Edited by Annette Jael Lehmann, Rudolf Fischer, Anna-Lena Werner, Marcelo Rezende, Helene Romakin.
The 20th century’s avant-gardes as seen through invites, postcards and various inventive forms of printed communication, from Oskar Schlemmer to Nam June Paik
The Archiv der Avantgarden in Dresden contains approximately 1.5 million items of ephemera from the 20th-century avant-gardes. Much of this material involves internal communications from within the art world, such as invitations to events and advertisements for exhibits. Invitation: Archive as Event compiles a wide selection of these communications, from a photocopied collage advertising Charlotte Moorman and Nam June Paik’s Mixed Media Opera to Oskar Schlemmer’s handwritten pink postcard inquiring about a gallery show presented by Walter Dexel. Still more event descriptions, case studies, interviews and visual references provide a compelling history of aesthetic trends in graphic design as well as insight into the myriad ways in which artists promoted their own work.
Invitation: Archive as Event provides an archive-driven take on the social circles and institutions that drove the evolution of contemporary art throughout the 20th century. It provides important sources for scholars, students, artists and curators in the development of a lively and participatory archival model.
Featured image is reproduced from ‘Invitation: Archive as Event'.
STATUS: Forthcoming | 4/7/2026
This title is not yet published in the U.S. To pre-order or receive notice when the book is available, please email orders @ artbook.com
Published by Spector Books. Edited by Annette Jael Lehmann, Rudolf Fischer, Anna-Lena Werner, Marcelo Rezende, Helene Romakin.
The 20th century’s avant-gardes as seen through invites, postcards and various inventive forms of printed communication, from Oskar Schlemmer to Nam June Paik
The Archiv der Avantgarden in Dresden contains approximately 1.5 million items of ephemera from the 20th-century avant-gardes. Much of this material involves internal communications from within the art world, such as invitations to events and advertisements for exhibits. Invitation: Archive as Event compiles a wide selection of these communications, from a photocopied collage advertising Charlotte Moorman and Nam June Paik’s Mixed Media Opera to Oskar Schlemmer’s handwritten pink postcard inquiring about a gallery show presented by Walter Dexel. Still more event descriptions, case studies, interviews and visual references provide a compelling history of aesthetic trends in graphic design as well as insight into the myriad ways in which artists promoted their own work.
Invitation: Archive as Event provides an archive-driven take on the social circles and institutions that drove the evolution of contemporary art throughout the 20th century. It provides important sources for scholars, students, artists and curators in the development of a lively and participatory archival model.
