arte menor is (for now and until we find a suitable space locally) a web-based, pigment print editing and publishing studio based in lisbon, portugal. we've set it up with the aim of exploring the reproductive potential and high formal quality of pigment printing to edit and propagate open edition artworks.

the idea is to edit, reproduce and radiate inkjet-acclimatised art through the concepts of print-on-demand and the open but numbered edition (_/x).

arte menor welcomes ideas for open editions, embracing visual works of any kind that suit the inkjet printing process and the open edition print circulation format. we're particularly interested in original artworks that diverge from or refute monocultural and sedimentary (entropic) tendencies, including those which emanate from our present relationship with digital.

we're starting off with a couple of calls for "digital transplantations" and contributions to ziguezague. but you're also welcome to contact us if what you've been working on suits inkjet printing and the open-edition format.

the artists we collaborate with must, of course, enter into some sort of agreement with us, but this is largely informal. as such, they preserve all rights over the works we print and sell for them, and may end their relationship with us at any point in time, if they so wish. arte menor retains printing and trading rights only for the duration of the agreement, which can be fixed-term or continue without a set closure (until ourselves, the artist or both decide it's time to wrap up). artists receive 60% of the profit for each work sold (minus vat), from a price agreed beforehand between both parties. just as we believe that arte menor has the final word as to what it propagates and how it does it, we also defend that artists must always retain control over what we print and sell in their name, and receive their fair share of the revenue.

the open editions we sell are printed on demand, always to a specification and size agreed in advance with the artist. we get acid- and lignin-free matt pigment prints produced at a couple of high-quality inkjet studios here in lisbon, on a range of canson, awagami and hahnemühle so-called ‘archival’ or ‘fine art’ papers (cotton, mulberry, hemp, etc) — we hope we can start doing all the printing ourselves in-house in the near future. the first print (0/x) is always an ‘artist's proof’ paid for by the author. this is carefully photographed by us, to serve as a digital example on this website, and then sent to the artist once that's done — subsequent, final proof prints (starting from 1/x) are printed on demand.

we send artworks worldwide (internationalism and all that...) bar a glaring ‘red line’ exception - strictly no dealings whatsoever with israel. we also always opt for the least impactful means of transportation available for shipping. please bear this in mind, as orders take time to print and travel to you. please also remember that you may have to pay import taxes if outside of europe's single market.

any questions, please ask away.