PrintedMatter.org

Megawords
Exhibition
March 5 - April 3, 2010
Reception: March 5, 5 - 7 pm

Printed Matter is pleased to present an exhibition of work by Megawords, a Philadelphia-based publishing team. Please join us and the artists for an opening reception on Friday, March 5, from 5-7PM. Printed Matter is located in New York City at 195 Tenth Avenue (between 21st and 22nd Street).

Taking its primary appearance as a magazine, Megawords has also expanded beyond the page to include a weekly internet radio show, events and performances, and a temporary storefront project space. This exhibition will offer an introduction to the entire Megawords project, including displays of all past issues, photos and work by Megawords and Megawords contributors, and other Megawords—related ephemera and inspiration.

Megawords started showing up in the mail here at Printed Matter in 2005 and our staff was simultaneously intrigued and mystified. Here was a thoughtfully produced and visually engaging artists' publication that we would have been happy to add to inventory, but we discovered it was not for sale. We started looking forward to Megawords' sporadic appearance—both for ourselves and for our storefront's free cart.

Started by Dan Murphy and Anthony Smyrski, Megawords has published twelve issues that have taken on varying formats from saturated color newsprint to stapled black-and-white pages to perfect bound offset printing: all given away for free. Representing the diverse interests of its many contributors, the pages of Megawords have contained subject matter ranging from images of urban landscapes and photograph's of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath to artist interviews and a facsimile vintage Stone Roses fanzine. Megawords' publishing projects an impressive generosity both in its distribution as well as its advertising-free and straight-forward editorial appearance.

Printed Matter, Inc. is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1976 by artists and art workers with the mission to foster the appreciation, dissemination, and understanding of artists' books and other artists' publications.

Printed Matter, Inc. has received support, in part, through grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Altria Group Inc, the Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation, The Cowles Charitable Trust, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, The Gesso Foundation, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, the Schoenstadt Family Foundation, Tekserve, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and individuals worldwide.