From August 10–13, Printed Matter returned to Los Angeles — the first time back since 2019 — to present the 2023 LA Art Book Fair, which took place at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.

Initiated in 2013, the LA Art Book Fair (LAABF) is a celebration and international gathering for artists’ book publishers to distribute their work, connect to a broad audience, and nurture new and longstanding relationships. The Fair featured a wide range of artists and collectives, small presses, institutions, galleries, antiquarian booksellers, and distributors, as well as a full calendar of book launches, discussions, performances, and special projects that highlight interdisciplinary artists’ publishing practices. 

Speciwomen was honored to be an awardee of Printed Matter’s Shannon Michael Cane Award. The SMC Award is granted to emerging artists (artists, artists’ book publishers, or collectives in the early stages of their career) who would be first-time exhibitors in a Printed Matter Art Book Fair.

We launched the fifth issue of Speciwomen, curated by multi-disciplinary artist Coco Fusco, which regroups conversations between artists and art historians from Cuba and its diaspora, at the Fair. We additionally facilitated a conversation and screening in conjunction with our fifth issue launch: On the importance of multi-lingual publishing.

More information on the event can be found here.