Needles and Pens: 10 Year Anniversary Show from Inventory Magazine on Vimeo.

Adam Cimino and Harry Gregory made this beautiful video documenting N&P’s 10 Year show at The Luggage Store Gallery for Inventory Magazine

DAVE KING’s ODD ALCOVE
A Solo Show and book release for “The Rise and Fall of the Crass Symbol”

Featuring: photographs, graphics (including the CRASS symbol), photo-objects, stencil pieces and wood constructions. Show contains hi-art, lo-art, photobooks and more.

Opening Reception 7:00-9:30
FRIDAY, JULY 12, 2013
at Needles & Pens

Coming June 12, 2013 to N&P –
Dave King‘s Odd Alcove
A Solo Show and book release for The Rise and Fall of the Crass Symbol
Featuring: photographs, graphics (including the CRASS symbol), photo-objects, stencil pieces and wood constructions. Show contains hi-art, lo-art, photobooks and more.
Opening Reception 7:00-9:30 – Friday July 12, 2013

“Dave King was born in London not long after the Second World War, when there was still food and clothing rationing and children played in mysterious and hazardous bomb sites, between rows of bland and un- damaged terraced or semi-detached houses. It was a grey world which didn’t see much colour until the economy finally improved in the Sixties, which were nothing if not colourful. To avoid a job as a bank clerk, King went to Art School (where he met Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher, later of Crass.) For the next ten years he worked as a graphic designer and art director before “retiring” to the communal house that eventually became home to the band. He then moved to New York and fell happily into the Downtown music scene of the late Seventies, joining the band Arsenal. He did illustrations for the Museum of Modern Art and the logo for downtown club Danceteria as well as graphics for many bands. His band then moved to San Francisco in the early Eighties (a very interesting time in the California punk scene), becoming Sleeping Dogs, which appeared (as did Arsenal) on Crass Records. Today Dave King still lives in San Francisco, still designs logos and works on his own graphic, photographic and film projects.” – Boing Boing

Just in – All I Have Learned and Forgotten Again by Jockum Nordström.

SAN FRANCISCO! TOMORROW, Saturday the 25th of May at 3p.m. As part of our 10 YEAR SHOW we bring you yet another special event. A coincidence popup show of ZINES and MUSICAL PERFORMANCE – a crossing and exchange grinding by German artist, photographer, Plem Plem Gallery operator, and skateboarder extraordinaire – SERGEJ VUTUC.
at THE LUGGAGE STORE GALLERY 1007 Market st, (at 6th Street) SF CA

Needles & Pens presents,

A reading by Dream Whip zine author & film maker,
BILL BROWN

@ The Luggage Store Gallery
1007 Market St (at 6th Street) San Francisco, CA

Saturday, May 18 from 4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

INFO:
Bill Brown delights us with a personal appearance, in from North Carolina with a charming “how-to” volume, “Action!” The artist-author reads from this self-illustrated guide to film- and video-making and also from the latest issue of his beloved travel ‘zine, DREAM WHIP. Bill then introduces an inspiring mid-career overview of his personal documentaries, headlined by the West Coast premiere of Memorial Land, a careful consideration of architectural sites honoring the 9/11 dead. ALSO: Chicago Corner, Confederation Park, Mountain State, and his recent Document, a laser-printer-to-16mm rendering of a redacted CIA text. Q&A, and books available! $6

Bill Brown’s Dreamwhip zine is a raw little chunk of America full of darkened crop-fields and desert moonlight and sad, empty diners. Now in its 14th issue, Dreamwhip is a zine with some history behind it. “I was skateboarding one night, back in early ’90s,” Bill explains over email. “It was late, and it was cold. I hit a rock and, suddenly, I was lying on my back and the sky was full of shooting stars. I was dizzy for a year. I started doing a zine to take my mind off my broken head. I finally got better, more or less, but the zine kept going.” The long-running Dreamwhip is an informed, articulate, patient piece of existential storytelling. In a tone that’s half Ira Glass, half Cometbus, Bill’s 344-page pocket-size 14th issue gives us stories of biblical theme parks and border-crossers, of Dutch punks and haunted houses. His is a wide-spanning, optimistic, Technicolored America, more Woody Allen than Kerouac, but always on the road. As says Bill, “Dreamwhip is a bad country song full of open roads and achy hearts and ratty motel rooms where I take stock of how many miles I’ve gone and how many I’ve still got to go.”

The First 10 Years of Needles & Pens book is now available for purchase online.

