After years of producing books through partnerships, David Zwirner Gallery, one of the top contemporary art galleries in New York City, has launched David Zwirner Books, a standalone publishing unit based in Chelsea. The imprint will debut a new website (davidzwirnerbooks.com) in December, as well as a pop-up holiday bookstore that will run December 8–13 in the Zwirner Gallery at 525 West 19th Street.
David Zwirner Books will produce high-quality hardcover and paperback exhibition catalogues, surveys, and artists’ books and monographs tied to the Zwirner galleries in New York (Zwirner has spaces on both West 19th Street and West 20th Street) and in London. But David Zwirner Books will also develop and release additional titles of its own, in addition to its copublishing ventures with separate partners. David Zwirner Books titles will be distributed in North America by D.A.P., and internationally by Thames & Hudson.
The imprint launched in September at the New York Art Book Fair, showcasing three October titles: John McCracken: Works from 1963 to 2011; Bridget Riley: The Stripe Paintings 1961–2014; and a reprint, Marlene Dumas: Against the Wall. David Zwirner Books will publish eight titles this year and at least 20 titles in 2015, including Neo Rauch: At the Well (January 2015), Alice Neel (January 2015), and Kerry James Marshall: Look See (April 2015).
Todd Bradway has been named director of publishing at David Zwirner Books. He was previously at DAP, where, among other duties, he worked to support Zwirner gallery publications. David Zwirner Book will have a dedicated staff of five, which will be housed in a townhouse near the gallery. The pop-up holiday bookstore will mostly offer specially discounted David Zwirner Book titles for sale.
Producing high-end art books is not new for the Zwirner Gallery, which represents such acclaimed artists as Chris Ofili, Jeff Koons, Isa Genzken, Raymond Pettibone, Kerry James Marshall, and Neo Rauch. Bradway said the gallery “has been producing books for 15 years through collaborations with Rizzoli, Steidl, Abrams, and other art book publishers.” But now, he said, “We’re developing titles for the larger book-trade marketplace.” About a year ago, gallery owner David Zwirner “decided he wanted to be a publisher and build a publishing company for these books,” Bradway explained.
The new imprint is reaching out to retailers (staff from Soho's McNally Jackson, as well as Williamsburg bookseller Spoonbill Books, among other retailers, were guests of Zwirner Books at a recent benefit for the online literary magazine Triple Canopy). “We’re offering quality, and accessible price points,” Bradway said, “and the books will work across different kinds of retailers: indie bookstores, museum shops, and non-book retailers.”
The David Zwirner Books' staff will work closely with the gallery’s lineup of acclaimed artists to produce the books. “We believe we have a unique feel for illustrated books and working with the artists. We have a lot of archival material that can go into the books,” Bradway explained. David Zwirner Books will also embrace the Zwirner gallery emphasis on cutting-edge design and high-quality book production, and it will continue to work with McCall Associates, Pentagram, and other highly regarded designers to produce its titles. “We will bring the values of the gallery into the publishing operation,” Bradway said.
