Following the release of her new book, Gwen Allen will be in NYC tonight, Friday June 10, for a book signing of Artists’ Magazines: An Alternative Space for Art (MIT Press, 2011). Here are the full details of the event hosted by Printed Matter from 6—8 p.m.

While she’s in town, Allen will also be participating in the panel discussion, “Volume Number” tomorrow, Saturday, June 11 at Dia:Chelsea from 6—8 p.m. 

The talk will focus on the history of artist publications and their relation to contemporary publishing projects.

Presenters include Matt Keegan, Paul Chan, Angie Keefer, David Platzker and Colby Chamberland. More about the panelists is up at Triple Canopy.

It’s exciting that Allen’s book provokes an exchange of ideas among contemporary artists in the very same artist spaces explored in the book. Read the interview I conducted with her back in March on AHORA.

Alas, for the first time ever, Boston welcomed it’s very own art fair this past weekend. Flash Forward Festival 2011 debuted at the North-End’s Fairmont Battery Wharf, June 2-5 in a four-day international art event with a focus on contemporary photography. The exhibits were recently extended to Saturday, June 11, from 12-5 p.m., due to their success.

The festival represents a significant turning point for Boston since the city has never had a comprehensive art fair of this kind. The mix of exhibitions and panel discussions made for a powerful combination. Visitors had the opportunity to not only look at work on the wall, but to engage with leading emerging and established professionals from around the world in one space.  

Top-notch discussions involved panelists: Susan Bright, Mary Beth Meehan, Polaroid specialist, Barbara Hitchcock, Gary Leopold of ISM, Christopher Churchill, PEM’s Phillip Prodger, Clark Gallery Co-Owner, Dana Salvo, Maria Luci and Sean Stone from Wonderful Machine, as well as influential bloggers, Kristina Feliciano, Stella Kramer and Alison Zavos of Feature Shoot. Greeted by a packed house, VII Photo’s Stephen Mayes sparked an insightful conversation on the state of the industry and Todd Hido returned to Boston for the first time since his career began. 

Upstairs, the juried exhibit, FF 2010 Group Show showcased over 80 works by 31 photographers from Canada, USA and the UK representing a cross-section of photojournalism, documentary and fine art. Notable photographers in the survey were Phillip Cheung (above), Alinka Echeverria, Jonathan Gitelson and Katrina d’Autremont, among others.

Unique to Flash Forward Boston, the Fresh Works: A Sampler of New England Photographers exhibition curated by Paula Tognarelli from The Griffin Museum and George Slade at The PRC highlights 10 distinct perspectives from photographers based in the Northeast (Christopher Chadbourne and Meg Birnbaum, above). The Griffin posted a special page detailing the show.

Beyond the walls of Flash Forward, “The Future of Photobooks” panel hot-wired the topic of publishing to invite audience input worldwide. Moderated by Stephen Mayes, the electric debate could’ve gone on forever with Bruno Ceschel of Self Publish, Be Happy, Andy Adams of flakphoto.com, Daylight‘s Michael Itkoff, Miki Johnson, Shane Lavalette of Lay Flat and designer-publisher Alan Rapp in the room. The live discussion was viewed over 2,600 times in 55 countries.

Overlooking Boston Harbor, the view from the Fairmont’s two-story industrial warehouse space complemented the aesthetic of the exhibits. Large-scale prints were installed on windows, taxi stations and the Harbor Walk to transform the waterfront hotel into a photography mecca. Come down to the galleries at 2 Battery Wharf from 12-5 p.m. this week. The work will stay up until Saturday, June 11 so there’s still time to check it out.

From the stunning work to the beautiful weather, there was plenty to celebrate at the Sangria Party topping off Flash Forward on Saturday, June 4. Over the course of promoting the event, I was glad to see how the festival acted as a catalyst for bringing the photo community north of New York together and paved the way to draw the best resources from a local and international level to the region. Congratulations on year one!  It couldn’t have been done without the hard work and pioneering vision of the Flash Forward team.

Here are some interesting external links: 

The Boston Globe- A focused look at fresh viewpoints

StocklandMartel- What does it take to stage a great photo festival?

