Chicago Art Book Fair 2019 – Wrap Up

The CABF Crew! Front to back: Manny of Flatlands Press, Peter of is PRESS, Brandon of Almighty & Insane Press, Sir Charles with his new book and Illustrator Jo Minor

is PRESS set-up at CABF 2019!

Also see our review with stats!

is PRESS tabled with our sister imprint Flatlands Press at the 3rd annual Chicago Art Book Fair November 15th – 17th 2019. CABF 2017 was our first Art Book Fair after innumerable zine fests; and, we’ve tabled every year since, growing with it as we all learned to crawl, stand, and walk! We’ve since tabled at the Detroit and Vancouver Art Book Fairs, and plan to apply to NY, LA, and SF Art Book Fairs this year. But, Chicago is and will always be our home-away-from-home favorite! And this year it felt like a family affair!

In addition to holding it down with Manny from Flatlands Press , we were neighbors with Almighty & Insane Books – a NYC based imprint with a strong Chicago connection through their Chicago Gang Business Cards book series. This summer we were fortunate enough to partner with Flatlands Press  to do the letterpress printing for Almighty & Insane’s newest title Letters To Chicago by Chicago hand-style master Sir Charles. We got to know Brandon Johnson, Almighty’s publisher and Sir Charles a little bit through all the text-comm doing the job. So, for a minute when we showed up and saw they were next to us, we thought, “What are the chances!?” until we realized this was ACTUAL curation in effect! The CABF Directors Imani Jackson, Aay Preston-Myint, Conor Stechschulte & Alexander Valentine did such an excellent job of not just organizing but actually curating a diverse selection of international publishers. We’re eternally grateful to be included in a roster of such heavy hitters and set up next to our droogs!

Thanks for all the support! 

Highlights and Shoutouts:  Catching up and crashing with my main man Manny Grim of Flatlands Press, his wife Risa and daughter Ella at their beautiful new pad in Berwyn with the studio in the basement. Seeing a NY friend Skye Savage who I’d just hung with in Denver the week before, who was in town for an academic conference while I was in the midst of selling out of her partner (and one of my best friend’s) Vincent Comparetto’s Follow Focus #2. Having a childhood friend from Wyoming Kendra Sandstrom, who is a librarian in the south Chicago suburbs and  I haven’t seen in 25 years, roll through! Having a former design student (and current Creative Director) from Denver, Stephanie Goodwin and her husband Pete come through and buy ALL THE BOOKS… Catching up with painter and animator and fellow SAIC Visual Communication MFA alumni Shellie Argeanton and her husband Bobby. Chowing down at El Mezquite, a timeless neighborhood spot in Pilson with Manny, Brandon, and Charles. Catching up with zine festie-bestie Lindsey Faloona of the Chicago Collage Collective and Light Heavy Zine. Picking up a new zine from former SAIC F News colleague Dimitry Tetin. Catching up with my favorite teacher from SAIC grad school, bookmaker extroirdanare Myungah Hyon and meeting her hilarious colleague, ace sculptor and printmaking instructor Kate Conlon and her partner painter and all around crafty guy Bo Hou who had converted his full art book fair table into a billiards table! Seeing Denver ex-pat now Chicago local, conceptual artist and drummer Jordan Knecht who I realized could have been my best friend in Denver when I got to know him 3 days before he moved… Selling my ’artner Heather Link-Bergman’s accordion book PASSAGE to Shreya, a student at SAIC making an accordion fold book in the same program where Heather and I first met!

See ya’ll at Chicago Art Book Fair 2020!

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