s new bilingual edition of Kawabata, the Writer, the Travesti Philosopher, and the Fish, a genre-fluid—and previously unpublished—text and cryptic key to Bellatin’s iconic plague novela Beauty Salon. Presented by Gato Negro Press.

Sunday, July 16

12-1pm
Is now the time for joyous rage?
with Selam Bekele, Jacqueline Francis, Jeanne Finley, Charles Lee, and Trina Michelle Robinson
Is Now The Time For Joyous Rage? is the fourth book in A Series of Open Questions, which is published by the Wattis and Sternberg Press, and distributed by MIT Press. Each reader includes newly commissioned texts and an edited selection of perspectives, images, and references related to the Wattis’s year- long research seasons. The title of each book comes in the form of a question. The fourth issue is informed by themes found in the work of Lorraine O’Grady, including diaspora, Black female subjectivity, racial hybridity, translation, intersectional feminism, institutional critique, Black representation in the art world, archives, music, Conceptualism, and performance art. For this launch event, several contributors have chosen to highlight a piece from the book (other than their own). In a series of short presentations, they read and/or introduce the piece and why they chose it.

1-2pm
Where digital and analog meet: the many worlds of Most Ancient books
What is the significance of analog books in an increasingly digital world and how can digital experiences expand narrative conventions? Veronica Graham founded Most Ancient in 2010 and since then has experimented with interactive narrative and nonlinear storytelling in comics and exploration games. The projects explore ideas at the intersection of art, technology, and activism. At SFABF she will discuss “Diatribes,” a virtual reality experience and companion printed publications that explore fears about climate change.

2-3pm
Transforming Ephemera Into Evidence, with Catalina Cariaga and Catherine Ceniza Choy
A conversation between Oakland-based Filipina American poet Catalina Cariaga and Asian American historian and ethnic studies scholar Catherine Ceniza Choy on the occasion of “Notes on Cultural Evidence,” the multidisciplinary exhibition and reading room curated by PJ Gubatina Policarpio, on view in the Slash library through August 19, 2023. The exhibition is anchored in the out-of-print but influential poetry collection “Cultural Evidence” (1999, Subpress Collective) by Catalina Cariaga. Catherine Ceniza Choy wrote the accompanying essay for the exhibition. Presented by / (slash).

3-4pm
Taxonomies of Labor Within Small and Self Publishing, with Vivian Sming,
Carissa Potter, John DeMerritt and moderated by Zach Clark
Art books take many forms. Under the same umbrella term, one may come across fine press handmade artist books, large-scale production coffee table books, urgently made zines, forms of ephemera that push the idea of what a book even is, and endless other forms that fit somewhere in between. Behind any one art book is a publisher or artist taking on a number of tasks to bring the project from conception to tangible object. Publishers may work largely as project managers and financial backers or practice a more holistic publishing approach, touching the book in every stage of its creation. A group of publishers from the fair, Vivian Sming of Sming Sming Books, Carissa Potter of People I've Loved, John DeMerritt of DeMerritt Pauwels Editions with Zach Clark of National Monument Press will discuss the various types of labor they perform in the creation of their books to form a non-hierarchical taxonomy of the labor involved in small & self publishing. Presented by National Monument Press.

MEDIA ROOM
Ongoing - LOOP

Craig Baldwin: Avant to Live!
presented by San Francisco Cinematheque and INCITE Journal of Experimental Media
Clocking in at 508 pages, Craig Baldwin: Avant to Live!—published 2023 by San Francisco Cinematheque an INCITE Journal of Experimental Media (SFABF —documents the life and work of acclaimed filmmaker and curator Craig Baldwin (b. Oakland CA, 1952), an inspiring and influential figure in contemporary media arts. Meticulously detailed, with contributions from over 50 writers, artists, illustrators and ideologues, Avant to Live! is the first critical text to examine the artist’s films analytically as a coherent and meaningful body of work and critical artist’s statement while also examining the cultural impact of Baldwin’s Other Cinema curatorial project. In celebration of this publication, Cinematheque and INCITE present this five-film survey of Baldwin’s work, including Stolen Movie (1976), Bulletin (2015), Wild Gunman (1979), Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies Under America (1991) and Sonic Outlaws (1995). Please visit SFABF Table E04 to pick up a copy of Avant to Live!

TENNESSEE ST.

Friday, July 14, 11am-2pm
Typographic Spirograph: Experimental Letterforms with Savi Factory + Friends: Savithri Velaga and Maria Cardenas
Participants will use a spirograph drawing tool created specifically for typography; the resulting letterforms converge analog geometry alongside moments of improvisational drawing. This workshop structure will allow visitors to continually engage with the tool in an informal outdoor setting, and hands-on demos throughout the activity will provide a combination of free-form experimentation and individual instruction.

