here & now

We’ve been complaining a little recently about French bookstores not liking mono.kultur all that much because of its size, so to be fair it’s high time we slightly readjust this statement, because of course, there are a few wonderful stores in France. In fact, one of the very first stores abroad to carry mono.kultur was the lovely librairie attached to the renowned Gallerie Yvon Lambert in the beautiful Marais quarter in Paris.

With catalogues and publications playing such an important role in an artist’s career these days, I wonder why not more galleries have picked up on this and established a small store not just to promote their own program, but to expand on the vision of the space. Librairie Yvon Lambert makes a wonderful point in case with their carefully edited selection of artists’ books and multiples, partly related to the gallery roster, partly establishing a tight concept in its own right, mostly containing titles hard to find elsewhere. The atmosphere is unusually friendly and helpful for Paris, and attached is a small project space for mini-installations and events. In short, the little store is everything you’d want Paris to be.

And if the city of light is not on your agenda for some time, then there’s a chance to get a taste of Librairie Yvon Lambert in Berlin, when they will set up store at Motto as part of the Berlin–Paris art exchange program for a week in January.

Librairie Yvon Lambert
108 Rue Vieille Du Temple
75003 Paris

15.01.–23.01.2011: Librairie Yvon Lambert at Motto Berlin as part of Berlin–Paris

Photography: Book Titles projected on the glass vitrines at Librairie Yvon Lambert