Grand Union is proud to present The Reading Room, a project based in Berlin, with the aim to maintain, archive and represent products of contemporary art practices evolving within printed and published formats. The Reading Room presents a curated selection of over 75 artist’s publications (books, zines, magazines and newspapers) and related projects (such as fold-out posters or published audio projects), from a range of internationally based artists, both established and emerging.
In addition to the traditionally known artist-made books, artist monographs or exhibition catalogues, the published format itself is now regularly viewed as a primary site for an artist’s engagement. While often considered as secondary to the more prevalent presentation space of the gallery, the act of publishing has developed itself into a self-contained and highly resonant method of artistic expression. The Reading Room focuses on the publication utilised as medium and context for art practices, in which the artists choose deliberately and critically to engage with the format, using its materiality, edges and frame as tools for both visual and semantic communication.
For this exhibition at Grand Union, their collection will be displayed dynamically according to six curatorial axes, exploring the spectrum of relationships between conceptual content, physical publication formats and the experience of the Reader. Grand Union will also show a programme of screen based works that expand on these ideas and the act of reading.