Unpiano Books

Released with Evergold Gallery
32 pages, Saddle-Stiched
Full Color Offset Printing
9" x 12”, Unocoated Stock
Limited edition of 250
$20 - Sold Out

We're sorry this item is currently sold-out. Please check back as we may update our stock sometime in the near future. Thanks!

Shortly after putting out her first monograph back in 2009, Sandy Kim moved to New York and has continued to make quite a name for herself. In honor of her first solo show back in San Francisco, Unpiano Books has partnered with Evergold Gallery to release a limited edition cataloge. This cataloge contains work from the show as well as some select rare images that haven't been published before. Signed edition/print combinations may become available after opening night, so check back for updates.

“I met Sandy Kim recently at the Pitchfork festival in chicago. She’s a cute little Asian girl with an angel face and a naughty side. We were hanging out with the bands GIRLS and the Smith Westerns (the drummer is Sandy’s boyfriend) and Sandy was snapping away throughout the night.

I kept hearing about how great her work was from all of my interns and assistants. She’s the real deal. Sandy is a confessional photographer with a thing for body fluids, especially those of her boyfriend Colby’s—a photo of cum on her chest just after having sex, a grisly scene of post-period sex and a blood-covered penis. Sometimes it’s hardcore like that and sometimes it’s pure beauty. She often photographs cute long-haired nude or near-nude boys lying on dirty couches in classical repose. I love her photos of her boyfriend and her sexy self-portraits. She’s also toured with the band GIRLS many times and some of my favorite photos of them are by her. Photos of the band sleeping in vans of piled into a motel room or backstage.

She really knows how to use natural light, like early morning light, or sunset light in an apartment. She pays attention to it and that’s always the sign of a good photographer, knowing when and how to use that light. She’s small, a fly on the wall, with balls to pick up her arm and take the photo without asking permission. Sandy brings her camera everywhere and she’s always ready and waiting for the moment. She documents her life in San Francisco and you get a sense of the scene there–but not in a blogger way, Sandy is actually talented – an artist. I like how she still shoots film. it’s old school. She reminds me of when I was young – out partying every night, snapping away so that the pictures can provide evidence of the night.”

Ryan McGinley, DAZED 2011

Released with Mt St Mtn
50 pages, Saddle-Stiched
Black & White Offset Printing
5.75" x 8.75”, Thick Stock
Limited edition of 500
$12 - Now Available

Jay Howell has shown and worked nationally as an artist, cartoonist and illustrator for close to ten years. Although he now makes Los Angeles his home, he spent a great deal of time in Sacramento and San Francisco where he cut his teeth in illustration. He has released countless versions of his zine Punks Git Cut over the years and has worked commercially with brands like Vans, Burton, and Anti-Hero Skateboards His work was developed for Fox to be used in the animated show Bob’s Burgers and he is currently developing a show for Nickelodeon

The Dark Wave tells the story of a black metal band's disenchanted lead singer. After succumbing to a panic attack on stage during a show, he flees into the night and quickly finds himself surrounded by the great wild. We follow his journey around the bend and out into the ocean - All dictated to us in vivid black and white, with Jay Howell's sublime background artwork filing out the palette of grays. The Dark Wave and his journey to find it, relates to us that even during murky periods of loathing, strife and doubt, we will all find what we are looking for and learn how to stand on our own two feet.

"His art manages to be whimsical and crude at the same time, but above all damn right funny.. ..Howell’s style and humor are a perfect match for [televsion], earning him a well deserved place alongside animation greats."

Justine Sharrock, 2011

184 pages, Smythe sewn
Black & White Offset Printing
9” x 11”, Hard Cover w/ Jacket
Limited edition of 500
$30 - Now Available

Shipping included for inside the United States is for USPS Media Mail. If you would prefer a different shipping method, please get in touch with us at contact(a)unpianobooks.com

A news media photographer for over forty years, Arthur Pollock creates images that incorporate great depth and allure with a photojournalistic viewpoint. Reminiscent of the gritty, yet artistic style popularized by Weegee in the forties, the photographs in the book bring to light the daily travails that build the foundation of a city. Arthur is the recipient of the World Press Award as well as the National Press Photographers Association Picture of the Year and now spends his days as Assistant Photo Editor for the Boston Herald.