HERE- 5 Questions with MaryAnn Camilleri

The Griffin Museum- Flash Forward Festival, “Fresh Works”

The Milford Daily News- SLIDESHOW: City of Champions photo exhibit showcases Brockton

Time Out Boston- Flash Forward Festival Guide

La Lettre de la Photographie- Boston, Flash Forward Festival

Andy Adams- Live Stream: ”The Future of Photobooks”

Self Publish, Be Happy-Discuss: The Future of Photobooks

Daylight- Co-Founder, Michael Itkoff Speaking at The Flash Forward Festival

Hey Miki- Stephen Mayes Restructuring the Photographic Practice live blog notes

Hey Miki- An Intro to Branding & Marketing live blog notes

Magenta Imprint- Q & A: Stephen Mayes

Magenta Imprint- Q & A: Susan Bright on Self-Portraiture

Magenta Imprint- Alison Zavos recaps her panel on smart marketing strategies for photographers

Stella Zine- The Currency is Ideas and Imagination

Feature Shoot- Flash Forward Festival, Boston

Hey Hot Shot- Don’t Miss Events-June 1-5

Weekly Dig- Flash Forward Festival

The Boston Phoenix- Editor’s Pick-Flash Forward Festival

M.V. Swanson Blog- The Magenta Foundation Flash Forward Boston

Leslie K. Brown blog – Flash Forward Festival Exposure

Flash Forward Festival 2011 hosted by The Magenta Foundation launches in Boston at the North-End’s Fairmont Battery Wharf. The four-day weekend event includes lectures, discussions, exhibitions and outdoor art installations at the first-of-its-kind international photography celebration. Exhibitions have been extended to Sat. June 11 from 12-5 p.m. Free and open to the public.

Violet Isle: A Photographic Portrait of Cuba by Alex and Rebecca Webb, Gallery 169, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. May 25-Jan 16.

Celebrating Surrealism: Man Ray | Lee Miller

All-day celebration with exhibitions, films and a presentation by Miller’s son, Anthony Penrose on Sat. June 11, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Exhibition runs June 11-Dec 4.

David Schoerner at The Schoolhouse Gallery in Provincetown. June 3-29.

Lucien Aigner alongside Susan Paulsen and Benedicte Lassalle at Gallery Kayafas. June 3-July 23.

The Workers at MASS MoCA. May 29-March 15.

Pej Behdarvand‘s expansive photographs of the ocean are a symbol for dreams and aspirations. The exhibit, Dreaming California is on view from April 16 until May 21 at drkrm/gallery as a part of the month-long MOPLA festival in L.A. It was a pleasure to learn more about the work from him:

You describe these photographs as a longing for elsewhere, yet most people fantasize about moving to the west coast. Since you are originally from Tehran, but essentially grew up in California, do you see both the reality and idealized image of the Golden State from inside and out?

I was a child when we migrated here and my family did not fill my mind with hopes and dreams regarding the move, so I personally did not have an idealized image or fulfilled or unfulfilled expectations about the state. I use California more as a metaphor for a state of being that includes hope, doubt, idealization and fear. It is just shy of the moment of actualization taking place. Nothing is born yet and therefore, reality has not set in. No light, or very little light, has been shed.

California is such a wonderful magnet. People come here for the sunshine, fame, fortune and many other reasons. People come here not only to achieve their dreams, but they also come to America for basic survival. Most Iranians who came here after the revolution did so simply to not be killed. There was no time to dream. 

The silver light on the water is beautiful and I am surprised to learn these images were photographed in bright sun rather than moonlight. Could you please share more about your intention to construct a nocturnal image using the ‘Day for Night’ cinematography technique?

Honestly, my technique was secondary as I never intentionally set out to do this project. I was in Guadalupe, California waiting for the sun to fall and the full moon to rise so I could continue to do my Full Moon series that month. I was at the beach and just hanging out and took some photos and was very unsatisfied as something looked “wrong” to me. I closed down the aperture, I think even accidentally, and bingo it looked great, but I knew I had to fix it more in Photoshop. The underlying ”unconscious” intent was to get away from reality in order to create a mysterious landscape. It was a desire to get away from day-to-day life, which in reality is what I personally enjoy most about photography. They are romantic landscapes—an escape from the banal world to connect with something larger than life. Aesthetically, I simply also like a lot of dark area in images.

I read that your interest in documenting African bodybuilders initially came from an assignment. It’s wonderful that you combine editorial and personal work in a way that is complimentary rather than divergent. Was this project also sparked by a story which you explored further from your own perspective?

This project came about while I was doing another personal series, Full Moon (above). I photographed the full moon every month for two years. I initiated that project as I wanted to create a series that required discipline. Aside from the structure that this series provided, I was interested in the moon as a protagonist in a contemporary landscape. Historically, this body of mass had been so significant in mythology, poetry and astrology and today it holds very little meaning for most people. I wanted to not only have my own relationship with it, but to continue to represent it photographically. Dreaming California came about while I was at the beach one day in Guadalupe, California waiting for it to get dark.

The light shimmering on the horizon appears to dissolve like diamonds into the open ocean. If there is glamour, you present it as understated and serene. How are these images meditative on the larger idea of dreams?

On a larger scale, I hope these images not only ponder upon dreams, but more specifically on the relationship between the conscious and the unconscious. I am always fascinated by the parts of myself that drive me that I am not totally aware of as well as what may drive a collective movement. There is a magical place between light and dark that I hope these images convey.

If you are in Boston this afternoon, check out the lecture series with MoMA Photography Curator, Susan Kismaric at Mass Art, Tower Auditorium, April 12 at 2pm.

Marianne Mueller, installation view of FreePort [No. 002], Seaman’s and Hilborn Galleries, courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum.

Combining a contemporary perspective with classic works, Swiss photographer, Marianne Mueller responded to the historic Peabody Essex Museum by selecting, photographing and rearranging objects from the archive in Any House is a Home. The second of the museum’s FreePort series, the installation remixes the art historical canon by creating an unexpected dialogue between her work and the 212-year-old collection. 

Guide to objects used in Marianne Mueller’s installation Any House is a Home: Balcony Level, detail of brochure.

Partitioning the gallery’s wall space in a cyclorama of 21 squares of color, Mueller grouped objects by Pantone (see brochure above) to create a non-linear play with works heavily classified in the archive. “I want to show everything with the same measure of distance and closeness, whether it is a human being or an object, skin or glass. Every image should have the same intensity. Thus my archive becomes a democracy of images, closer to the dynamics of poetry than the strictures of the novel,” said Mueller.

Marianne Mueller, installation view of FreePort [002], Seaman’s and Hilborn Galleries, courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum.

PEM plans to continue the initiative, inviting Susan Phillipsz to reinterpret the museum’s collection on May 7 and Peter Hutton later in the fall. “It’s a completely fresh approach to exhibitions at PEM. Through FreePort we’re able to work between departments to find the common threads that make the museum sing,” said Phillip Prodger, Curator of Photography about the series. Mueller’s Any House is a Home is on view until December 31.

Christian Vogt, Swimming Pool, 2003, courtesy of RWFA, printed 2011.

Some standout works from the show included Christian Vogt’s unusual perspective at Rick Wester Fine Art.

Tent-Camera Image on Ground: View of Jordan Pond and The Bubble Mountains. Acadia National Park, Maine, 2010, courtesy of Bonni Benrubi.

Re-creating the camera outside of the apparatus, Abelardo Morell continues to explore the camera obscura by photographing images projected on the ground at various locations. New images from the Groundwork series were displayed at Bonni Benrubi.

Tent-Camera Image on Ground: The Florence Baptistry, 2010, courtesy of Bonni Benrubi.

Shot from inside portable opaque tents, the images beautifully combine the painterly textures of the land with the view outside. This coming May, the ICP will be honoring Morell with an Infinity Art Award.

Katarzyna Mirczak, The Special Signs, 2010, courtesy of Eric Franck Fine Art.

At Eric Franck Fine Art, forensic images by Katarzyna Mirczak documented prisoners of war tattooing.

Alec Soth, untitled, 2006, courtesy of Weinstein Gallery.

Following the show at the Walker, Minnesota’s Weinstein Gallery dedicated their entire booth to Alec Soth and his recent work from Broken Manual.

Chris Jordan, Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait, 2005-09, courtesy of Paul Kopeikin.

Over at Paul Kopeikin, environmental photographer Chris Jordan photographed over 200,000 plastic bags arranged after Boticelli’s Birth of Venus. The large-scale work is a part of the series, Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait.

Airan Kang, Lighting Books (detail), 2009, LED lighting, plastic case, installation view, courtesy of Bryce Wolkowitz.

Focusing on new media, Bryce Wolkowitz exhibited an installation by Airan Kang of a mock bookshelf filled with empty plastic boxes lit with LEDs.

Read a complete overview of the show here.

Gwen Allen has devoted her time to the impressive undertaking of documenting independent art publications in her new book, Artists’ Magazines (MIT Press, March 2011). Through her comprehensive research, she examines the social and critical underpinnings behind artists’ motives to publish from the 1960s to 1980s, raising awareness of how the printed page provided a vehicle for exchanging ideas outside the traditional gallery space. Highlighting several key publications, the book emphasizes the risks as well as the opportunities created by the pioneering medium. Also included in the appendix, Allen compiled a detailed directory of over 200 examples of magazines, each distinct in their experimental history.

It was a pleasure to learn more about the book from Allen:

What lead to your interest in artists’ publications?

When I was a graduate student, I was using art magazines from the 1960s and 1970s as more traditional, secondary sources in my research. In the process of tracking down articles in old issues of Artforum and other magazines, I began to realize that these publications were not just a means to an end, but fascinating objects in their own right with a history and a materiality that deserved attention.

Very little scholarship exists about the topic and each magazine must have been hard to find. How did you research such a difficult subject?

Through a combination of perseverance, intuition, and luck. I started with better known publications that I had access to–such as Aspen and Avalanche, but I soon realized that these were just the tip of the iceberg, and that there were hundreds of lesser known magazines, many of which seemed to have been completely forgotten, and I began to more systematically try to discover as many of these as I could. I mined the libraries and special collections at the Getty Research Center, the MoMA, and the SFMOMA. I also talked with artists and editors who were publishing magazines during the period, as well as collectors of ephemera from this time.

The pioneering spirit of these publications grew out of artists seeking autonomy from established galleries and the art press, yet this cross-current was not strictly reactionary. How did the printed page provide artists with their own platform to collaborate and discuss work informally in the community?

There are so many different ways in which magazines provide artistic communities with a platform for communication and collaboration. And yet the magazines in my book also reveal the fragmentary and socially constructed nature of these communities themselves. For example, Avalanche is often seen as a vehicle for an alternative art community in SoHo in the 1970s–which it was. And yet the magazine is far from a transparent document of this community, no matter how much we might want to read it this way, but a highly mediated representation. It presents one version of this community, perhaps, but it leaves other equally valid versions out.

Most magazines started as an experiment and an inexpensive medium to circulate ideas. Printed on non-archival papers, the artist-created documents also questioned the commercial aspect of art by celebrating the disposable value of magazines. Since many publications are now re-printed as box sets or sought out as rare and collectable, what purpose do they serve today?

They serve so many different purposes: they certainly foster nostalgic recollections of the past and fuel the accumulation of market value by ephemera of all kinds from this era;  however, they also serve scholarship, and provide critical models for the present. And these various functions are not always mutually exclusive.

The barrier to entry involved with publishing is almost nonexistent with blogs and self-publishing. Do you see a similar interest in developing a conversation among artists through new media?

Yes, definitely–though I think blogs and other online forms of communication provide a very different set of conditions than the printed page for such conversations. I am also interested in the fact that in spite of the plethora of opportunities for self-publishing in a digital age, artists are still turning to printed publications.

Uniting over 70 international galleries, The AIPAD Photography Show represents the finest art photography under one roof. I look forward to checking out the show and will post a recap next week.