Mallory Gevaert 
At 20 years old, John Porcellino’s hand-drawn comic zine King-Cat is a veritable dinosaur of the industry.
When publication began in 1989, King-Cat was doubtlessly viewed as just another perzine. Over the years, the scope has increased, and, perhaps remarkably, each issue still has something new to say. By the time he released King-Cat Classix, a collection, in 2007, the zine had officially become a phenomenon.
Ask anyone in Chicago where the best place is to get independent books and zines, and they will surely have just one answer: Quimby’s. Located in Wicker Park, this bookstore carries almost everything independent, artistic, off-kilter, silly, or profound that you can imagine, and it boasts an intelligent and capable staff to help you navigate it all.
Melbourne, Australia’s Sticky Institute knows zines.
“I try to read literally every zine that comes through our doors,” manager Luke Sinclair says. The distro, which opened its doors in April of 2001 after Melbourne artist Simone Ewenson visited a similar shop in Amsterdam, carries a variety of zines, “artist books,” and other independent publications. Through support from the Victorian government and the Australian Council for the Arts, Sticky is able to nurture independent artists at every stage of the process.
“The zine has a life of its own, so as the time for it approaches, I start pulling together my own story and the stories of others, and that’s the most rewarding thing — building community, reaching out, making friends.”
That’s how zinester/blogger Tom Moniz describes the uniquely organic process of creating his zines, which cover topics like trans and queer fatherhood and the anarcho-punk lifestyle. His works describe not just the parenting styles of its subjects but their lives and passions.
Rainbow Coloured Tears of a Clown, a new exhibition by street artist Nomad, is currently on display until January 9 at The Circleculture Gallery in Berlin, Germany. Best known for his interactive street projects that combine writing, street art, poetry and classical painting, he will move indoors to showcase a holistic work of art.
Check out photos from the Panache Booking/New York Night Train CMJ showcase, sponsored by ALARM! All images by James Loveday.
Splitting Twilight, a new exhibition from New York-based painter Kristin Baker, opens November 5 at Deitch Projects’ Wooster Street location in New York. Baker, who notoriously focuses her paintings on car racing, presents landscape painting with a modernist twist for her third exhibition with Deitch Projects.
On January 26 Spoon will be releasing Transference, their first record in nearly three years, which features eleven new songs that honors the Spoon tradition while also expanding the band’s sound further. Tour dates to support the record will be announced as they are confirmed.
New York based artist SWOON is featured in a video for Gestalten.tv, a video podcast section of Gestalten design publishing company, and is best known for elaborate wheat pasted cut-out depictions of everyday street scenes she leaves covering New York City that decay and interact with the world around them for a constantly changing display of art.
Read ALARM’s exclusive interview with Riot Fest founder Michael Petryshyn about the festival’s fifth year anniversary, band reunions and some changes happening this year.