The Evolution of Artists’ Publishing

With the concept of artists’ books having been defined in 1973, many artists began to make and produce books as works of art. The shift from printing technologies to desktop publishing in the 1980s and 1990s resulted in a change in the types and numbers of books produced by artists, shifting from artists’ books to artists’ publishing. With the advent of the Internet, digital printing, and print-on-demand technologies, self-publishing became widely available. In the last fifteen years artists, designers, architects, and photographers have produced new books in the style of twentieth-century artists’ books and zines. This article briefly discusses recent developments related to these publications and includes examples of publishers, distributors, online bookshops, and websites for spaces that sell and promote new independent publications.