READING MATERIAL 

(not)an Art Book Fair inside MATERIAL ART FAIR

A Program part of MATERIAL ART FAIR at Frontón México, Mexico City

February 2019, ongoing

Concept, Curating and Programming by Eva Posas, commissioned by Material Art Fair.

Very special thanks to Material Art Fair team: Brett Schultz, Rodrigo Feliz, Isa Castilla, Paty Siller, Maika Palazuelos, Fabien Capello, Aprdelesp, Carla Katsu, Michelangelo Miccolis and participant editors.

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READING MATERIAL is a new program inside MATERIAL ART FAIR, which is dedicated to present art book publishers. In response to the fairs wild spirit, I conceived a place where books can be found everywhere, where we can approach their editors in new and different ways.

Located on the third floor of the fair’s multilevel structure, READING MATERIAL created a playground within the fair’s context which allows for the a relatable relationship with printed formats in circulation and the exhibition of contemporary art. I believe that books can serve as devices for exchange as well as for the guardianship of ideas, which is why I’m interested in exploring the plurality and complexity of their contents. With 36 proposals from 10 different countries, we could read different realities within the thousands of pages presented. For this experience, I have decided to eliminate tables along with their physical mediation. In exchange, we created an exhibition space with no precedents. With this format we hoped exhibitors could move freely, appropriating and enjoying the space around them.

From this first encounter of editors, artists and art spaces, we wanted READING MATERIAL to become the place where we could stop and took in the fair’s experience with the company of great books. Through the fair lasted only 4 days, I hoped the books found in READING MATERIAL could be a good company while waiting for the next year’s edition of Material.

Participant publishers: