Corner Bodega Publishing

Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, Corner Bodega Publishing is an indie publisher curating work from up-and-coming artists with a focus on illustration and photography. Together with artists they put together limited runs of publications, prints, and other fun stuff to sell in shops across the country and online.

Corner Bodega Publishing was founded by Micah Lindenberger, who pre-pandemic found himself immersing himself more and more into the New York comic and zine scene. After attending a series of creative book fairs Micah started to get the bug to self-publish some of his own work, and loved the idea of starting to work with fellow artists to collaborate again. Slowly, he began to publish his own Riso printed zines that he produced out of the SVA Riso lab. Once the pandemic hit, the SVA Riso lab closed (it has just reopened this July), leading him to create a studio in his apartment with his own printer, and cutting and binding tools.

“I’ve always had a desire to create a company that would allow me to have a voice in the publishing industry as well as collaborate with and curate emerging artists and creatives,” states Micah. When New York went into lockdown, like many of us, Micah had time to think about what he’d like to focus his creative energy on. Outside of CBP, his full-time job is centred around creating better experiences for users; “…but I’m doing that to benefit an organisation for a paycheck. I wanted to create a company that makes tangible objects that people could touch, experience, and hopefully bring some joy into their lives.”

Micah has been drawing since a young age, finding inspiration from Saturday morning cartoons and Sunday comics. In his teens he became interested in all the craziness that was exploding from early web design. While studying Visual Communication Technology at college in Ohio, Micah also worked as a screen printer for a local T-shirt company, and later moved into large format printing for commercial advertising. He also launched a T-shirt company called Devicious with his friends in Toledo, Ohio. “It was a blast to design and print products, but I also learned how much work it is to run a company, and we wound it down once I moved to New York,” says Micah. 

In Detroit and later New York, he started working on product design for agencies. He designed digital products across industries including news, entertainment, sports, and auto. But while his professional work was focused on apps, websites, and digital tools, Micah spent his personal time illustrating and capturing life in NYC through film photography. This eventually led him to take a continuing education course for Risograph printing at SVA. From there his passion for print was reignited, leading him to start Corner Bodega Publishing.

CBP predominantly focuses on photography and illustration, keeping their zines compact and simple. Micah comments; “Our zines are perfect for collectors and gift-giving, but also for people who are just getting into zines. We hope to inspire and have fun with what we create.”

Most of the artists Micah works with through CBP are already immersed in the art and photography world in cities with vibrant creative communities. “So not only are we publishing pieces of art, but also consuming and observing the ever-evolving art surrounding us,” explains Micah. He continues; “The artists themselves will help define who we are as a publishing company, and we are always looking for new voices to diversify our storytelling”. 

Since the launch of CBP Micah and his team have been fine-tuning their print process, materials, and equipment. “After founding CBP in Brooklyn, I was intentional with keeping things as local as possible in terms of production and sourcing materials in order to establish and connect with the local print community. Printing out of the SVA Riso lab has been an awesome experience because so many different artists print out of that lab, either developing their Riso craft or pushing further into new mediums.”

One of Micah and CBP’s latest publications is Rainy Day Hues, a fun little travel colouring book printed on 80lb natural paper featuring illustrations by Micah. He describes; “There are a lot of colouring books out there already, but I wanted to make one that would appeal to both kids and adults. A big part of illustrating is colouring your work once you’ve inked it, so I thought it would be really cool to make something where people could actually colour their own versions of my illustrations rather than simply just flip through a zine.” By open-sourcing his illustrations for others to colour in, Micah is further expanding upon his concept of making CBP for the creatives. “My hope is that people colour in the book on a boring rainy day while listening to their favourite music,” says the illustrator.

Micah also recently released a puzzle through the awesome team at Goodfit, who took one of his larger illustrations and turned it into a 1000-piece puzzle. He comments; “Getting to interact with my illustration by putting the puzzle together made me excited to make other products where fans could have a more interactive experience with my work.” 

In addition to zines, CBP are also planning on printing more posters, matchbooks, and eventually t-shirts designed by their growing roster of artists. They currently have two new zines in the works. The first, Love Bug, by photographer Badrul Rupak, is themed around sightings of the classic Volkswagen Bug around the world. The second, Passenger, by Matt Taylor (the artist Micah ran the T-shirt company Devicious with) is a beautiful, surreal illustrated zine that’s inspired by Rorschach tests.

In August of 2021 Micah will be moving CBP to Los Angeles, and we’re excited to see open the opportunities this opens up for expansion!

www.cornerbodega.pub
@cornerbodegapublishers

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