Saturday, July 15, 11am-12pm
Zine making with Illustoria
Come make an accordion-style zine with Illustoria! Illustoria is an art and storytelling magazine for creative kids and their grownups. They will have magazines to cut up for collage making, and all sorts of drawing tools so you can create the zine of your dreams.

Saturday, July 15, 1-3pm
Drop-In-Zine-Making with Curious Publishing
Learn how to make your own paper collage zine using the saddle-stitch technique! Feast your eyes on vintage magazines and colorful paper swatches to cut, glue, and assemble your very own creation with us. All supplies provided. Drop in any time during the program!


Photo: Aaron Wojack

PROJECT SPACE - 2nd Floor

FAWW Gallery, also known as Forget About White Walls, is a leader in the screen print art community. It cultivates the next generation of art collectors, offering unique silk screen prints, zines, and art-related publications. Committed to inclusivity, the gallery supports diverse artists globally, hosting lively openings with renowned DJs. FAWW fosters artistic innovation and increases artists' visibility. They champion collaboration, empathy, and community involvement. Beyond visual arts, the gallery endorses cutting-edge music and film. FAWW aims to make art approachable, inspiring, and transformative, actively contributing to cultural development.

PARTICIPATING GALLERIES

Friday, July 14, 3pm
“IN C” - K.R.M. Mooney
Altman Siegel - 1150 25th St.
In conjunction with his solo exhibition auxil, artist K.R.M. Mooney will stage a performance of Terry Riley’s 1964 composition “In C” at Altman Siegel on Friday, July 14, 2023 at 3:00 pm. Described as the first minimalist composition of its kind, “In C” consists of 53 melodic fragments and numbered musical phrases which can be combined and recombined to start at varying times with no specific duration. Purposely lacking a definitive form, its significance is underpinned by its improvised and performative nature as to undergo constant renewal. Focused on wind and breath activated instruments, this re-performance, coupled with the sculptures on view, will explore nature of exchange within the interpersonal realm.

Saturday, July 15, 12-2pm
Flowers and Their Meanings book signing event with author/artist Karen Azoulay
Themes+Projects gallery (2nd Floor, #205)
Uncover the secret meanings behind your bouquets and floral arrangements in Karen Azoulay's new book, Flowers and Their Meanings. Stop by to pick up a signed copy!  The book contains stunning illustrated explorations of the Victorian language of flowers, including the multicultural history, rituals, and mythology behind over 600 flowers, herbs, and trees.

Karen Azoulay is a Canadian born, Brooklyn-based artist and author whose projects have been featured and reviewed in publications such as the New York Times, New Yorker, Hyperallergic, and Vogue. Azoulay incorporates performance, photography, sculpture and video into her art. She has a fascination with floral symbolism and secret messages are often embedded in her work. Inspired by “feminine” motifs, Azoulay explores cultural phenomena that have historically been overlooked with the purpose of recontextualizing and championing them.

Saturday, July 15, 2-5pm
Live Drawing with Charlo
Themes+Projects gallery (2nd Floor, #205)

Stop by Themes+Projects gallery from 2pm to 5pm to see Charlo create unique drawings live! Charlo's objective as an artist is to create joy, optimism, and build community through his work. This event also coincides with his solo exhibition, Looking for Clouds, currently on view at Themes+Projects.

Charlo is a multimedia artist and designer. He emigrated from Monterrey, Mexico in 2013, and is currently based in Denver, Colorado. In 2020, using the NextDoor app, he connected with fellow residents of the greater Denver community who invited him to paint murals onto their garage doors. As part of his Make Alleys Great Again project, he brought unity and joy to communities through his five dozen alleyway murals. In 2021, in partnership with Nextdoor and the New York Stock Exchange, he produced a live mural entitled The Joy of Being Together. In August of 2022, Charlo made his debut as a keynote speaker at TEDxMileHigh allowing him to tell his story to a much wider audience.  Currently, his solo exhibition, Looking for Clouds, is on view at Themes+Projects gallery through August 26, 2023.

SIGNINGS & LAUNCHES

Friday, July 14
Table E06 - 11am-6pm - Nathaniel Russell Coloring Book - Gallery 16
Table D05 - 1pm - Course of the Empire by Ken Light - Documerica Books/Light Squared Media
Table A43 - 1pm -  Flowers by Tucker Nichols, published by Nieves - Park Life
Table E06 - 2-3pm - Book signing with Hal Fischer, The Gay Semiotics - Gallery 16
Table D05 - 4pm - Midnight La Frontera by Ken Light - Documerica Books/Light Squared Media
Table A26 - 5pm - TE AMO by Luis Cobelo - La Chancleta Voladora

