Gordon Parks

For almost as long as we've been peddling books, our longtime friend and local ally Peter Fetterman has been one of the great purveyors of photographic prints. As shop owners tend to do, Peter has been setting special things aside for himself all this time, and right now there is a spectacular selection of Fashion -related images culled from his personal collection available as an online auction from Phillips. "Tailor Made: Fashion Photographs From the Collection of Peter Fetterman" features masters such as William Klein, Cecil Beaton, Melvin Sokolsky, Horst P. Horst, Sarah Moon, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Lillian Bassman, Ormond Gigli, Gordon Parks, and many more.The breathtaking catalogue simply as an online exhibition is reason enough to visit, but everything here is for sale. This is a rare opportunity to see and potentially acquire some of the classic prints one only sees in books and on the walls in Museums. We hope you will show Peter and his amazing gallery staff some tangible love by visiting the auction. If you're a fan of Fashion Photography - and who isn't - click on the link below. You'll be glad you did!

And, on the Arcana front, to celebrate our reopening and compliment the "Tailor Made: Fashion Photographs From the Collection of Peter Fetterman" auction offerings, we have put together an online selection of like-minded Fashion Photography rarities in all price ranges. Chosen especially for our event, many are uncommon and/or signed, and all are worthy of your attention. Most are one-of-a-kind, so act now while supplies last! 

William Klein

Dear Friends,
 
We regret that we must postpone our March events for Jeff Divine: 70s Surf Photographs and Matthew Spiegelman: Transmitter. We will have signed copies of both fantastic books available to pick-up or ship soon, so order away. If you have already ordered copies, they will ship starting on Wednesday. Stay tuned for new dates.
 
The well-being of our community is our top priority.

Our second priority is getting our community the fabulous books that you so deseperately need - now, more than ever!
 
So we are here for you.
 
If there’s something you’d like to have but you’d rather not come to the shop, call us or write to us! We’ll take care of it remotely. We can ship it, have it delivered, hold it for you, or you can drive by and we can run out to your car with the goods! If you’d like to come in outside of our regular hours, let us know – we’ll try and make it work.
 
We’re doing lots of constant cleaning, offering hand sanitizer (while supplies last!), and keeping it very, very cheerful over here! If you can’t travel, take a trip somewhere exotic through books. The music is playing, the books (so many books!) are here, we want to do what we can to keep everyone at ease and happy. So let us know what we can do to help you.
 
We’re truly sorry that so many great events are being cancelled around the world and we are so lucky that we have this permanent space to share with you. Many small publishers and artists rely on events such as the L.A. Art Book Fair each year for their income – please don’t forget that we are stocking their books year-round! You can support them, and us, by coming to Arcana where it’s a virtual #artbookfair over 300 days a year.

Please join us Saturday, March 7th between 4:00 and 6:00 PM for a very special afternoon with Bruce Licher and Karen Nielsen Licher of Independent Project Press & Records as we celebrate the release of Savage Impressions with a book signing, one-day exhibition and sale of printed matter, and a musical performance at 5:00 PM sharp by SR2. If you cannot attend but would like to purchase a copy of this exquisite new limited edition book, please place your order here!

Savage Impressions is the first extensive monograph on Bruce Licher's Independent Project Records and Independent Project Press. With the current explosion of interest in letterpress, many are looking to see how new work can be influenced by the past. Active since 1982, Bruce Licher’s Independent Project Press is a contemporary studio that has bridged technological eras and produced an unparalleled body of work. It has culled from the past while simultaneously turning it on its head with a distinct visual vocabulary that continues to influence current aesthetics. 

For the first time, a comprehensive overview of Independent Project Records and Independent Project Press has been compiled into a monograph published by P22 Type Foundry, produced in a quality that displays their  limited edition, hand-made work in over 200 pages of full color, from mechanical process work (for clients such as REM, Stereolab, and Camper Van Beethoven) to finished works of art with insights into the creative process along the way. The text includes an essay by Karen Nielsen Licher as well as material from Rudy Vanderlans’ Emigre magazine that featured the work of IPR & P. Co-designed by Bruce Licher and Jim Greishaber at P22, Savage Impressions is a 12 x 12-inch hardcover book that displays in full color the diverse range of art and design produced by Independent Project Records & Press. 

This first printing is an edition of one thousand copies, with three-hundred and fifty of those being a now-sold out Deluxe Edition that includes a 12” vinyl record and other letterpress-printed ephemera. This book is a profound reminder of the value of the hand-made and how it can interface with the mass-produced. It will stand as major documentation of one of the most influential letterpress studios currently in existence.

 

Please join us on Saturday, February 15th (4-6) for a book signing with Hat & Beard Press: DO YOU COMPUTE? SELLING TECH FROM THE ATOMIC AGE TO THE Y2K BUG, 1950-1999 BY RYAN MUNGIA!!!

"Before Alexa and the iPhone, there was the large and unwieldy mainframe computer. In the postwar 1950s, computers were mostly used for aerospace and accounting purposes. To the public at large, they were on a rung that existed somewhere between engineering and science fiction. Magazine ads and marketing brochures were designed to create a fantasy surrounding these machines for prospective clients: Higher profit margins! Creativity unleashed! Total automation! With the invention of the microchip in the 1970s came the PC and video games, which shifted the target of computer advertising from corporations to the individual. By the end of the millennium, the notion of selling tech burst wide open to include robots, cell phones, blogs, online dating services, and much, much more.

'Do You Compute?' is a broad survey featuring the very best of computer advertising in the 20th century. From the Atomic Age to the Y2K bug, this volume presents a connoisseur’s selection of graphic gems culled from museums, university archives, and private collections to illustrate the evolution of the computer from its early days as a hulking piece of machinery to its current state as a handheld device. Accompanied by two essays - one by cultural anthropologist Ryan Mungia and the other by graphic design historian Steven Heller - and including five different decade-long timelines that highlight some of the most influential moments in computer history, this fun yet meaningful volume is a unique look at the computer and how it has shaped our world."

Come to Arcana on Saturday, February 15th between 4:00 and 6:00 PM to meet and greet Ryan Mungia and celebrate the publication of his excellent Hat & Beard Press book. The afternoon will also include a DJ set from Palisded + Computer Love Records! If you cannot attend but wish to purchase a signed copy of Do You Compute, please place your order here or call us at 310-458-1499.

 DO YOU COMPUTE? - SELLING TECH FROM THE ATOMIC AGE TO THE Y2K BUG. 1950-1999

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14th
ARCANA-HOSTED EVENTS AT FRIEZE LOS ANGELES
AT THE PARAMOUNT STUDIOS STREET FAIR

3:00 - 4:00 PM
JORI FINKEL: IT SPEAKS TO ME
BOOK SIGNING

4:00 - 5:00 PM
BRIGITTE NIEDERMAIR: ME AND FASHION
BOOK SIGNING

This Thursday (1/23, 6:30-8:30 pm) the Helms Bakery is hosting a great event at the Helms Design Center (8746 Washington, ½ block west of Arcana) – please come! “On Thursday, January 23rd, from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Helms Bakery District and the Cal Poly LA Metro Program in Architecture and Urban Design will host a reception, presentation, discussion, and book launch for "Re-Imagining the Avant-Garde: Revisiting the Architecture of the 1960s and 1970s“ with Matthew Butcher, Andrew Kovacs, Mimi Zeiger, and Jimenez Lai.” Details here. Books will be available for purchase but if you can't attend but would like a signed copy of Re-Imagining the Avant-Garde, we can hook you up! Call (310-458-1499) or write. See you then!