If you had to choose an artist to define 1970s New York, the obvious choice would be Gordon Matta-Clark. Remembered for his large-scale building cuts and experimental restaurant FOOD, he used the bankrupt and decaying city as one of his mediums. In celebration of its 50th anniversary, Printed Matter, which was founded in the same era of alternative art, is highlighting Matta-Clark’s lesser-known experiments in bookmaking. The exhibition is centered around a series of photographs, titled Walls Paper, that documented interior surfaces in abandoned tenement buildings on the Lower East Side and in the South Bronx. These works were exhibited in 1972 and developed the following year into Matta-Clark’s only true artists’ book. Printed Matter’s display includes the originally exhibited prints of Walls Paper as well as artist ephemera and other book-related experiments, underscoring the role of printed documentation in Matta-Clark’s often ephemeral and diverse practice. —Anna Molloy

Anna Molloy is a New York-based artist and archival researcher