Please join us for Center for Book Arts 2025 Benefit Dinner
On Wednesday, May 21, 2025 From 6 to 9 PM
At the Lafayette Restaurant
380 Lafayette Street
New York, NY
Secure your place at this distinguished event and join a community dedicated to the advancement of book arts. Limited seating available—reserve your table or individual ticket today and be part of an evening that promises cultural enrichment and lasting impact.
Join an exclusive gathering of art connoisseurs and cultural patrons for an intimate evening celebrating the finest in book arts. Experience a curated culinary journey at Lafayette Grand Café, renowned for its Parisian charm and exquisite cuisine. Engage in spirited conversations with leading artists, collectors, and philanthropists, all united in support of Center for Book Arts’ mission.
This lovely event includes dinner, drinks, great company, and a live auction to raise funds in support of Center for Book Arts.
Your generous support directly funds innovative exhibitions, artist residencies, and educational programs that nurture emerging talent and preserve the rich tradition of book arts. By participating, you play a pivotal role in sustaining a vibrant cultural legacy for future generations.
Meet the Honorees
Tom Freudenheim, who has dedicated his life to art and books, from his childhood ‘lending library’ to his extraordinary career in the museum world, where he has championed the significance of books as art and cultural artifacts.
Andy Hunter, a passionate advocate for literature and community in the digital age. The founder and CEO of Bookshop.org, Hunter’s mission is to provide an alternative to Amazon, enabling customers to support local independent bookstores. Hunter also co-founded Literary Hub and Electric Literature.
Kenneth Goldsmith, a prominent poet and conceptual artist who has authored over ten poetry collections and several books of essays. Goldsmith is known for his boundary-pushing work that emphasizes the materiality of language. In 2013, Goldsmith was named the first poet laureate of the Museum of Modern Art.
Cheryl Donegan, a visual artist renowned for direct, irreverent performances, infused with an ironic eroticism exploring sex, gender, and consumer culture. Her interdisciplinary practice spans painting, video, performance, and installation. Donegan’s work has been shown internationally, including at the Whitney Biennial and MoMA, influencing contemporary art with its bold engagement of the female body.
About the Venue
We are delighted to host this year’s Benefit Dinner and Auction at Lafayette Grand Café & Bakery, an iconic French restaurant nestled in Manhattan’s vibrant NoHo neighborhood. Located at 380 Lafayette Street, Lafayette is renowned for its elegant ambiance, exceptional cuisine, and versatile event spaces, making it the perfect setting for an unforgettable evening.
Under the culinary direction of acclaimed Chef Andrew Carmellini, Lafayette offers a market-driven bistro menu that pays homage to French culinary traditions, spanning regions from Provence to Normandy. Guests will indulge in a sumptuous multi-course dinner featuring seasonal ingredients, complemented by an array of artisanal breads and confections from the in-house bakery.
Our event will take place in the Cave du Vin, Lafayette’s atmospheric lower-level space reminiscent of a grand wine cellar. With its dedicated bar and intimate lighting, the Cave du Vin provides an inviting backdrop for our evening’s festivities. This unique setting will enhance the communal spirit of the Benefit Dinner, fostering connections among artists, collectors, and supporters of Center for Book Arts.
Join us for an evening of culinary excellence, spirited bidding, and celebration of the book arts community, all within the refined elegance of Lafayette Grand Café.
About the Auction
Experience the pinnacle of cultural philanthropy at the Center for Book Arts’ 2025 Benefit Dinner Auction. This exclusive event offers discerning collectors and patrons an unparalleled opportunity to acquire exceptional works while directly supporting the future of book arts.
We are honored to have Christina Geiger, Head of the Books & Manuscripts Department at Christie’s New York, as our esteemed auctioneer for the evening. The auction will feature a curated selection of works from both established and emerging artists in the book arts community, including pieces by Lynne Avadenka, Cheryl Donegan, Kenneth Goldsmith, and more. These unique offerings present a rare chance to enrich your collection with significant works that embody the innovation and craftsmanship of contemporary book arts.
Proceeds from the auction are vital to sustaining and expanding CBA’s programs, including workshops, residencies, exhibitions, and educational initiatives. Your generous support will help nurture the next generation of artists and preserve the rich tradition of book arts for years to come.
Please note that bids exceeding the estimated value of an item are considered charitable contributions and are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.
Note: All artworks are available for viewing prior to the auction. Please reach out to Rebecca at development@centerforbookarts.org schedule an appointment or to place absentee bids.
Meet the Auctioneer
We are honored to welcome Christina Geiger, Head of the Books & Manuscripts Department at Christie’s New York, as the auctioneer for this year’s Benefit Dinner. With over two decades of experience in the rare books and manuscripts field, Christina brings unparalleled expertise and a dynamic presence to our event.