“Many news photographers travel in packs at events and often their photos reflect a commonness of vision that just doesn’t stand the test of time. They are competent, but their photographs are also predictable. Just think back to your own hometown paper from the days when the black printing ink might have rubbed off on your hands. Are their any photographs that stick in your mind? Not many. This seems to be the norm for most daily news photos, unless it happens to be a photo made by one Arthur Pollock. ..Pollock holds your eye and your spirit! Throw in his crops, the “hand of God” darkroom work and sometimes it’s even a classic.”

Ken Light, 2011

“While he may echo the understatement of a news scribe, Pollock’s work clearly pays special homage to the artistry of those iconic shutter artists, Diane Arbus and the legendary New York street lensman of the ‘30’s and ‘40’s Weegee. Indeed, every picture does tell a story. And in this unique collection, there are hundreds of stories... wonderfully told."

Peter Gelzinis, 2011

36 pages, Saddle-Stiched
Black & White Offset Printing
5.4” x 8.5”, 1 Color Bond Cover
Limited edition of 500
$6 - Sold Out

We're sorry this item is currently sold-out. Please check back as we may update our stock sometime in the near future. Thanks!

"Jay Howell is an all around kind dude that draws funny-ass cartoons and stuff. He lives in Los Angeles where he can be seen on the streets messin’ around and sayin’ classic shit on a regular basis." We miss Jay here in San Francisco and are proud to welcome him back for a couple days in honor of releasing some great new work.

"Artist Jay Howell has been a strong presence in the Bay Area for the past few years, sharpening his cartoon-style drawings of skinny guys with erections, naked chicks on skateboards, dogs, beer, rockers, and endless good times. His art manages to be whimsical and crude at the same time, but above all damn right funny. His zine Punks Git Cut, and animated series called "The Forest City Rockers,” have deservingly earned him a devoted following. While “Forest City Rockers” seemed like the apex in punk rock cartoons, he’s taken things even further by developing the characters for Fox’s latest Sunday night animated sitcom, "Bob’s Burgers.” Produced by Loren Bouchard, best known for creating Comedy Central's "Dr. Katz Professional Therapist" and Adult Swim’s "Home Movies," "Bob’s Burgers’ about a family that runs a fumbling burger joint. Howell’s style and humor are a perfect match for the team, earning him a well deserved place alongside animation greats."

Justine Sharrock, 2011

80 pages, Perfect bound
4 Color Offset Printing
10” x 8”, Soft Cover
Limited edition of 500
$20 - Sold Out

We're sorry this item is currently sold-out. Please check back as we may update our stock sometime in the near future.. Thanks!

Sandy Kim utilizes a highly self-referential style of photography which peers into the tiny microcosm of one woman’s life. Reminiscent of the casual documentary style popularized by Nan Goldin in the Eighties, the photographs in Sandy Kim highlight her life at one particular moment and the people who are revolving in and around it.

"Sandy Kim is pretty short, has a ton of hair, a broken orange backpack and always loses her camera. When that happens, she just gets a disposable and keeps taking pictures. It’s this lackadaisical tenacity that translates into her photos, how they always looked kind of busted but warmly worn in and comfortable. Like many young photographers, she’s made her friends her subjects—landscapes of young women, tattoos and San Francisco fog. But she never lays a soft hand, as if anything flattering in her photos is accidental. That’s not to say her photos are purposefully unappealing or harsh, but simply that they are so often just really gross—honest portraits of much of her daily life. But Sandy’s grossness is completely malleable, sometimes funny, sometimes horrific, sometimes unbelievably lush. Sandy is such a brazen and unafraid woman and that power continually streams strongly in her photos, across all spectrums of feeling and subject. Throughout Sandy Kim, there is a lot of blood, but that blood is never the same—blood on her sheets after sex, blood from a dead body covered in a sterile white sheet, blood on the hand of a friend after an unknown accident. He’s smiling, looking straight at the camera, at Sandy. They both know it will heal."

Matthew Schnipper, 2009