PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Just Above Midtown (or JAM) was a New York art gallery and self-described laboratory for experimentation established in 1974 by Linda Goode Bryant with the intention of presenting African American artists “on the same platform with other established artists.” Open until 1986, it was a hub for conceptual art, abstraction, performance, and video—a Black space open to artists of different races, generations, and educational backgrounds. Published in conjunction with a path-making exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, this catalogue provides the most complete account to date of the gallery’s history, with an emphasis on rarely seen artworks, archival materials, and the recollections of those who were there.

This edition features a silkscreened limp bound cover with a dust jacket, with tip-on images that mimic photo prints. The hyper-bold typography by Sharp Type is a compliment to the array of typography that’s within the material, yet also independent in its presence. Using the three spaces JAM operated in as an organizing device, the book is color-coded based on past flyers and divided into three sections that blur the distinctions between artwork, archive, and ephemera. These sections are punctuated by extensive oral histories by JAM community members while the plate section captures the spirit of group exhibitions at JAM—diverse in material and medium. The repeated JAM on the spine of the dust jacket is a direct reference to JAM’s usage of their logo on their letterhead, used for multitudes of correspondences. This idea echoes JAM’s vibrating and generative legacy.

BOOK INFORMATION

Trim Size: 9.5"w x 12"h inches

Number of Pages: 184

Binding Method: Softcover

Paper: 120 gsm Munken Lynx Rough and Fedrigoni Materica

Typefaces: ABC Monument Grotesk Mono (Dinamo), Graphik (Commercial Type), Plantin (Monotype), and Sharp Sans Display No. 1 (Sharp Type)

CREDIT INFORMATION

Creative Director: Kimberly Varella

Art Director: Kimberly Varella

Book Designer: Kimberly Varella

Jacket/Cover Designer: Kimberly Varella

Illustrator:

Photographer: Various

Picture Editor:

Production Director: Marc Sapir, MoMA

Production Coordinator:

Production Artist: Sam Wagner and Isa Knafo (Content Object)

Other Credits: Contributions by Thelma Golden and Glenn D. Lowry, Linda Goode Bryant and Thelma Golden, Thomas (T.) Jean Lax, and Kellie Jones; Edited by Maria Marchenkova; Book documentation by Ian Byers-Gamber

Return to the Gallery