Primary Information

fierce pussy is featured in Koyo Kouoh’s exhibition, “In Minor Keys,” at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Their contribution, “arms ache avid aeon,” represents chapter nine of an ongoing collaboration with curator Jo-ey Tang, comprising works by Nancy Brooks Brody, Joy Episalla, Zoe Leonard, and Carrie Yamaoka, as well as the collaborative as a whole. The installation includes pieces made from 1991 to 2026, reexamined through the contemporary lens of climate change and fascism. ⁠ ⁠ Additionally, the collective’s work, “we are here,” is visible on the exterior of the Giardini. Behind the curved glass of a disused ticket booth are overlapping strips of black, white, green, and red fabric in the shapes of the color fields of the Palestinian flag. This work calls attention to the lack of an official Palestinian pavilion at the Biennale.⁠ ⁠ fierce pussy also designed a diptych of two posters, “Welcome Queers and Trans People” and “we are everyone,” to be wheatpasted around Venice. However, a few weeks before the opening, Venice abruptly rescinded approval for one of the posters. The collective edited the poster to meet the demands of the city, and it was later approved, but Venice won’t allow the poster to be wheatpasted until July—long after the exhibition’s opening and major press coverage. In response, fierce pussy created stickers with their original design to freely distribute around the Biennale and the city. ⁠ ⁠ Image 1: fierce pussy and Jo-ey Tang in front of "we are here." Photo: @stuartcomer ⁠ Image 2: Installation view, "arms ache avid aeon." Photo: @thenotarypublic ⁠ Images 3–5: "Welcome Queers and Trans People" and "we are everyone" in Venice. Photo: @jepisalla ⁠ ⁠

The Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts is so excited to announce Salad Days, its new annual summer series dedicated to publication-based projects and publishing as an artistic and collaborative practice. Throughout the summer, the Carpenter Center will transform into a working bookstore and reading space featuring artists’ books, writings, screenings, conversations, and public programs.                              The inaugural presentation will feature Primary Information, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year!                                                               Join us for the opening celebration on June 18, featuring a conversation between Primary Information co-founder James Hoff and Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Art, Film, and Visual Studies, David Joselit.                                                                                                                 Additional programs, screenings, and gatherings will take place throughout the summer. Stay tuned for announcements! 🔗 Link in bio for more information about the series and Primary Information. Photograph by @naokomaeda

We are pleased to announce the release of Terminal Boundaries, an artist book by Lawrence Weiner.⁠ ⁠ Made in 1969 but never published, the manuscript was only recently brought to light and contains two related bodies of work represented as typewritten statements on paper that Weiner pasted to the pages of a small composition notebook. The book’s absence from Weiner’s oeuvre plagued him as it marked a terminus of his relationship to the physical construction of his artworks, and illustrated the principle of “specific” and “general” which he applied to his art.⁠ ⁠ Created from a standard notebook purchased in a stationery store, the manuscript is two books in one: Terminal Boundaries and A natural watercourse diverted reduced or displaced. A tête-bêche with two front covers, the book can begin from either cover by turning it upside down.⁠ ⁠ Weiner was traveling across Europe when this manuscript was composed. Struck by the tumultuous times and the critical illuminations about the climate from the Club of Rome discussions, the works in this book are in Weiner’s words, “concerned with the relationship of natural resources in relation to human beings.” Distinct from his contemporaries associated with the Land Art movement, Weiner constructs his landscape interventions in language—the specific and/or general act and the location are stated—offering the reader/viewer the opportunity to consider each work’s existence, to build it in their mind’s eye. ⁠ ⁠ Terminal Boundaries finds Weiner just off the cusp of his decision to make art that lived centered in language, emphasizing the viewer’s responsibility to engage with it to make it whole. The book marks a crucial inflection point in the artist’s practice, defining his direction to make work that “attempts to present something to people that is not just about me,” but about materials and the world we find ourselves in here and now.⁠ ⁠ Terminal Boundaries is 136 pages, measures 4.25 x 6.75 inches, and retails for $24.00.⁠ ⁠ Managing Editor: James Hoff⁠ Designer: Rick Myers⁠ ⁠ Product shots by: @naokomaeda ⁠ ⁠ @_james_hoff @rickmyers_cabinstudio @gladstone.gallery

The first exhibition of Martin Wong’s work in New York in over a decade, “Martin Wong: Popeye” is up now at P.P.O.W through May 30th. “Popeye” focuses on Wong’s career-long obsession with comic book illustration and tattooing, reflected in massive plywood cutouts of the titular character painted in the artist’s singular brick patterning. ⁠ ⁠ Other works on view include several paintings by the artist, combining recognizable cartoon characters—like Little Lulu and Mutt and Jeff—with graffiti, astrological charts, Chinese calligraphy, and phallic symbols. ⁠ On Friday, May 15th, P.P.O.W is hosting a panel discussion with Howie Chen, Adam Putnam, Oscar yi Hou, and Eugenie Tsai, exploring Wong’s use of “artistic subcultures” in his body of work. ⁠ ⁠ To see more of Martin Wong’s art and read his poetry, get your copy of “Footprints, Poems, and Leaves” today. ⁠ ⁠ Image 1: Martin Wong, “Oy! (Veh),” 1991.⁠ Image 2: Martin Wong, “Untitled (Little Lulu and Tubby),” c. 1989. ⁠ Image 3: Installation view, “Martin Wong: Popeye.”⁠ ⁠ @ppowgallery ⁠

