Front Forty in Chicago Home + Garden Magazine

Front Forty Press' Green Dynamite gets a mention in the "buzz" section of the March/April 2008 edition of Chicago Home + Garden! Read the article by Taryn Bickley below.


Seed Money - Turn over a new leaf this spring with local independent publisher Front Forty Press's Green Dynamite, $10. The biodegradable tubes contain seeds of more than 50 of the Chicago area's native wildflowers and grasses - enough to spread over an estimated 400 sqare feet. The seeds are easy to plant (sorry - there's no actual explosion) and satisfying in more ways than one: Proceeds from sales of the packets are donated to local green organizations.
Available at Sprout Home, 745 N. Damen Ave., 312-226-5950.


Green Dyamite is also available at the following locations: Grand Street Gardens, Hejfina, Healthy Green Goods, Ethical Planet, & www.front40press.com

Front Forty in URB Magazine

URB's January/February issue contains a lovely little article by Dani Deahl about Front Forty Press...

"Chicago's Front Forty Press is undoubtedly the dark horse of the art book world. Started just a few years ago as a virtual publishing house, Front Forty has gained steam in the past two years, jumpstarted by a feature at P.S.1 MoMA, and now boasts six acclaimed titles in circulation with several more planned for 2008.

Doug Fogelson, the man behind Front Forty, is just as much of a curiosity as the press itself. The straight-laced man in a pinstripe suit hardly seems like the person who would publish the racially charged graphic novel The Hole. Other books range from the ponderings over built environments in Sonneteer to Matt Volla's Unruly Drawings, a sketchbook chronicling the misadventures of tiny drawn creatures. However, the biggest success for Front Forty thus far has been Graffitecture, a visual thesis where Fogelson provided photographs of high end spaces to well known graffiti artists to do with as they pleased. Accompanied by four essays on graffiti, the book is as much about musing as it is markers and wound up winning best design 2007 at the Hollywood Book Festival.

A recent distribution deal with the University of Chicago Press mans that big box retailers will soon carry Front Forty releases, as well as the small independent shops and museum stores that Fogelson contacts directly. Despite the hard work, he admits the sudden success is a bit puzzling. "People have really responded to the books, which is suprising," he says. "Everyone's been trying to figure our who we are and what we're about. Our philosophy is [that] if we think something is interesting enough, we make a book out of it."

Front Forty Recognized at London Book Festival

Graffitecture took top prize in "Photography/Art" category at The London Book Festival. Sonneteer and Short Stories Illustrated by Artists also received Honorable Mention in the same category. Congratulations and thanks to all of our talented contributors!

http://londonbookfestival.com/portal/

Green Dynamite now available!

Green Dynamite is both symbolism and activism. The idea of a slow-motion explosion of life beginning with a seed may be the antithesis to the current crises of climate change and war. The native seeds packaged in Green Dynamite tubes are local and native to the ecology around Chicago. These tubes are sold by students, stores, individuals around Chicagoland where they will help the people, plants, and animals within that same local area. What's more, the profit generated from sales will be used to help local ecology in other ways as decided by those who sell the product- so more explosions of life can take place!

Green Dynamite would not be possible without the efforts of Beyond Today and Riverbank Neighbors.

Visit http://www.front40press.com/greendynamite.php to get your Green Dynamite!

Front Forty Recognized by USABookNews.com

Yesterday in Los Angeles, USABookNews.com, the premiere online magazine and review website for mainstream and independent publishing houses, announced the winners and finalists of The National Best Books 2007 Awards. Winners and finalists traversed the publishing landscape: Simon & Schuster, Penguin-Putnam, HarperCollins, Random House, McGraw-Hill, Houghton Mifflin Co., John Wiley & Sons, and hundred of independent presses including FFP.

Front Forty Press' Short Stories Illustrated by Artists took top prize in the "Fiction & Literature: Short Story Fiction" category as well as finalist in the "General Art" Category.
Graffitecture: Chicago Graffiti Artists Attack Photographic Spaces and Sonneteer were also finalists in the "General Art" category. Congratulations and thanks to our contributors!


To see more, go to: www.usabooknews.com/bestbooksawards2007.html

Director Doug Fogelson talks to Bad At Sports

Bad At Sports Episode #113 features artist and curator, Tracy Marie Taylor, as well as Front Forty Press' Doug Fogelson. Doug spoke with Joanna and Teri about all things Front Forty. To hear about how we began, where we are going, and how you can get involved, go to: www.badatsports.com.
Or, you can directly download the interview in it's entirety at: http://cdn.libsyn.com/badatsports/Bad_at_Sports_Episode_113_Tracy_Taylor-Bilingual.mp3

Front Forty Press Reception @ Luminaire

Front Forty Press Reception: Luminaire Showroom, the third level
301 West Superior, Chicago
Friday, November 2nd
6-8 pm
RSVP: heathyr.dilts@luminaire.com or 312.664.9582

Chicago based independent art publisher Front Forty Press released four significant titles this year, Sonneteer, Graffitecture, Matt Volla's Unruly Drawings, and Short Stories Illustrated by Artists.

These books were created via a unique process that brings individuals together in 'blind collaboration', thus enabling diverse participation in an uninhibited way. There is a high degree of trust and freedom within the formally defined parameters for each project. All Front Forty Press' stunning artistic and sociological topics are always about the cultivation and communication of ideas.

Please join Luminaire in celebrating the release of 2007 titles from Front Forty Press at our bookstore (on the second floor). Many creators and contributors will be there to sign books which will be sold at a 10% discount at the reception. Front Forty Press will give a presentation about their current and future products during the reception.