ABOUT

onestar press was dedicated to the production of books and multiples by artists.

After an impressive two-decade run collaborating with numerous artists, curators, writers, institutions, and friends, onestar press concluded its operations in late 2019. However, fear not, as the entire onestar press catalog now finds its new home under the management of its sister company, Three Star Books. You can explore and purchase the remaining inventory on this website.

During its active years from 2000 to 2019, onestar press boasted a remarkable production line consisting of over 300 books, 300 multiples, and artists' films. The organization's commitment to granting artists space, freedom, and flexibility in realizing their creative concepts, along with its embrace of new technologies, fostered fruitful collaborations with international artists across a wide array of projects.

onestar press held a steadfast vision when it came to contemporary creation, maintaining a non-didactic and diversified approach. This vision manifested in their publication of artists from different generations, countries, and perspectives, effectively serving as a subjective "encyclopedia" that reflects our multifaceted civilization.

onestar press about

Mélanie Scarciglia and Christophe Boutin at the original studio, 16 rue Trolley de Prévaux, Paris 2007 - Photo by Chris Plytas

  • Christophe Boutin/co-founder and manager

    Christophe Boutin was born in Paris in 1957. After graduating from Ecole Estienne and two additional years of study at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, he co-founded the punk band « Edith Nylon » in 1977 and recorded three albums through 1983. Soon after, Boutin made his transition into the visual arts where he exhibited his works in numerous galleries and institutions such as Yvon Lambert (Paris) in 1987 and Giorgio Persano Gallery (Turin) 1992. In subsequent years the digital age inspired Boutin to direct his focus towards the development and creation of artist’s books as works of art and thus he co-founded both onestar press and Three Star Books ; two distinguished book presses dedicated to the publication of books by artists.

    Since the inauguration of onestar press and Three Star Books, Christophe Boutin has conducted numerous workshops and conferences focusing upon artist’s books in art schools and institutions such as : Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Norway ; Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna ; The Moderna Museet, Stockholm ; IUAV, Venice ; Fondation De Appel, Amsterdam ; Ecole des Beaux Arts de Paris. In 2013, at the invitation of Bernard Blistène (Director of the department of cultural development at the Centre Pompidou) Christophe Boutin and Melanie Scarciglia (co-founder of both onestar press and Three Star Books) participated in founding BOOK MACHINE (Paris), a 3-week engagement of conferences, performances and artist’s book publishing all entirely dedicated to the process of book production in the grandest sense. Art critic and curator Patrick Javault contributed in programming events and New York-based artist Mika Tajima was invited to design the interactive scenography for BOOK MACHINE (Paris).

  • Mélanie Scarciglia/co-founder and manager

    Mélanie was born in Paris in 1979. She studied Art history and History of Cinema at University Paris-Sorbonne, earning her Master’s degree in 2002. As co-founder of the artist’s book publishing houses onestar press and Three Star Books, Melanie oversees production, publishing and sales in addition to development of showroom presentation.

    In 2002, Scarciglia produced « Making the book » an ongoing documentary on the numerous artists involved in the collection of onestar press. The first stages of this project was presented to the public in 2002 at the Palais de Tokyo in L’espace du Stand and also at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art (Philadelphia, PA USA) in 2008. In 2013, at the invitation of Bernard Blistène (Director of the department of cultural development at the Centre Pompidou) Melanie Scarciglia and Christophe Boutin (co-founder of both onestar press and Three Star Books) participated in founding BOOK MACHINE (Paris), a 3-week engagement of conferences, performances and artist’s book publishing all entirely dedicated to the process of book production in the grandest sense. Art critic and curator Patrick Javault contributed in programming events and New York-based artist Mika Tajima was invited to design the interactive scenography for BOOK MACHINE (Paris).

  • Sébastien de Ganay/co-founder and partner

    Sébastien de Ganay joined Christophe Boutin in November 2000. Born in Paris in 1962. After receiving his Master of Arts from Columbia Film School, he directed and produced documentaries and short films. He works as an artist and has been exhibiting his work since the early 1990’s.

  • Darlene Lin/editor and sales associate

    Darlene Lin was born in Chicago, IL (USA) in 1982. She studied film and photography at The School of Visual Arts and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Fine Art in Photography. Upon relocating to Paris, Darlene joined team onestar press from 2011 to 2018 assisting in book production and sales.

  • Selected press and interviews

    Interview with Christophe Boutin by Louise Forrester for MA research paper ‘Independent Art Publishing’, Goldsmith College February 2007

    Artists' Books Online: The onestar press Catalogue at the Metropolitan Museum

    One day one star one Press: Christophe Boutin, Mélanie Scarciglia and Bernard Blistène (in french)

    BOOK MACHINE (Paris) : Interview with Christophe Boutin, Mélanie Scarciglia, Patrick Javault and Mika Tajima (in french)

    "Innovators In Print, Artist Books (And Editions) From Onestar Press And Three Star Books", C. Press, Forbes, 2017

    "Les livres d'art se mettent au numérique". N. Wolinski, p.31, Beaux Arts Magazine, Mars 2004

    "ARTIST'S BOOK BEAT". N. Princenthal, pp.96-97, Art on Paper, May-June 2002

    "Onestar is born ?". D. Lespiau, pp.159-162, CCP: Cahier chritique de Poésie 2, farrago/Editions Léo Scheer, 2000