Artists Space

Revisiting de Land's Books
Magnus Schaefer

Talk
November 14, 2014, 7pm

Coinciding with the presentation of the library at Artists Space in the current exhibition The Library Vaccine, art historian Magnus Schaefer will discuss how the "Colin de Land Library" might be related to the model of a gallery that American Fine Arts, Co. is commonly cited as exemplifying – a gallery that operated within the framework of the art market, albeit not necessary in compliance with the market's standards. He will also consider the library's role in the historicisation of the gallery.

A close-up photo of a variety of books standing across several metal shelves.
[A close-up photo of a variety of books standing across several metal shelves.]

The collection of books left by Colin de Land after his death in 2003 and the closing of his gallery, American Fine Arts, Co. in 2004 has, since 2008, been exhibited in various contexts as the "Colin de Land Library". It comprises a wide and apparently idiosyncratic variety of publications, ranging from catalogues by the gallery's artists or books on art history, philosophy and sociology to cheap self-help books and pulp novels.

Magnus Schaefer: Revisiting de Land's Books. Talk documentation, November 14, 2014, Artists Space. [Video documentation of a man giving a talk with reference images projected on the wall behind him.]