Joseph Grigely’s exhibition, “This is Where We Are,” is on view at the Palais de Tokyo through September 13, 2026. ⁠ ⁠ The institution invited Grigely to stage an intervention in a space that has historically been inaccessible to patrons with reduced mobility; in response, he designed a hybrid staircase and ramp (a “stramp”) that allows all visitors to experience the space equally, and together. Handrails installed on either side of the stramp are painted a blue that matches the International Symbol of Access. Furthering Grigely’s career-long exploration of the “exhibition prosthetic,” he has created an “architectural prosthetic,” one that serves both as vehicle through which one can see art, and as the art itself.⁠ ⁠ Other works by Grigely supplement the central structure, all continuing the artist’s meta commentary on the art world and accessibility. “Obstacle Course” comprises two makeshift wheelchair ramps made from copies of Artforum and May magazines, representing the issues the artist has faced with requesting accommodations from art-world institutions. On the wall is “Words Worth Their Weight in Bronze,” two plaques (one in English, one in French) comprising a quotation from Grigely’s contract with the Palais de Tokyo that mandates the museum follow French and EU accessibility laws. ⁠ ⁠ To see more of Grigely’s work, check out “Otherhow,” available via the link in our bio. ⁠ ⁠ Image 1: Joseph Grigely on the stramp⁠ Image 2: "This is Where We Are" exhibition. Photo: Aurélien Mole.⁠ Image 3: The stramp's handrails⁠ Image 4: "Obstacle Course," 2026⁠ Image 5: "Words Worth Their Weight in Bronze," 2026⁠ Image 6: Joseph Grigely with the bust used in "Between the Walls and Me," 2023⁠

fierce pussy was formed in 1991 as a lesbian offshoot of ACT UP, with members joining from the larger organization’s weekly Monday night meetings. A call was made at the ACT UP assembly at the Cooper Union Great Hall for dykes to meet at Zoe Leonard’s apartment, and the “fluid and often-shifting cadre” of lesbian members thus formed. In addition to aiding the important work of AIDS activism, the members of fierce pussy sought to center lesbian visibility, outside of the overwhelming contemporaneous focus on the male body. fierce pussy functions as a single entity; as members have come and gone, the collective still speaks as one. ⁠ ⁠ One of the first rules of fierce pussy was that a poster be designed at each meeting and wheatpasted around the city at the next. Core members Nancy Brooks Brody, Joy Episalla, Zoe Leonard, and Carrie Yamaoka photocopied hundreds of posters at their day jobs at Condé Nast. The collective’s first “List” poster (“I AM A . . . AND PROUD”) was created at the very first meeting. Next, fierce pussy produced a series of posters with their own baby photos accompanied by derogatory terms for lesbians. When plastered over the walls of New York City, these first posters served as signaling devices to other lesbians walking the streets of the city, centering them in a narrative of reclamation and celebration. ⁠

We are pleased to announce that Women in Concrete Poetry: 1959–1979 is back in print!⁠ ⁠ This expansive anthology focuses on concrete poetry written by women in the groundbreaking movement’s early history, featuring fifty writers and artists from Europe, Japan, Latin America, and the US selected by editors Alex Balgiu and Mónica de la Torre.�⁠ ⁠ The publication takes as its point of departure "Materializzazione del linguaggio"—the groundbreaking exhibition of visual and concrete poetry by women curated by Italian feminist artist Mirella Bentivoglio for the Venice Biennale in 1978. Bentivoglio's curation traced constellations of women artists working at the intersection of the verbal and visual who sought to “reactivate the atrophied tools of communication” and liberate words from the conventions of genre, gender, and the strictures of the patriarchy and normative syntax.�⁠ ⁠ The works in this volume evolved from previous manifestations of concrete poetry as defined in foundational manifestos by Öyvind Fahlström, Eugen Gomringer, and the Brazilian Noigandres group. While some works are easily recognized as concrete poetry, as documented in canonical anthologies edited by Mary Ellen Solt and Emmett Williams in the late ’60s, the book also features expansive serial works that are overtly feminist and often trouble legibility. ⁠ ⁠ Women in Concrete Poetry: 1959–1979 is 488 pages, measures 8 x 9 inches, and retails for $35.00. ⁠ ⁠ Image captions:⁠ ⁠ 1: Lenora de Barros, Poema⁠ 2. Mirella Bentivoglio, Gabbia (Ho)⁠ 3. Tomaso Binga, Selections from Dattilocodice⁠ 4. Mirtha Dermisache, Diario No. 1 Año 1⁠ 5. Annalies Klophaus, Selections from Mot-Couleur-Roman⁠ 6. Liliane Lijn, Mind Home (Neurographs) and Easy Does It (Neurographs)⁠ 7. Jennifer Pike, Wump Ertater, A Number Progression⁠ 8. Mary Ellen Solt, Marriage Poem⁠ 9. Biljana Tomić, Typoezija⁠ 10. Hannah Weiner, Selections from Signal Flag Poems⁠ ⁠ Editors: Alex Balgiu and Mónica de la Torre⁠ Managing Editor: James Hoff⁠ Designer: Scott Ponik⁠ ⁠ Product shots by: @naokomaeda ⁠ ⁠ @designingwriting @m_de_la_t @_james_hoff ⁠

