ABC [Artists’ Books Cooperative] is an international group of artists, publishers, and educators seeking to create, engage, and experiment with the form of the book, and to foster alternative forms of distribution through collaboration. As well as working on their own practices, they also work together to produce collective projects. Gathering together at book fairs and via their online forum, they aim to develop a growing international, equitable network of artists who make books. Founded in 2009, initially to establish a community for artists using Print on Demand, ABC has evolved to embrace an expanded concept of the book and to provide a forum for interrogating the book’s role in contemporary society.
ABC’s work is heavily represented in the Library of Artistic Print on Demand and a publication by academics Annette Gilbert & Andreas Bülhoff with several interviews with members has been published by Spector Books of Leipzig. ABC’s museum of books, ABCEUM has been acquired by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek and Fonds Regional d’Art Contemporain Poitou-Charentes.
https://abcooperative.cargo.site
Exhibitions include:
2024 Pushing the Envelope: An exhibition of mailed and correspondence art, National Museum of Computing (Blechley, UK)
2024 Thump, Museum of Contemporary Art Busan (Busan, South Korea)
2023 ABC Stampa – Dzialdov Gallery (Berlin/Germany)
2023 ABC Office – Filet Gallery (London/UK)
2022 ABC Presents, Material Gallery: Raum für Buchkultur (Zurich/Switzerland)
2021 But These Forms Need to be Created – Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center (Ramallah/Palestine)
2021 SEND ME AN IMAGE: From Postcards to Social Media C/O Berlin (Berlin/Germany)
2017 ABCEUM – FRAC Poitou-Charentes (Angoulême/France)
2014 ABCEUM – Brighton Photo Biennial (Brighton/UK)