Now that it's entering its second decade, Distributed Art Publishers (D.A.P.) in New York City plans to keep on doing what it does best—books on art and culture—especially after such a good year. "We were up 21% in sales," said executive director Sharon Helgason Gallagher, who explained that in 2001, "We're increasing our coverage in architecture and design and doing more film. We're really just broadening our coverage." One design book that Gallagher has "very high expectations for" is Mutations (Actar), a 720-page illustrated anthology of essays on global urbanism by Rem Koolhaas, author of S, M, L, XL (Penguin) and OMA@work: 1972—2000 (Gingko), among others.
Gallagher also singled out D.A.P.'s first literary art volume, A Convergence of Birds, edited by Jonathan Safran Foer and set for a May release. Inspired by Joseph Cornell's bird boxes, the book includes tipped-in-color plates alongside pieces by Barry Lopez, Rick Moody, Joyce Carol Oates and Robert Pinsky. As to whether this is the beginning of a new tradition, Gallagher replied, "This was a gem of a proposal. Sometimes a book just stands on its own. Cornell's work lends itself to narration; not every artist's does." This summer D.A.P. will further strengthen the literary side of its list when it begins distributing Conjunctions magazine.
