A New NYC Art Show Puts the Photocopier Front and Center

Think of a Xerox machine, and images of cubicles, water coolers, and Office Space hijinks might be the first things springing to mind. But for artist and curator Aaron Stern, the humble copy machine is an opportunity—an alternative way to make art “that isn’t necessarily so costly or precious,” Stern tells W. “The photocopy allows me to experiment in the studio all day and night.”

This is the thrust behind Hard Copy New York, a new exhibition at the International Center of Photography on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Curated by Stern and ICP creative director David Campany, the show is an expanded version of Stern’s ongoing photocopy-centric work, in which he makes prints of photographs and artworks that resonate with him. This iteration of Hard Copy—which originally launched at Frieze New York in May 2024 before traveling to L.A. the following year—features something of a group exhibition, with works by Shaniqwa Jarvis, Daniel Arnold, Zoë Ghertner, Takashi Homma, Stephen Shore, Ryan McGinley, and many more, on view. Of course, each piece is through the lens of Stern, who has been “working with alternative printing methods like photocopy and fax for almost 15 years,” he says. “I’ve got an eye for what kind of picture will work.”

Nailing down the participants of Hard Copy was “a process like anything else,” Stern says. “Make a list. Aim high. And start asking people.” But the kernel of an idea for the show dates back to 2013. “I always liked making prints at home using laser toner printers,” he explains. “Or I’d bring them to Kinko’s and make 11x17 bond paper prints. But Andreas Laszlo Konrath tipped me off to the OCE printer that a few Kinkos had. They could print much larger.” After making a few prints for himself, he “had this idea to do an all-photocopy machine show. But I lost my [project] space.” Ten years later, a friend showed Stern a raw, unrenovated exhibition space on the third floor of the WSA building. “I immediately thought of the photocopy concept I’d been sitting on for a decade.”

Stern hopes that, through Hard Copy, viewers will open their minds to diverse kinds of artmaking. “I wanted the show to be a moment, because as much as I love seeing a painting show, there is never the kind of turnout that there is for a photography exhibition.” But for the likes of “Richard Avedon, Wolfgang Tillmans, Nan Goldin—people line up for blocks.”

Hard Copy New York will be on view from January 29 through May 4.