IL Magazine - Arion Press
Arion Press is one of the last printers in the United States that is exclusively dedicated to creating limited-edition, handmade artist books with centuries-old letterpress printing equipment.
The company was founded in 1966 by Andrew Hoyem in partnership with Robert Grabhorn, after the death of Grabhorn in 1973 Andrew renamed it Arion Press and started to focus on creating a new series of limited-edition books in collaboration with prominent artists, since then the company has published more than a 100 books with the work of artists like John Baldessari, Jasper Johns, Stephen Shore or Sol LeWitt just to name a few, but probably the most popular book in their catalog is a sold-out 1979 edition of "Moby-Dick," with illustrations by artist and printmaker Barry Moser, considered one of the most beautiful books of the 20th century.
The company is still ran by Andrew and his wife Diana Ketcham who works as Senior Editor and is also the co-founder and director of the nonprofit Grabhorn Institute. They describe Arion Press as a self-sustaining business that has never been subsidized by grants and it has only survived through hard work, perseverance, and devotion to excellence in the crafts of bookmaking.
Photographed for IL Magazine at Arion Press in San Francisco, CA