Saturday, July 15
Table Z75 - 12-1pm - Words for White People: An Etymylogical Kit - Diasporan Savant Press
Table A40 - 1pm - Book signing with Taylor Galloway, I Can Feel You Dreaming - Deadbeat Club
Table E06 - 1-2pm - Book signing with Hal Fischer, The Gay Semiotics - Gallery 16
Table B06 - 2pm - High Contrast by Sarah Hotchkiss - Colpa Press
Table D05 - 2pm - Picturing Resistance by Melanie Light: Moments and Movements of Social Change - Documerica Books/Light Squared Media
Table A40 - 4pm - Book signing with Patrick O’Dell, Big River - Deadbeat Club
Table Z26 - Uncreative Writing by Taylor Swift - Wasted Books

Sunday, July 16
Table E07 - 11:30am-12:30pm - The Sperry Collectible Card Set: Poster Series 2 by Chuck Sperry - Paragon Books

OFFSITE

Friday, July 14, 10:00am
Caitlin Cherry: The Regolith Was Boiling exhibition tour
CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts
360 Kansas Street, San Francisco

Wattis Assistant Curator Diego Villalobos, who organized Caitlin Cherry's solo exhibition The Regolith Was Boiling, gives a public tour of the exhibition.

The Regolith Was Boiling is a site-specific installation of large-scale oil paintings and digitally produced prints inspired by the architecture of the Wattis Institute. Conceived as a mural, where an overall visual ripple effect connects individual parts to a larger whole, Cherry has taken countless vignettes from popular social media platforms, Google Image Search, and Getty Images, each one featuring a female celebrity from the Black diaspora. Painted in the artist's distinct style of chromatic distortions and dizzying overabundance, this installation emphasizes the depersonalization of celebrities and dilutes their iconographic status by placing them within a visual sea of others. Coffee and bagels are served.

What can we learn from artists today? CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts is a nonprofit exhibition venue and research institute dedicated to reflecting on this question through temporary exhibitions, public events, and in-depth research. It is part of California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

Friday, July 14, 6pm-later
...Tomorrow another dream will start
Et al etc. & Et al. books
2831a Mission Street, San Francisco

Et al. is pleased to invite you to a party celebrating the San Francisco Art Book Fair and the opening
of ...Tomorrow another dream will start - an exhibition curated by Wild Life Archive.

...Tomorrow another dream will start presents a survey of 1980’s nightclub ephemera from
the Mediterranean island of Ibiza, focused primarily on the promotional posters distributed throughout
the island during the summer season to publicize some of the world’s most renowned nightclubs of
the era including Pacha, Amnesia, KU and Glory’s to name a few.

The Balearic Islands had long been a bohemian escape attracting both pleasure seekers and those in
search of refuge from repressive political regimes. Ibiza in particular became a utopian
paradise offering new arrivals both sanctuary and likeminded community. Hedonistic pursuits
were soundtracked via jazz bars during the 1950’s, psychedelic happenings in the 1960’s and with
the arrival of nightclubs on the island in the 1970s. By the 1980’s both free spirited holiday makers
and the European jet-set had joined the party, further enhancing the uniquely decadent atmosphere
that could be found nightly across the islands dance floors. Patrons danced with wild abandon under
the stars at open air disco’s like KU and Amnesia while listening to the local DJs eclectic mix of
genres encompassing pop, rock, classical, new beat, house and flamenco among others, a discerning
anything-goes selection that would in time become known as the Balearic Beat.

The posters themselves were offset printed in small quantities and used only for
promotional purposes. The poster design, briefed in-house or commissioned to a freelance artist was
most often a mix of hand drawn illustration and graphic design centered around the club logo and
theme of the night e.g. ’Luna Lena’, ‘Summer Dream’ and ‘Noche Romantica’. The few posters that
remain in private hands today help to further document the collective history of dance music culture.
They also act as memories, inspiration and are beautiful pieces of art in their own right.

Soundtrack: Khotin
Graphic design: Daniel Lucas

Friday, July 14, 6-9pm
I Can Feel You Dreaming: Taylor Galloway
Book and Job Gallery
838 Geary Street
San Francisco, CA 94109

Book and Job Gallery invite you to I Can Feel You Dreaming featuring work from Taylor Galloway’s latest release of the same name from Deadbeat Club. The pictures in Taylor Galloway’s I Can Feel You Dreaming are glimpses of things, sometimes slippery, peripheral, brief, furtive shadows in the margins; they’re slowly unraveling threads that you can’t quite follow back to anything, but that nonetheless feel like clues, pieces of a forensic puzzle; they’re trance visions, or something you briefly noticed while looking for something else. Perhaps they remind you of channel surfing through the foothills of sleep as you toss and turn in a motel bed, slowly emerging from a fever dream or hangover.

