“Paper Politics was an evolving exhibition project which ran from 2004 through 2010. The idea was to create an accessible political print show which highlighted the continued power of handmade prints in an increasingly digital world. Starting in Chicago, the show initially was a collection of work from a relatively small group of a couple dozen artists. As it traveled, it grew, expanding to over 220 prints at its final stop in Pittsburgh in 2010. The earlier exhibitions contained a large selection of work responding to both the then new “War On Terror” and the Bush regime. As the show grew and expanded, it came to include prints addressing almost every contemporary political and social issue. The only criteria for inclusion was that the print must be intended as a political commentary or intervention, and that it must have hand printing at its core.” -Josh MacPhee

Paper Politics is an exhibition collection of politically and socially engaged printmaking, pulling together 200 of the prints that were included in the exhibition that was mounted in a dozen cities between 2004 and 2010. Artwork included was created by Dara Greenwald, Josh MacPhee, Art Hazelwood, Melanie Cervantes, Meredith Stern, Favianna Rodriguez, Sue Coe, elin o’Hara slavick, Colectivo Sublev(art)e, amongst many, many others. This collection is a portfolio of handmade prints, history of early 2000s political issues, and archival information regarding the inner workings of a 6 year traveling, living and ever-expanding exhibition with 200 artists.

The archive has five folders, with promotional materials, correspondences, press, sales records and exhibition inventories, book proofs and the two catalogs released to support the exhibition.

Paper Politics will ship with flat prints, a tube for oversized prints and a box of archive material. There is a detailed inventory included of material, which cites the page in the catalog pieces are mentioned, when available. Some prints in this collection were in some iteration of the exhibition, but not in the catalog.

Inventory and catalog PDF available upon request.