Between 1972 and 1987, Jean-Noël Herlin was a bookseller in New York, under the name J. N. Herlin Inc. From 1980 to 1987, he even organised several exhibitions in the window of his bookshop. Specialising in exhibition catalogues and artist books, J. N. Herlin Inc. is the source of his work as an archivist and of the Jean-Noël Herlin Archive Project.

Benjamin Thorel is a publisher, curator and co-founder of the Parisian bookshop After 8 Books. In this presentation, which is intended to be open to discussion, he proposes to place Jean-Noël Herlin’s career in the context of a study of independent art bookshops. Beyond being places for emerging counter-cultures, art bookshops are also social, experimental and activist spaces. On the fringes of institutions, they represent alternative places closely linked to the artistic scenes that frequent them. Benjamin Thorel will present historical and contemporary cases from Paris and New York to Mexico and Amsterdam, making references to François Maspero’s work and to the “Vitrine pour l’art actuel” episode led by Michel Claura, Brigitte Niegel and Anna Ptaszkowska.