Artists' Books

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Artists' books (also called bookworks) are works of art realized in the form of a book. They are usually published in small editions, though sometimes they are one-of-a-kind objects. Artists' books have employed a wide range of forms, including scrolls, fold-outs or loose items contained in a box.

Although artists have been active in printing and book production for centuries, the artist's book is primarily a 20th century form.

[edit] History

Inexpensive artists' books were an important part of several avant-garde practices that attempted to democratize access to art. The Dada and surrealist movements in the early decades of the 20th century produced an explosion of experimental publications by artists, as did Futurism and Russian Constructivism. Examples include 3-dimensional book-objects by Marcel Duchamp and the collage novels of Max Ernst, as well as typographical experiments by F.T. Marinetti. Books were produced by members of the loosely affiliated Fluxus group beginning in the early 1960s, including artists such as George Maciunas and Yoko Ono, whose shared values included an emphasis on ephemeral forms. Artists associated with the Pop Art movement of the mid-1960s, such as Andy Warhol and Ed Ruscha, produced well-known artist's books. Seth Siegelaub single-handedly propelled conceptual art into the world of artists books in the late 60s, publishing artists works as books that were exhibited in place of artworks. These included artists such as Sol Lewitt, Robert Barry, Douglas Huebler, Lawrence Weiner and many more. Conceptual artists in particular went on to make a small industry out of artists' books. Contemporary and post-conceptual artists also made artist's books an important aspect of their practice, notably William Wegman, Gilbert & George, Martin Kippenberger and Raymond Pettibon.

In the early 1970s the artist's book began to be recognized as a distinct genre, and with this recognition came the beginnings of critical appreciation of and debate on the subject. Institutions devoted to the study and teaching of the form were founded (The Center for Book Arts in New York, for example); library and art museum collections began to create new rubrics with which to classify and catalogue artists' books and also began to actively expand their fledgling collections; new collections were founded (such as Franklin Furnace in New York); and numerous group exhibitions of artist's books were organised in Europe and America (notably one at Moore College of Art in Philadelphia in 1973, the catalog of which, according to Stefan Klima's Artists Books: A Critical Survey of the Literature, is the first place the term "Artist's Book" was used). Bookstores specializing in artists' books were founded, usually by artists, including Ecart in 1968 (Geneva), Other Books and So in 1970 (Amsterdam), Art Metropole in 1974 (Toronto) and Printed Matter in New York (1976). All of these also had publishing programmes over the years, and the latter two are still active today.

In the 1980s this consolidation of the field intensified, with an increasing number of practitioners, greater commercialization, and also the appearance of a number of critical publications devoted to the form. In 1983, for example, Cathy Courtney began a regular column for the London-based Art Monthly (Courtney contributed articles for 17 years, and this feature continues today with different contributors). The Library of Congress adopted the term artists books in 1980 in its list of established subjects.

In the 1990s, BA, MA and MFA programs in Book Art were founded, some notable examples of which are the BA at Mills College in California, the MFA at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and the MA at Camberwell College of Art in London. The Journal of Artists' Books (JAB) was founded in 1994 to "raise the level of critical enquiry about artists' books."

[edit] Critical Issues and Debate

A number of issues around the artist's book have been vigorously debated. Some of the major themes under examination have been:

1. Definition of the Artist's Book

2. Where the artist's book 'should' be situated in relation to Craft and Fine Art traditions.

[edit] Centers of Activity

[edit] United States

[edit] California

Los Angeles has been a center of artists' books since the 1960s. Ed Ruscha's "famous book 'Every Building on the Sunset Strip' of 1966 captured a landscape of Los Angeles that conveyed the complex task of defining a landscape without an explicit center." It also helped define the genre of artists' books. [1]

The Women's Graphic Center began at the Woman's Building in 1973 and provided presses, studio space, and support for women artists to create artists books. Exhibitions were also held in the Woman's Building galleries. The center closed in 1991.

Otis College of Art and Design under the direction of Joan Hugo began collecting and exhibiting artists' books in the 1960s. The Lab Press was founded in the 1970s by Sheila Levrant de Bretteville to teach printing and the making of books.

In Northern California, the San Francisco Center for the Book began 1974 the Center and actively exhibits artists' books and offers workshops and exhibitions, including the 1990 Book Arts in the USA.

