Cooper Hewitt says...
Purgatory Pie Press (PPP) is part of the contemporary revival of letterpress print shops in New York City. The husband and wife team of Dikko Faust and Esther K. Smith produce yearly datebooks, artist books, coasters, and artist tracts in collaboration with artists and writers. Faust handsets the wood and metal type, mixes the colors, and does the printing. Smith edits, designs, and binds the books.
From 1978 to 1987 PPP worked out of Center for Book Arts, where Faust supervised the printshop and taught while Smith coordinated exhibitions. They still teach a course there. From 1985 to 1993, Faust taught letterpress printing and typography at Cooper Union. Today the team teaches at Cooper Union in the Extended Studies program. PPP has exhibited at the Widener Library, Harvard, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and Metropolitan Museum of Art and has received grants from the New York State Council on the Arts and the JM Kaplan Fund.