For Lesbian Visibility Week, Primary Information is highlighting a selection of posters from our most recent publication, "fierce pussy," by the eponymous lesbian artist collective. ⁠ ⁠ Since the 1990s, fierce pussy has fought for lesbian visibility through their wheatpasted postering campaigns around New York City, their renaming of city streets for lesbian heroes, and their advocacy work for LGBTQ+ rights. ⁠

Congratulations to Andrew Durbin on the publication of “The Wonderful World That Almost Was”! This book serves as a dual biography of Paul Thek and Peter Hujar, focusing on their intertwined lives and individual artistic careers. ⁠ ⁠ Durbin wrote the afterword for our book, “Stay Away from Nothing,” that explores the relationship between Thek and Hujar through their letters and photographs. ⁠

We are pleased to announce the release of an eponymously titled publication by fierce pussy. The book brings together thirty-nine of the legendary art collective’s posters, from works made in the urgent early days of the AIDS crisis to present-day advocacy for Queer and Trans rights.⁠ ⁠ In keeping with fierce pussy’s activism in public spaces, the publication is designed to allow readers to tear out any of the posters to share, wheatpaste, scan, photocopy, and distribute or to easily open the book to any page to hang it on a wall. Combining calls for political and social action, proud reclamations of derogatory language, and pointed questions, the posters in fierce pussy address pressing sociopolitical issues in the group’s distinctive voice. ⁠ Emerging during a decade steeped in the AIDS crisis and LGBTQ+ activism, fierce pussy (which includes core founding members Nancy Brooks Brody [1962–2023], Joy Episalla, Zoe Leonard, and Carrie Yamaoka) brought Queer identity directly into the streets in a manner characterized by the urgency of those years. In recent years they have expanded to also present their work in galleries and museums, while continuing to intervene in the public space, always working with an economy of means and a collective ethos of inclusion and solidarity.⁠ This publication was originally published by Printed Matter in 2008 to coincide with a retrospective exhibition of the collective’s work. This new expanded edition includes twenty-five additional posters.⁠ ⁠ fierce pussy is 41 pages, measures 11 x 17 inches, and retails for $30.00.⁠ ⁠ Managing Editor: Jules Spector⁠ Designers: Garrick Gott and Bryce Wilner⁠ ⁠ Product shots by: @naokomaeda ⁠ ⁠ @jepisalla @carrie.yamaoka @fp_1991 @julespector @theonlygarrickgott

A retrospective exhibition of Paul Mpagi Sepuya’s work is on view at Fotomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland through June 14th. The show, Focus. Desire., is organized according to three touchpoints of Sepuya’s body of work: Studio, Dark Room, and Archive. ⁠ ⁠ The first section comprises photographs that feature the evolving definition of Sepuya’s studio space—his bedroom (as seen in SHOOT), friend’s homes, residency programs, and his own separate photographic studio. An oversized reproduction of a 2018 photograph of his Los Angeles studio on a plywood frame invites viewers to enter that space itself. The Dark Room section features Sepuya’s eponymous series of red-tinged photographs that emulate the lighting of the site of photographic reproduction, exhibited on walls painted in dark colors. ⁠ ⁠ The final portion of the exhibition explores Sepuya’s devotion to the photographic archive and his own personal collection of ephemera. Beginning with SHOOT and The Early Portraits (2005–10)—a series of portraits taken in the artist’s bedroom that furthered the aesthetic of those in his early zine—the exhibition showcases Sepuya’s ongoing journals and collages he uses to reinvent and reimagine his photographs. ⁠ ⁠ To see more of Sepuya’s work, get your copy of SHOOT at the link in our bio. ⁠

We're deeply saddened by the loss of Siri Aurdal (1937–2026), a visionary artist who used industrial materials to create modular sculptural systems that she exhibited in a range of environments, from galleries to a school playground. These works invited hands-on engagement and social interaction amongst audiences—a radical approach at the time that foreshadowed installation art and relational aesthetics. ⁠ ⁠ We had the honor of publishing "Siri Aurdal by Eline Mugaas" in 2016, a collaborative artist book in which Mugaas collaged together decades of drawings, documentation, and ephemera by Aurdal. Due to the ephemeral nature of Aurdal's work, it often survived only through documentation, with this publication offering a particularly invaluable window into her practice.