Christina began her illustrious career at Christie’s in 2000, quickly establishing herself as a leading specialist in the field. Her journey has included pivotal roles at PBA Galleries in San Francisco and as the founding director of Bonhams’ New York Books & Manuscripts Department, where she led record-breaking sales, including the “American Experience: 1630–1890” auction. Returning to Christie’s in 2016, she has since overseen landmark sales such as the William S. Reese Collection, which achieved over $20 million across multiple auctions, and has handled significant works including Newton’s Principia, Shakespeare’s First Folio, and the Einstein “God Letter.”
Beyond the auction floor, Christina is deeply committed to the bibliophile community. She has served as a Council Member of the Bibliographical Society of America and the Grolier Club, and is a current board member of the Book Club of California.
Christina’s passion for rare books and manuscripts, combined with her engaging auctioneering style, promises to make this year’s auction an unforgettable experience. Her presence underscores the significance of our event and the vital role each bidder plays in supporting Center for Book Arts’ programs.
Auction Items
Orange Gem III, 2021
Lynne Avadenka
Collage
12.5 x 15.5 inches (framed)
Unique
Est. Value: $1,200
Starting Bid: $600
The title comes from a Henry James quote: “An orange gem resting on a blue glass plate: it’s Venice seen from above.” Lynne Avadenka is an American artist/printmaker. She is known for her works that explore text and image, the physical and philosophical idea of the book, and the mystery and beauty of visual language.
Among Avadenka’s awards are a 2024 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a 2009 Kresge Arts in Detroit Fellowship, and individual artist grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. Residencies and teaching opportunities have taken her to Germany, Israel, Italy, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia.
Avadenka was the director of Signal-Return, a Detroit nonprofit arts organization, from 2013 – 2024.
Avadenka’s art is exhibited and collected internationally, including Bibliotecha Rosenthaliana, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; The British Library, London; The Detroit Institute of Arts; The Jewish Museum, New York; The Israel Museum, Jerusalem; The Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, Michigan; The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; The Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York; The New York Public Library; Museum Meermano/The House of the Book, The Hague, The Netherlands; Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin ; The Watson Library at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and over 50 Special Collections and University Libraries.
She is a long time member of Center for Book Arts, and her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions at the Center.
How to Eat Your Own Words, 2019
Olivia Locher
Archival Pigment Print
12 x 15 inches (unframed)
Edition 3/5 from an edition of 5 with 2 artist proofs
Est. Value: $1,800
Starting Bid: $900
How To, is a collection of photographs that chronicles misguided attempts at human achievement. Inspired by how instructions could be easily lost in translation, Olivia Locher began staging these scenarios in her studio to photograph. Each situation is created out of a misinterpretation of cultural language or actions resulting in a new form of success or failure for the model. When conceptualizing the images, Locher channels the naive mindset of a child learning to tackle one obstacle after the next with subjects like, “How to Dream”, “How to Walk”, “How To Get an Idea”, etc. The project is driven by the never ending pursuit of enhancing our daily lives. 2012 – Ongoing — This specific image features the artist Kenneth Goldsmith, and the text on the paper originates from his 1994 book, “Fidget.”
Light (Yellow), 2001
Lesley Dill
Landfall Press
Lithograph and collage
40 x 28.5 inches
Est. Value: $3,500
Starting Bid: $1,800
“Unravelled Light” by Lesley Dill
Lesley Dill is an American multimedia artist known for combining language with the human form. She works with a variety of media including painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking and performance art. Her art focuses on the intersection of language and the human form and draws inspiration from poets and authors such as Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Salvador Espriu, Tom Sleigh, Franz Kafka, and Rainer Maria Rilke, often including their words within her works. Along with words, her art often emulates and references the human figure with clothing. She says “clothing houses the house that houses the soul.”
Exploring the power of words to cloak and reveal the mind, Dill invests new meaning in the human form with her art as she powerfully reflects on the basic human condition.
Unknown Nourishment, 2001
Lesley Dill
Landfall Press
Lithograph, etching, collage, thread on paper
27 x 21.5 inches
Est. Value: $2,500
Starting Bid: $1,200
“Felt as if the way were opening to the unknown nourishment” -Kafka
Lesley Dill is an American multimedia artist known for combining language with the human form. She works with a variety of media including painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking and performance art. Her art focuses on the intersection of language and the human form and draws inspiration from poets and authors such as Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Salvador Espriu, Tom Sleigh, Franz Kafka, and Rainer Maria Rilke, often including their words within her works. Along with words, her art often emulates and references the human figure with clothing. She says “clothing houses the house that houses the soul.”
Exploring the power of words to cloak and reveal the mind, Dill invests new meaning in the human form with her art as she powerfully reflects on the basic human condition.
Photographs from the Collection of the Gilman Paper Company, 1985
Pierre Apraxine and Richard Benson
White Oak Press
Hardcover, half calf over cloth covered boards in cloth-covered slipcase. 480 pp. 199 plates.