The First 10 Years of Needles & Pens
Edited by Andrew Martin Scott
$8.00
The First 10 Years of Needles & Pens documents the over 85 art exhibitions and events hosted by the unique San Francisco arts space. For the last 10 years N&P has specialized in zines, handmade goods and visual artwork in a gallery setting. This book celebrates and reflects on the last decade of the space’s history through photos and words by the people that have been involved. People like: David Benzler, Patricia Colli, Chris Duncan, Kyle Field, Maria Forde, Glen Helfand, Jay Howell, Rich Jacobs, Chris Johanson, Tim Kerr, Darin Klein, Faythe Levine, Nick Mann, Austin McManus, Griffin McPartland, Serena Mitnik-Miller, Sam McPheeters, Matt OBrien, Nigel Peake, Ray Potes, Larry Rinder, Chris Reardon, Oliver Halsman Rosenberg, Nathaniel Russel, Andrew Schoultz, Orion Shepherd, Paul Schiek, Jovi Schnell, Andrew Martin Scott, Louis Schmidt, Kevin Earl Taylor, John Trippe, and Paul Wackers.
• 100 Pages
• Perfect Bound
• 8.5″ x 5.5″
• Offset printed in Oakland, California
• 2-Color Red/Blue Cover
• Blue ink on white paper inside
• First Edition of 500 copies

Thank you for coming out to Needles & Pens 10 Year Anniversary show! It was an amazing night. There is so much good work on the walls – over 100 pieces by 66 different artists. Do yourself a favor and make it a point to get down to The Luggage Store Gallery this month to see it in person. The N&P Anniversary show is on display through June 8 and Luggage Store Gallery hours are Wed-Sat 12-5 pm (and by appointment). But right now, for your internet veiwing pleasure check out these shots from the show on JUXTAPOZ –

TONIGHT @ THE LUGGAGE STORE GALLERY

Needles & Pens 10 Year Anniversary Show
Featuring works by:
Amy Browne, Andrew McKinley, Andrew Schoultz, Austin McManus, Bill Daniel, Brigid Dawson, Chris Duncan, Chris Johanson, Chrissy Piper, Daniel Higgs/Kyle Ranson, David Benzler, Deuce 7, Edie Fake, Griffin McPartland, Hamburger Eyes, Hilary Pecis, Jason Jägel, Jay Howell, Jay Nelson, Jeff Canham, Jeremy Fish, Joey Alone, John Dwyer, Jovi Schnell, Julianna Bright, Kevin Earl Taylor, Know Hope, Kyle Field, Kyle Ranson, Lena Wolff, Maria Forde, Mary Joy Scott, Mat Obrien, Matt Furie, Maya Hayuk, Mike Brodie, Miriam Stahl, Monica Canilao, Nathaniel Russell, Nick Mann, Nigel Peake, Nikki McClure, Oliver Halsman Rosenberg, Orfn, Orion Shepherd, Other, Pacolli, Paul Schiek, Paul Urich, Paul Wackers, Pez, Ray Potes, Richard Coleman, Rich Jacobs, Russ Pope, Sam McPheeters, Serena Mitnik Miller, Stefan Simikich, Tauba Auerbach, Ted Pushinski, Thomas Campbell, Tim Kerr, Xara Thustra

And Music by:
Tara Jane Oneil, Strawberry Smog, and WR/DS

Opens May 10, 2013 – 6:00-9:30 p.m.
@ The Luggage Store Gallery
1007 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

*On Display through June 8, 2013

Working Title: Fabricating a Future with Atelier Dion
with Andrew from Needles & Pens and Kelly Lynn Jones from Little Paper Planes

Oakland-based Atelier Dion has been in operation for less than 2 years, but has already built up an impressive list of clients and is on its way to becoming a successful ceramics production house. Owners Jay and Rie Dion are a husband and wife duo who met in 2008 while attending graduate school at California College of the Arts. After graduation, the couple realized they could use their skills as ceramic artists to create a business focused on custom fabrication. We visited the Dions in their West Oakland studio where we discussed the ins and outs of starting a business and the sacrifices and compromises they have made to get their vision off the ground.

This is the second episode of Working Title, a collaboration between KQED and Little Paper Planes, hosted by Kelly Lynn Jones of LPP and Andrew Martin Scott, co-owner of Needles and Pens. Through this program, which will include videos, interviews, articles, and essays, we will explore how local artist-entrepreneurs are re-inventing the American Dream, creating alternative economies and redefining success in the Bay Area.