Taylor Galloway is a photographer based in Los Angeles, CA. Galloway’s photographs explore the ideas of memory, navigation, and one’s own place in their journey. His work has been exhibited across the United States and Europe.

Friday, July 14, 7:30pm
A Barcode Scanner, Book Launch and Film Screening
Medicine for Nightmares
3036 24th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

On Friday the 14th of July at 7:30pm, Gato Negro Ediciones will be having a book launch presentation at Medicine for Nightmares together with Zêdan Xelef and Shook for their new edition of the book: A Barcode Scanner. And a screening of the film adaptation of the title poem, created by Shook, Zêdan's longtime collaborator and co-translator of the book.

Friday, July 14, 7-10pm
Isabella Manfredi: sew your echo
staircase
148 Clement Street
San Francisco, CA 94118

sew your echo is a nostalgic rumination on object, place, and relationship. Artist Isabella Manfredi repurposes found footage of her family ranch to create an original film and textile-based artworks. Through stitching, printmaking, and carpentry, Manfredi presents artifacts as a conduit for memory.

Isabella Manfredi works in printmaking, sewing and poetry; creating sculptural installations that can be worn for years. There are nods to workwear, entropy, familial identity and nostalgia within her work. While she strives to craft a utilitarian object; she aims for her work to exist within and outside the gallery space. Graduating from University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor's degree in Art Practice and with a Minor in Journalism, she lives and works in San Francisco, CA.

Opening Reception: Tuesday, July 18, 6-8pm
Datz Press: Contemporary Voices in Global Photobooks
July 15-Oct. 1, 2023
San Francisco Center for the Book
375 Rhode Island Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

San Francisco Center for the Book’s latest exhibition, Datz Press: Contemporary Voices in Global Photobooks showcases ten years of collaboration and artist book production between Datz Press and artists such as Linda Connor, Alyssa Fujita Karoui, Young Suh, and Gap Chul Lee. Over forty-five photobooks ranging from special edition volumes to handling copies of exhibited work will be displayed.

Datz Press is an artist book publisher and community space based in Seoul, South Korea. Focused on working with photographers, designers, and bookmakers, Datz Press creates, publishes, and exhibits works centered on photography, operating a bookmaking studio to support artists who want to self-publish their work. Director Sangyon Joo also oversees the Datz Museum of Art and a book project space called D'ARK ROOM; her comprehensive vision of artists’ photo books includes artists living and working across many countries and cultures while creating compelling work.

Maria Otero and Christopher Robin Duncan of LAND AND SEA.

2023 PUBLICATION GRANT

This year we were happy to present our 2023 SFABF Publication Grant, courtesy of Edition One Books, to LAND AND SEA.
LAND AND SEA was selected from our pool of exhibitors and will receive $5000 in printing credit at Edition One Books.

LAND AND SEA is a small press and project space in Oakland, California founded in 2010 by artists Maria Otero and Christopher Robin Duncan. They collaborate with a wide array of artists to produce books and records that share images, ideas, and/or sounds that otherwise might go unseen/unheard. Recent projects from LAND AND SEA include ARCHIVE - a book by Leonie Guyer, EMPATHY - a cassette by SF-based musician Joel St. Julien, small yellow center a sun - a collection of artwork and poems by nkiruka oparah and Maxine Schoefer-Wulf, and SEASONS - a collection of stories and poems related to winter, spring, summer and fall, as an accompaniment to the current exhibition at Rebecca Camacho Presents. Upcoming releases include REAL AND MAKE BELIEVE  by architect - Craig Steely. REAL AND MAKE BELIEVE is a collection of Craig Steely’s explorations into where architecture can be found - not just in the finished homes and structures, but sketches and models as well. Personal and generous, this catalog presents his recent work within a non-hierarchical framework. THE STUD - Working closely with Chloe Miller, STUD bartender and STUD Pin Archive coordinator, THE STUD is a collection of pin backs/buttons and ephemera found in boxes in the basement of the historic SF gay bar THE STUD.

Edition One Books works with design professionals, photographers, artists and other creative types to manufacture highly customized, top-quality books. They are focused on building longterm relationships with their customers, and strive to offer a more personalized book production service for small to medium runs.

Check out our 2020 Publishing Grant  and 2022 Publication Grant to see publishers we have supported in the past!

SFABF’s 2023 branding and identity by David Kasprzak.

THE 2022 SF ART BOOK FAIR

1275 Minnesota Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

Thursday, July 14 - 6pm – 10pm
Friday, July 15 - 11am – 6pm
Saturday, July 16 - 11am – 6pm
Sunday, July 17 - 11am – 5pm

 
Photo: Jenna Garrett

Photo: Jenna Garrett

Photo: Jenna Garrett

The 2022 SFABF was organized by Park Life, Colpa and Minnesota Street Project.
SFABF’s 2022 branding and identity by David Kasprzak.