40 x 28.5 inches
Est. Value: $6,500
Starting Bid: $3,000
This monumental volume stands as one of the most ambitious and exquisite photography books of the 20th century. Conceived by curator Pierre Apraxine with master printer Richard Benson, Photographs from the Collection of the Gilman Paper Company offers an unparalleled survey of the photographic medium’s first century. With contributions from Lee Marks and crafted with exacting fidelity in image reproduction, the publication spans from early experimental daguerreotypes to mid-20th-century works by Robert Frank and Diane Arbus. Its large-scale format and exceptional production quality make it a keystone reference in photographic book arts, historical scholarship, and printmaking.
The Gilman Paper Company collection, formed largely in the 1970s and 1980s under Apraxine’s vision, is widely regarded as one of the most discerning and historically comprehensive photographic collections ever assembled. At over 8,500 works, it functioned as both a scholarly resource and an evolving statement about photography’s role in documenting the rise of modernity. The volume offered here was produced in a limited edition, featuring meticulously reproduced offset plates that reflect Benson’s unrivaled craftsmanship in photographic printing. Housed in its original maroon half-calf binding and slipcase, and accompanied by its original shipping box, this copy retains exceptional provenance and preservation.
Institutions and collectors with an interest in the history of photography, the art of the photobook, or the material culture of photographic print reproduction will find this volume indispensable. In 1993, highlights from the collection were exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in The Waking Dream: Photography’s First Century—a landmark show whose critical reception helped shape the field of photographic historiography. The book was subsequently awarded the ICP Writing Award in 1994. This is a foundational object for collections dedicated to photography’s evolution, print history, and curatorial practice.
Mazes to the Motherlode LXXII, 2022
Brandon Locher
Ink on Paper
12 x 12 inches
Unique
Est. Value: $1,000
Starting Bid: $500
Brandon Locher (b. 1985) is a self-taught visual artist and musician whose intricate, hand-drawn works have captivated audiences across the United States and Europe. Raised in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and now based in rural PA after years in New York City, Locher’s art is deeply rooted in introspection, process, and a meditative approach to creativity.
His ongoing drawing series, Mazes to the Motherlode, features meticulously detailed ink and graphite compositions that explore themes of complexity, pattern, and transcendence. These works have been showcased in exhibitions such as LOCHER + LOCHER at SPACE Gallery in Pittsburgh and have been released as limited-edition prints through Ghostly International.
Locher’s creative practice extends to music, where he has released over 60 works under various aliases including The Meets and Stage Hands. His compositions blend ambient, electronic, and experimental elements, often incorporating field recordings and collage techniques.
A dedicated practitioner of Transcendental Meditation, Locher credits his daily practice with fostering clarity and depth in his artistic endeavors. His work has been featured in publications such as Hi-Fructose, Vice, and AdHoc, and archived on UbuWeb, affirming his place within the contemporary avant-garde.
Brandon Locher’s drawings offer a compelling addition to any collection, inviting viewers into a world of intricate detail and contemplative beauty.
POCKETFUL OF POESY, 2003
Barbara Rosenthal
Denim, cotton thread, steel grippers, acrylic paint, rubber stamp ink, card stock, paper, xeroxes.
5-1/2 x 6-1/2 x 2 inches
Edition of 10
Est. Value: $3,000
Starting Bid: $1,500
Barbara Rosenthal’s Pocketful of Poesy (2003) is a materially and conceptually rich artists’ book that encapsulates three decades of the artist’s interdisciplinary practice. Housed in a hand-sewn denim pouch—cut from Rosenthal’s own blue jeans and boldly stenciled with its title in yellow acrylic—this editioned work contains dozens of unique printed elements. Included are photographic prints, stamped and stenciled texts, journal entries, postcard reproductions from her exhibitions and performances, and small narrative fragments. Together, these components form an intimate archive that reflects Rosenthal’s ongoing inquiry into language, authorship, communication, and the body as a site of meaning-making.
Produced between 1976 and 2003 and gathered into this singular work, the printed contents of Pocketful of Poesy offer a rare window into Rosenthal’s iterative use of xerography, rubber stamping, offset, and text-image composition. The form—inviting direct handling and open-ended sequencing—foregrounds the artist’s alignment with Fluxus, Conceptual art, and feminist performance. As an object, it defies easy classification: simultaneously sculptural container, personal archive, and poetic anthology. This work is especially suited to institutional collections seeking to represent the evolution of independent publishing, intermedia practices, and the history of women artists engaging the book form as a site for experimentation.
Rosenthal, long recognized as a “media poet” and “old master of new media,” has maintained a singular voice in the field of artists’ books and intermedia art since the 1970s. Her work is represented in the permanent collections of MoMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Tate Britain, the Berlin Kunstbibliothek, and Artpool Budapest. Pocketful of Poesy is an essential addition to collections focused on avant-garde publishing, feminist ephemera, or performance-related artists’ books. Its inclusion would contribute not only to holdings in artists’ books and alternative media, but also to research on embodiment, authorship, and the poetics of self-archiving.
Note: All artworks are available for viewing prior to the auction. Please reach out to Rebecca at development@centerforbookarts.org schedule an appointment.
Still need a ticket? Limited seating available—reserve your table or ticket today and be part of an evening that promises to be exciting evening of art and culture.