{"id":1801115,"date":"2026-02-24T18:00:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1801115"},"modified":"2026-02-24T18:00:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:00:38","slug":"blankmag-books-is-new-yorks-living-archive-of-counterculture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1801115","title":{"rendered":"Blankmag Books is New York\u2019s Living Archive of Counterculture"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/image-cdn.hypb.st\/https%3A%2F%2Fhypebeast.com%2Fimage%2F2026%2F02%2F24%2Fblankmag-books-new-york-feature-interview-tw.jpg?w=1080&cbr=1&q=90&fit=max”]<\/p>\n

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Blankmag Books is New York\u2019s Living Archive of Counterculture<\/div>\n
In Jun Ohki\u2019s Chinatown bookshop, print isn\u2019t making a comeback \u2014 it never went out of style.<\/div>\n

By Erin Ikeuchi<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Few spots feel as true to New York\u2019s art scene as Blankmag Books. Cozied beneath a technicolored glass awning, the subterranean store announces itself modestly overhead \u2014 \u201cbooks and souvenirs\u201d \u2014 though this is largely a loose, humble description of what\u2019s inside.<\/p>\n

Print shops, like many good things in life, tend to reveal themselves incidentally. You wander without a title in mind, happening upon one while out buying a gift for a friend, or making a pitstop on the way to your next destination. I stumbled upon Blankmag during a lunch break shortly after its opening last summer. It was one of those reminders that entire worlds can open up to you when you take a chance on curiosity, even if just for a few minutes.<\/p>\n

Blankmag Books is the latest entrant in the city\u2019s new-old wave of bookstores. Originally founded in Japan, the store and publisher sets itself apart with its ardent eye for New York street culture, particularly from the mid-90s through the early aughts. Its print offerings \u2014 small batch editions, retro magazines, monographs and zines \u2014 are plentiful, and the store also carries an expansive range of ephemera, apparel and artworks. Jun Ohki, the artist and filmmaker behind the one-man operation, welcomes me warmly into his countercultural cabinet of curios.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cEverything here, in this store, is important for New York.\u201d<\/q><\/p>\n

Heavy on titles by Larry Clark, Dash Snow and Ari Marcopoulos, the store anchors itself in grit. Also seen throughout the space are books by contemporary image-makers \u2014 Lucien Smith, Grace Ahlbom, Marika Thunder \u2014 many of which are based only a walking distance away. The selection collapses championing downtown voices of the past and present into an ever-growing cast. \u201cEverything here, in this store, is important for New York,\u201d Ohki says.<\/p>\n

Since launching in 2012, Blankmag has built a devoted following among fashion lovers and art literatis alike, a reputation underscored by its curatorial role at Dover Street Market Ginza. With its focus fixed on such a particular chapter of New York culture, it was only a matter of time before they opened stateside storefront, and Ohki, a longtime collaborator on the publishing front, was a natural fit for the role.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThis is my way of doing something valuable for the community that gave so much to me.\u201d<\/q><\/p>\n

He describes his role less as a manager than facilitator \u2014 a \u201csuperintendent\u201d in his own words \u2014 for a space that\u2019s less store than community library. Blankmag reflects his 16-year presence in the neighborhood, shaped in part by his Know Wave presence. \u201cThis is my way of doing something valuable for the community that gave so much to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teasing through Blankmag\u2019s collection rewards a curious mind. There\u2019s Every Pill I Took<\/em>, Michael Lorenzini\u2019s bestiary of ecstasy tablet designs, or a zine of teenage couple Chloe Sevigny and Harmony Korine before their ascents into fame, shot by Kevin Hatt. Other standouts include I Love You, Stupid<\/em> by Dash Snow, Arthur Jafa\u2019s latest monograph,\u00a0Live Evil<\/em>, or a handmade board book about an eponymous, Citi Bike-riding Simp<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I ask Ohki about his favorite book at the moment, perhaps an unfair prompt in a room like this. He gestures to a weighty volume on display behind him: Blankmag Books<\/em>, the shop\u2019s self-titled \u201cbook of books,\u201d described to me as a 200-piece compilation of the founder\u2019s vast, private collection, a kind of matryoshka for rare editions and print ephemera fanatics.<\/p>\n

As with its overseas counterpart, the New York location extends beyond retail and into publishing with a host of print and lifestyle editions developed with its global network of artists. Andrew Kass\u2019 One Square Foot<\/em> is one of the more recent publications, alongside a Japanese edition of Larry Clark\u2019s cult Kids<\/em> photo book, Not Losing You<\/em> by underground image-maker Udai and an ongoing series of collaborative zines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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To do this, Ohki\u2019s been tapping into his own relationship with the city. Having touched down in New York as a child, he recalls the 1990s as a golden era of culture defined by physical presence and a word-of-mouth who\u2019s who. The now-shuttered XLARGE store, for example, which once sat across from Tompkins Square Park, embodied this formative, albeit fleeting, energy. \u201cFor me, those experiences were very special because those places only lasted a short time,\u201d he explains. \u201cThere were all these very cool things then \u2014 boom \u2014 they\u2019re gone. You just had to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Against the speed of our screen-fed moment, spaces like Blankmag set their own cadence. Nostalgia is a powerful tool, and while the store highlights print\u2019s enduring role in archiving visual matter, it also underscores its integrity as artistic infrastructure; however potent or tactile it is is up to us.<\/p>\n

Moving through Blankmag, you\u2019re more than encountering the city\u2019s creative past, but recognizing its intimacy to the present. After happening upon a rare international edition of a fan favorite, you\u2019ll be floored by the creative capacity of the photographer, the writer, the cook just blocks away.<\/p>\n

The same holds for its rotating slate of art exhibitions, pop ups and book launches. El Cucuy<\/em>, a group exhibition and curated book collection by Pedro Duran\u2019s Hasta Siempre Books and CDMX publisher Alien Libros, flanks one side of the store during my visit. Past in-store presentations include Pop Gun\u2019s sensational all-Minion art show, and Apple Stand<\/em>, Olivia Rose\u2019s display of hand-carved red delicious apples. In the back, an array of Supreme sticker paintings by Greg Simmons, a local painter and skater, are on display and up for grabs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cCommunity is very important because that\u2019s where it all starts. You need that in the book world, the art world, in any world in this culture.\u201d<\/q><\/p>\n

Though Ohki curates the program, the process has been largely osmotic. \u201cI don\u2019t have to search for something cool,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt just fell onto me. It spreads its own branches \u2013 this person brings on a friend, who brings on another, who recommends another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still under a year old, Blankmag has made a fitting home for itself. It\u2019s become a favorite among seasoned collectors, while still leaving room for chance encounters and first-timers to find their footing, encouraging discovery every step of the way. \u201cThe people and networks coming through are ageless,\u201d he expresses. \u201cWe\u2019re all living in the same generation and share the same information. I\u2019m glad I opened this spot because it bridges those networks of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Ohki, the project always circles back to community, and his credo is simple: stay true to your people, or else it\u2019ll come at the cost of taste and culture.\u201cCommunity is very important because that\u2019s where it all starts,\u201d he says. \u201cYou need that in the book world, the art world, in any world in this culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photography by Brian Nguyen.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\n Art\/<\/span>By Erin Ikeuchi<\/span>\/<\/span>