Biography

Judith Hoffberg was born in 1934. She was an art librarian, curator, and publisher of Umbrella, a periodical which dealt with artists books, as well as Mail Art and Fluxus. She founded the Art Libraries Society of North America in 1973, and in 1978 she began publishing Umbrella. The last issue was published in December 2008, not long before her death. Each issue of Umbrella would feature information on artists books, art news from around the world, and news about Mail Art. In 1992 she curated “Freedom: The International Mail Art Exhibition”, a mammoth Mail Art show of over 800 works at the Armory Center. In 1999 she developed the idea for the international edible book festival, which is held each year on April 1. On these occasions Peter Küsterman appeared as book-baker at various places.

Digital copies of all the editions of Umbrella can be found at: http://www.umbrellaeditions.com/index.php

Links

http://www.umbrellaeditions.com/index.php (en)
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-judithhoffberg28-2009jan28,0,3786302.story (en)
Mail Artists Index: http://mailartists.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/judith-hoffberg