[edit] New Jersey

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey has several significant programs that support artists' books. The Brodsky Center (formerly, Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper), in New Brunswick, NJ founded by Judith K. Brodsky teaches classes in book-making with an emphasis on both traditional and non-traditional (artists') books. The Rutgers University Libraries support an annual event in the fall on its Newark, NJ campus, it calls The New Jersey Book Arts Symposium. Begun in 1994, the NJBAS consistently showcases artists' books by artists who reside, work, or were born or educated in the state, although its inclusive focus falls on every facet of the book arts. As well as featuring presentations by New Jersey artists, the NJBAS includes extended considerations of topics deemed of moment to students and practitioners of the book arts. The NJBAS goes beyond state borders and invites presenters from all parts of the world to speak when their expertise dovetails with that year's topic. The Symposium has posted numerous web pages including a photographic essay on a recent symposium on the relation of artists and collectors of artists' books.

[edit] New York

Women's Studio Workshop is a major center for artists' books residencies and distribution in upstate New York.

The Center for Book Arts in New York City was founded in 1974, and since that time it has mounted over 140 exhibitions of artists’ books. It runs an active lecture series, provides services to artists (including internships, residencies, and apprenticeship programs), and currently offers over 100 classes and workshops in bookbinding, letterpress printing, paper marbling, typography, and related fields. It is “dedicated to preserving the traditional crafts of book-making, as well as exploring and encouraging contemporary interpretations of the book as an art object.”

The Franklin Furnace and Printed Matter were both founded in 1976, originally as one organization which quickly splintered into two projects: the Franklin Furnace as a major collection of artists' books; Printed Matter as a publisher and distributor. The Franklin Furnace Collection is now held at the Library of the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Printed Matter continues to publish and distribute artists' books, but also mounts exhibitions of artists' books, hosts book launches, and acts as an advisory service to both artists and collecting institutions.

Booklyn was founded in 1999, Booklyn is an artist-run, nonprofit organization headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. Booklyn's mission is to promote artist books as an art form and educational resource; to provide educational institutions and the public with programming involving contemporary artist books; and to assist artists in exhibiting, distributing, and publishing innovative bookwork. One of the major contemporary book artists living in Brooklyn is Doug Beube.

[edit] Chicago

The Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper, founded in 1994, offers a wide range of classes in papermaking, bookbinding, and printing, in addition to an active exhibition program, artists' residencies, and a lecture series. The Center is also home to the Interdiscipinary Arts MFA in Book and Paper, a graduate program focused on using the book arts in the production of contemporary art.

The Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection, which is housed within the John M. Flaxman Library at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, is a large collection of artists' books. International in scope, the collection is strongest in works by American and European artists with work dating from the early 1960s to the present. In addition to over 4000 artists' books, periodicals and multiples, the collection also houses reference materials to support the study of artists' books, various archives related to the field, and an extensive array of artists' book exhibition catalogs, pamphlets, and other ephemera. Although anyone is welcome to visit the artists' book room, all items in the collection may be viewed in the study room only. Hours of access vary slightly by semester.

[edit] Philadelphia

Philadelphia has an active book arts community centered around the Book Arts/Printmaking graduate program at The University of the Arts and the Philadelphia Center for the Book, a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to the medium.

[edit] Minnesota

Minnesota Center for Book Arts in Minneapolis is the nation's largest and most comprehensive book arts center, offering extensive programs in papermaking, binding, printing, and other book-related art forms. The center has a large gallery space and sponsors a number of artist programs, including residencies, fellowships, and lecture series. In addition, educational opportunities are offered to both youth and adult learners through classes, tours, workshops and onsite visits.

[edit] Wisconsin

Activity in the book arts in Wisconsin is centered around the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For many years, Walter Hamady taught in Madison, and countless notable book artists studied with him. His Perisahble Press, Ltd. is located nearby in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin. Today, a considerable community of book artists live and work in and around Madison. Madison is also home to the Wisconsin Center for Book & Paper Arts and the Silver Buckle Press.

[edit] Ohio

Cincinnati has an active book arts community that formed The Cincinnati Book Arts Society approximately 9 years ago. Small but active, the society offers study groups, opportunities to exhibit, workshops and a friendly community of artists ranging from fine bookbinders, librarians, visual artists and novices. Visit the website for more information. The Cincinnati Book Arts Society in conjunction with the Cincinnati Public Library has for the past eight years sponsored an annual "BookWorks" exhibit at the downtown main library. Typically held in the spring, the exhibit features a wide range of books from small edition to one of a kind books.

