Join us at Printed Matter Chelsea for an evening of readings and screenings with artist Rafael Klein. Klein will discuss themes of “place” in his films and artists’ books, reading excerpts from and screening several of his works including Tales of New York, A Wanderer, Landscape of the Future, Venice, and others.

Through his work in public sculpture and artists’ books, Klein explores the ways our own personal narratives shape the world we inhabit, creating a poetry of place. Klein’s sense of place encompasses our immediate surroundings—as seen in his books Florida and Coney Island—as well as the wider world we live in, explored in his titles such as InnerCities.

Rafael Klein was born in Coney Island, Brooklyn. He attended the University of Chicago and the Art Students League of New York before moving to London in 1984. His book readings, incorporating screenings of his films, have taken place at venues including the British Library, Dulwich Picture Gallery and the Scuola Grafica Internazionale in Venice. Much of his work is informed by his early life in the USA and the American experience.

Klein’s many public sculptures engage people’s desire to tell a story about where they live. Examples include the sculpture for the Biblioteca Classense in Ravenna, and the recent Edmonton Angel sculpture in north London. Other public works include ‘Osiris’, at the Tessa Jowell Health Centre and ‘ASPIRE’ for the headquarters of Thames Reach, a homelessness charity. His award-winning films have been broadcast on television and his work has been featured in media including la Repubblica, the Times London and the BBC.