Subversion and Democratization: Some Early and Important Contemporary Artists’ Publications in the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries’ Collection

Beginning in the mid-twentieth century, artists began to see the book (and serial publications) as a viable avenue to explore artistic concepts. These publications were more readily available and easily circulated to a broader audience than the traditional venues of art exhibition. Inexpensive modes of reproduction and major changes within the art world during the 1950s and 1960s gave rise to notions of the democratization of art. By examining some pivotal examples of artists’ publications in the collection of the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries of the Art Institute of Chicago, the author considers the subversive nature of the format.