Feature exhibition at the Small Publishers Fair 2009 -

‘Written, Drawn, and Stapled’

‘Written, Drawn, and Stapled’ is an exhibition of some hundred American poetry books and periodicals covering the period 1965 -75, taken from the collections of John Janssen and Les Coleman. This post-Beat second wave of poets who congregated in New York City’s Lower East Side is known as the Mimeo Revolution – referring to the printing method employed in the making of these cheaply produced publications and where the poets themselves acted as publishers. This close knit community of writers, including John Ashbery, Frank O’Hara, Ted Berrigan, Larry Fagin, Ron Padgett, Joe Brainard, Anne Waldman, Aram Saroyan, Bernadette Mayer et al involved themselves in numerous creative collaborations and games. They also engaged artist friends of the time to provide cover images and illustrations. Amongst the books on display, there are covers by Philip Guston, Larry Rivers, Helen Frankenthaler, Ed Ruscha, Alex Katz, Jim Dine, James Rosenquist, and artist/illustrator Joe Brainard. In addition, there are numerous examples of cover artwork by George Schneeman who built his career around his collaborations with poets. Occasionally, these would be jointly published by artist and author.

An illustrated catalogue to accompany ‘Written, Drawn, and Stapled’ will be available at the Fair, and Les Coleman will be giving a reading from a representative selection of the writers included in the exhibition at 3pm on Saturday 14th.