Join us at Needles & Pens on Thursday May 2, 2013 – 7:00 p.m.

for a reading of: “In the City of Bikes: The Story of the Amsterdam Cyclist,”
the new book by zine legend “Dishwasher” Pete Jordan

About the Book: Peter Jordan’s “In The City of Bikes” describes how, since the dawn of cycling in the 1890s, the people of Amsterdam have embraced the bike not only as their preferred mode of transport, but as a part of their humanity that they defend by instinct and with undying vigor.
Jordan combines ten years of meticulous historical research with his own memoirs to illustrate why in Amsterdam, the streets are not merely bike-friendly or bike safe. Rather, the bike is King of the Road in no uncertain terms, making the capital of Holland unique among the world’s cities. This is the first book in any language to examine these key aspects of urban transport and Dutch culture.
The cycling adventures of Amsterdammers have played a critical role in the life and the history of the city. Huge throngs pedal out to the country for the annual tulip festival, with every bike & body covered with that flower. During the 5-year Nazi occupation babies were born under pedal-powered generator lights and citizens resisted German attempts to control and confiscate their bikes. The Dutch Resistance relied on disguised women to move messages and downed allied pilots around the city. The bike served as a means of endurance, being essential to a Dutch person’s soul.
Pete Jordan is also the author of “Dishwasher: One Man’s Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States.” Pete’s work has been featured on NPR’s This American Life and the New York Times.

Needles & Pens 10 Year Anniversary Show
Featuring works by:
Amy Browne, Andrew McKinley, Andrew Schoultz, Austin McManus, Bill Daniel, Brigid Dawson, Chris Duncan, Chris Johanson, Chrissy Piper, Daniel Higgs/Kyle Ranson, David Benzler, Deuce 7, Edie Fake, Griffin McPartland, Hamburger Eyes, Hilary Pecis, Jason Jägel, Jay Howell, Jay Nelson, Jeff Canham, Jeremy Fish, Joey Alone, John Dwyer, Jovi Schnell, Julianna Bright, Kevin Earl Taylor, Know Hope, Kyle Field, Kyle Ranson, Lena Wolff, Maria Forde, Mary Joy Scott, Mat Obrien, Matt Furie, Maya Hayuk, Mike Brodie, Miriam Stahl, Monica Canilao, Nathaniel Russell, Nick Mann, Nigel Peake, Nikki McClure, Oliver Halsman Rosenberg, Orfn, Orion Shepherd, Other, Pacolli, Paul Schiek, Paul Urich, Paul Wackers, Pez, Ray Potes, Richard Coleman, Rich Jacobs, Russ Pope, Sam McPheeters, Serena Mitnik Miller, Stefan Simikich, Tauba Auerbach, Ted Pushinski, Thomas Campbell, Tim Kerr, Xara Thustra

And Music by:
Tara Jane Oneil, Strawberry Smog, and WR/DS

Opens May 10, 2013 – 6:00-9:30 p.m.
@ The Luggage Store Gallery
1007 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

*On Display through June 8, 2013

Needles & Pens, TBW Books and Twin Palms present,

A Period of Juvenile Prosperity
Mike Brodie

Book Launch & Signing at Needles & Pens
Friday, April 19, 2013 from 6-8 p.m.

Needles & Pens,
3253 16th Street,
San Francisco CA.,94103

But I needed to find out for myself. Two weeks later I was gone, witnessing my new world wizz by, especially at dusk, then darkness as I watched the sum of all the city lights cast my silhouette across the pine trees of the Florida panhandle. This was it, I was riding my very first freight train. And soon, what would begin as mere natural curiosity and self-discovery would evolve into a casting call of sorts, taking photographs of my newfound friends. — Mike Brodie

Transmissions new works by Tahiti Pehrson

Opening Reception: Saturday, April 13, 2013 -7:00 – 9:30 p.m.

Tahiti Pehrson creates large-scale, meticulously hand cut, three-dimensional paper sculptures. His intricate x-acto knife carvings explore the fragility and connectedness of the world. The detailed installations offer viewers a glimpse at how microscopic life might appear on a giant scale. Much like a magnified snowflake, Pehrson’s works reveal the magnificently beautiful patterns not always obvious to the naked eye, but quite inherent within nature.

