With the opening of its fall season, Dia Center for the Arts will unveil a significantly expanded artist-designed bookshop and reading room. This 2,500 square-foot literary space will substantially enhance opportunities for lovers of art publications in New York City by providing a major resource in Chelsea. Created by Los Angeles-based artist Jorge Pardo as an element in his installation "Project," Dia's new bookshop will also delight the eye with its lively palette of ceramic tiles and its open view into Pardo's first-floor exhibition gallery.

The new shop will feature 700 linear feet of shelves brimming with volumes exploring art since 1945, with special emphasis on the artists of the last three decades whose work Dia has long supported and their predecessors. In-depth holdings will span aspects of contemporary art and cultural history, especially visual theory, criticism and philosophy; artist monographs and exhibition catalogues; artist books, CD-ROMs, and soundworks; critical writings on architecture, industrial design, land art and photography; and volumes on poetry; as well as works from Electronic Arts Intermix's unrivalled collection of artist videos. The materials available will complement and extend the experiences afforded by Dia's exhibitions and programs.

A destination in and of itself, the bookshop will open directly onto West 22nd Street with a new Pardo-created entrance characterized by open and inviting glass doors and windows. To encourage browsing and informal conversation, the artist placed comfortable seating amidst the bibliological wonderland. The shop will further enhance Dia's broad range of public programming by providing a setting for Dia's well-regarded calendar of poetry readings, lectures, book signings, and web launches. Bookshop hours, commencing September 13, will be Wednesday - Sunday, 11 am to 6 pm.

Recent Dia publications to be specially highlighted in the shop will include Fantastic Prayers, a CD-ROM by Constance de Jong, Tony Oursler and Stephen Vitiello released in July, which explores memory and loss in the urban landscape with text, images and sound, and Double Vision, a July 2000 publication documenting Stan Douglas and Douglas Gordon's recent tandem exhibition at Dia and its consideration of themes of multiplicity and combination.

Dia Center for the Arts is a tax-exempt charitable organization. Established in 1974, the organization has become one of the largest in the United States dedicated to contemporary art and culture. In fulfilling this commitment, Dia sustains diverse programming in visual arts, poetry, education, and critical discourse and debate. Dia's exhibition galleries will open for the 2000/2001 season on September 13th and will remain open Wednesday - Sunday, 12 noon to 6 pm; admission to the galleries is $6 ($3 for students and seniors and free to members).