PAPIRMASSE IS BACK!
The Montreal-based art subscription re-launches with new energy and focus.
Papirmasse is re-launching under the art and editorial direction of founder Kirsten McCrea and new administrative and production support from Maison Kasini.
Papirmasse is a subscription that delivers an art print to people’s mailbox every month, featuring art on the front and writing on the back. It was founded in 2009 by Montreal-based artist and illustrator Kirsten McCrea. Issues featured artists and writers from across Canada including Mary Pinkoski, Kelly Schykulski, Michael Kuby, Gabe Wong, Emily Testa, Dietrich Rosteck, and Johnny Forever. The format of the art print ranged from a 5” x 7” accordion folded booklet, to a 6” x 9” reversible book folded down from a single huge sheet of paper, to an 18” x 24” double-sided poster.
Papirmasse is a play on the Dutch word for pulp, a reference to the subscription’s preferred place in the trenches of popular culture (think pulp novel), and the paper it is printed on. It is pronounced [pap-ear-mass].
Papirmasse received an overwhelmingly positive response. It was a finalist for a 2009 Expozine Award. It was written about in a number of online and print publications including: Book By Its Cover, The Walrus, Design Milk, SNAP!, Montreal State of Mind, Midnight Poutine, Community Critique, The Present Group, CanCult, Nightlife, Vitamin Daily, Art Hound, Parlour, Notebook, and Georgie. The initial subscription run was from January through December 2009. In 2010, McCrea suspended publication for a year to reflect and reorganize.
Kirsten McCrea is teaming up with Maison Kasini to produce and publish Papirmasse. Maison Kasini is a creative production company best known for the gallery and ARTSHOP they operate in Montreal’s Belgo Building. Maison Kasini’s sister company in the United States, Kasini House, publishes an art magazine and books and produces art events. The partnership will allow McCrea to focus more closely on artist and writer development for the subscription. Through Kasini House, Papirmasse will be able to grow its audience and subscriber base in the United States. The partnership will also provide a physical home to Papirmasse at Galerie Maison Kasini in the heart of Montreal’s contemporary art scene.
The next issue of Papirmasse is the January 2011 issue, with a special bonus issue offered to those who subscribe before the new year. A new website allows people to view past issues and subscribe and purchase gift subscriptions.
A Papirmasse Relaunch Party will take place at Galerie Maison Kasini on Saturday, November 27th from 3 to 5PM. The 2009 issues will be on view and Kirsten McCrea will be on hand to talk about the project. MORE…
About Kirsten McCrea
Kirsten McCrea is a Montreal-based artist whose work explores issues of cultural memory and art accessibility, looking at pop vs. underground culture, the media, and popular mythologies. Known for her bright colours and figurative subject-matter, Kirsten is quickly establishing herself as a prominent emerging Canadian artist. Primarily a painter, she is also the founder and art director of Papirmasse, an affordable art subscription. Her work has been exhibited nationally and has been reviewed in The Walrus, Book By Its Cover, and The Montreal Gazette, amongst others. She has illustrated for the Polaris Music Prize, the Under Pressure Graffiti festival, & Poetry Magazine.
About Maison Kasini & Kasini House
Art is food. Feed the people.
Maison Kasini & Kasini House are dynamic creative enterprises that seeks to make contemporary art and culture work. Maison Kasini is based in Montreal, Quebec. Kasini House is based in Burlington, Vermont.
Galerie Maison Kasini (Belgo #408, 372 Ste Catherine Ouest in Montreal) is a commercial art gallery that shows Canadian and American, emerging and midcareer, contemporary artists. We focus on art that has a strong conceptual foundation embodied in an accessible object. Through exhibitions and publications, we work to foster a broad and diverse interest in contemporary art and collecting with an eye towards those people who are just starting to build a collection.
Maison Kasini & Kasini House publish books on contemporary art and culture as well as catalogs of art as a means of diffusing work and reaching a broader audience. Kasini House also publishes three periodicals: Art Map Burlington, Vermont Contemporary Art Annual, and Vermont Art Guide, the state’s most comprehensive and up-to-date guide to contemporary art.
Kasini House produces art events such as First Friday Art Walk in Burlington, Vermont. In the Fall of 2010, Kasini House launched Art Cards which present contemporary art in greeting card format. ARTSHOP sells art, art products, and books in our online artshop, at events, and at the gallery in Montreal. We operate an on-demand printshop in Montreal that specializes in books, greeting cards, posters, postcards, and other products. We also host an in-house photographer who specializes in the documentation of artwork. We provide a range of consulting, media, and creative services to a variety of clients. Kasini House was incorporated in 2003. Maison Kasini was registered as a Quebec enterprise in 2006.