Needles & Pens presents,
ASK THE DUST
A two person exhibition of ink drawings
by Joey Alone and Deuce 7

Escaping the monotony, greed and meaningless vanity of city life for something which is tangible and raw and fills the void, Joey Alone and Deuce 7 have put ink to paper and attempted to share with the world what they both have actively chosen to seek out over the past two years – abandoned railroad infratsructure, beaten wood shacks, chaparral cliffs and the emptiness and desolation of the California Deserts. With a focus both on the non-human Natural World, as well the abandoned and forgotten aspects of the Human World, their work is born out of a world focused on both the granite rock and rusted iron of the American West. Joey Alone is a brakeman with the Railroad, Deuce 7 is a railroad enthusiast and vagabond.

Opens Friday March 8, 2013 – 7:00-9:30 pm
*On display 3/8/13 – 4/7/13

** Check out the Joey & Deuce interview in this week’s SF WEEKLY

Osa Atoe (Shotgun Seamstress Zine, a zine by and for black punks), Neelybat Chestnut (Mend My Dress: Collected Zines), Maranda Elizabeth (Telegram: A Collection of 27 Issues) will be heading down the northwest coast, making stops along the way to do zine readings and playing some music.

JOIN US for their San Francisco gig!

Starts at 7pm

FREE!

More info at:
http://mendmydress.com/

Thanks for coming out to The Golden Source Power Three, collaborative Works by Jesse Balmer, Niv Bavarsky,& Michael Olivo.

Golden Source Power Three
Collaborative Works by
Jesse Balmer, Niv Bavarsky,
& Michael Olivo

Jesse Balmer, Niv Bavarsky and Michael Olivo started drawing together early in 2012. The drawing sessions, which were initially for amusement, became herapeutic and mind expanding for all three artists. Each learning their distinct roles in two or three way collaborations helped solidify each artist’s personal voice in a way unique to the collaborative process. Many drawings were completed, and surprisingly, few ended as failures. This show is an opportunity to see very nearly all the drawings, in a variety of mediums, that the three completed together after a year of collaboration.

Golden Source Power Three will be on display February 8 through March 3, 2013

The Zone System by Bill Daniel is the skate photographer’s bible, a take–anywhere manual that clarifies the technical and aesthetic challenges facing beginners and experts – an indispensable tool for understanding early 1980s skateboarding in central texas, its lasting impact on contemporary culture and is a must – have for anyone concerned with the content/form relationship; complete with photos of Tex Gibson, Steve Harris, Craig Johnson, Tim Kerr, Michael Laird, John Nau, Kenny Peyton, Jeff Phillips, Dan Wilkes, the Big Boys and more! $12 each
• Published by Needles & Pens • 5.75″ x 8.50″ • 44 Glossy b/w pages • Perfect bound • Edition of 500 copies

JOIN N&P at the LA ART BOOK FAIR where we will be tabling a colossal assortment of zines, art books, and various printed matter from the San Francisco Bay Area as well as from international writers and artists.

In addition, N&P will be debuting the brand new N&P published book by artist BILL DANIEL entitled “THE ZONE SYSTEM – The Skate Photographer’s Bible”
–> The Zone System is a take–anywhere manual that clarifies the technical and aesthetic challenges facing beginners and experts – an indispensable tool for understanding early 1980s skateboarding in central texas, its lasting impact on contemporary culture and is a must – have for anyone concerned with the content/form relationship.”

We will also have the new book by long-time N&P artist XARA THUSTRA! Book fair customers will be able to purchase signed copies at our table.

http://laartbookfair.net/

Printed Matter’s LA ART BOOK FAIR
February 1-3, 2013

Opening: Thursday, January 31, 2013, 6–9 pm
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
152 North Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 626-6222
moca.org

We’ve been working on this for six months and it’s finally ready to launch! wooo! Go over to KQED, check it out and let us know what you think.

click to view video at KQED

This is the pilot episode of Working Title, a collaboration between KQED and Little Paper Planes, hosted by Kelly Lynn Jones of LPP and Andrew Martin Scott, co-owner of Needles and Pens. Through this program, which will include videos, interviews, articles and essays, we will explore how local artist entrepreneurs are re-inventing the American Dream, creating alternative economies and redefining success in the Bay Area. Stay tuned.

Bay Area artist Jay Nelson has always been into building tree houses, and now he does it for a living. Starting a few years back with a couple of installations in local art galleries, Jay, who has no formal carpentry training, taught himself how to build the imaginary structures that were floating around in his head. We talked to Jay about how he has been able to turn his passion into a business, learning more about his philosophy of life and his definition of success.