Capital Art Book Fair Panel with Late Comeback Press, The Mirror Society Quartet, and The Print Party

Guests: Rachna Soun, Sam Fedorova (StrangeLens), Kate Fitzpatrick, and Chas Wagner

Host:  Christopher Kardambikis

Recorded on April 1st at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop

Late Comeback Press

Late Comeback Press is a micropress based out of Northern Virginia and is run by three Asian-American women. Late Comeback primarily focuses on mental health and representing Asian-American culture in its most subtle, authentic light and detracts from the palatable or exotic, as depicted in Western media. We build our zines intricately and by hand to represent the connection between our art, our identities, and our community, as pieces of us to you.

Late Comeback Press

StrangeLens is a multi-disciplinary artist who explores themes of dreams, the subconscious, and the Internet pop culture in the digital dark ages. She graduated from George Mason University in 2021 with a Master's degree in Arts and Visual Technology.

Kate Fitzpatrick is an artist and educator based in Alexandria, VA. Fitzpatrick received a BFA in Painting from Clarion University of Pennsylvania (1997), an MA in art education from University of New Mexico, and an MFA in Visual Arts from George Mason University (2020). She was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship (2016) where she spent a semester in India working on an art curriculum with local arts teachers. Fitzpatrick is also an art educator who was honored by the Northern Virginia Magazine as a "Northern Virginian of the Year" (2014) for her creation and implementation of an art and yoga program for youth in the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention center. In addition, Fitzpatrick received the Agnes Meyer Teacher of the Year award by the Washington Post (2013). Fitzpatrick exhibits her work throughout the US and teaches for Arlington Public Schools.

The Mirror Society Quartet

Chas Wagner is a curator and organizer of The Print Party, specializing in independent magazines. Based in Pittsburgh, his work focuses on social activations of the print periodical; via retail pop-ups, bookshop lecture series' and the launching of a sport book festival (Bleed and Score) in Brooklyn. He thought about biking here on the 330 mile+ Great Allegheny Passage Trail, but the rainy forecast and heftiness of the books dampened the prospects of this dreamy ride.

The Print Party

Cap ABF

The first edition of East City Art’s Capital Art Book Fair took place at Eastern Market’s North Hall on April 1 & 2, 2023.  Over 30 exhibitors from across the DMV, the US and Canada presented books as works of art, editions about art or artists, limited run books, prints as well as DIY zines and graphic novels.  Exhibitors include artists, independent publishers, small presses, illustrators and photographers. East City Art partnered with Capitol Hill Arts Workshop and Hill Center to co-locate offsite programming during the fair. DC-based, award-winning artist Carolina Mayorga created an ephemeral, site-specific work using hand-cut vinyl pieces in Eastern Market’s North Hall titled "Capital Splash".

More about the Capital Art Book Fair

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