[edit] Other Centers

The MFA in Book Arts program at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa began in 1985, and "emphasizes the art and craft of making books by hand." The 2.5 year program admits about 8 students per year. An important recent contribution to the field of artist's books has been the program's podcasts of interviews with "book people".

[edit] Canada

Art Metropole was founded by the three artists of General Idea in 1974 for the collection, distribution, publishing and promotion of artists' books. It continues today as one of the primary institutions for artists' books, with a regular exhibition programme, in addition to its publishing and distribution activities. The Art Metropole Collection, comprised of some 13,000 items, is now held by the Library of the National Gallery of Canada as a special collection.

[edit] Europe

[edit] United Kingdom

Annual artist's book fairs in the UK include: 1. London Artists Book Fair ("LAB"), run by Marcus Campbell Art Books. 2. Small Publishers' Fair (London) 3. Dean Clough (Halifax) 4. Oxford Brooks University (Oxford) 5. Manchester Artist's Book Fair (Manchester - new; first fair to take place Autumn 2006)

[edit] London

Three of the earliest and most extensive collections of artists books worldwide are those of the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Library of Chelsea College of Art and Design, and the Hyman Kreitman Research Centre at Tate Britain. The Tate's collection numbers about 4,000 items, includes books dating from the 1960s onwards and is international in scope with an emphasis on British artists.

Since the mid 1990s, Camberwell College of Art (part of the University of the Arts, London) has run a 1-year master's degree programme in Book Art, graduating 10-15 students annually.

The London College of Communication (part of the University of the Arts, London)runs a 3-year BA degree programmer in book arts.

The bookartbookshop is a non-profit organisation founded in 2002 by Tanya Peixoto (co-founder of the Artist's Book Yearbook) and sells publications of artist presses and publishers of artists’ books.

[edit] Bristol

The University of the West of England in Bristol publishes the bi-annual Artist's Book Yearbook, as well as a monthly newsletter on artists' books. Is beginning a new MA degree programme in artists' books in 2006.

[edit] Australia

In Australia, Artspace Mackay, houses one of Australia’s most significant regional artists’ books collections, and also hosts Focus on Artists Books, a program that includes special exhibitions by leading Australian book artists, and an annual conference on artists’ books.

Southern Cross University in northern NSW has established a growing Artists Book collection housed in the University Library, the annual Southern Cross University Artists' Book Aqusative Award and " the Codex Events" aimed at promoting papermaking & artists' books.

The Korean Book Arts Association sponsors the Seoul International Artists’ Books Fair.

[edit] Further reading

Six years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object from 1966 to 1972 by Lucy Lippard. 1973.
Artists' Books: A Critical Anthology and Sourcebook/ edited by Joan Lyons. 1985.
Artists Books: A Critical Survey of the Literature by Stefan Klima. 1998.
Books by Artists by Tim Guest, Germano Celant. 1981.
The Century of Artists' Books by Johanna Drucker. 1995.
Figuring the Word: Essays on Books, Writing, and Visual Poetics by Johanna Drucker. 1998.
Talking the Boundless Book: Art, Language, and the Book Arts, edited & introduced by Charles Alexander. 1995.
The Cutting Edge of Reading: Artists' Books by Rennée Riese Hubert & Judd D. Hubert. 1999.
Splendid Pages: The Molly and Walter Bareiss Collection of Modern Illustrated Books by Julie Mellby. 2003.
Book as Artwork, 1960-72 by Germano Celant; translated from the Italian by Corine Lotz. 1972.
Artist/Author: Contemporary Artists' Books by Cornelia Lauf and Clive Phillpot. 1998/
The Book Made Art: A Selection of Contemporary Artists' Books by Jeffrey Abt. 1986.
A Century of Artists Books by Riva Castleman. 1994.
Artists Books in the Modern Era 1870-2000: The Reva and David Logan Collection of Illustrated Books by Robert Flynn Johnson and Donna Stein. 2001.
Cover to Cover: The Artist's Book in Perspective by Rob Perrée. 2002.
The Next Word: Text and/as Image and/as Design and/as Meaning: An Interdisciplinary Exhibition of Visual Art, Artists' Books, Graphic Design, and Visual Poetry by Johanna Drucker.hi georgia

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Organisations and education

Booklyn
Nordic Centre For Artists' Books
Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild, see exhibitions from 1998 and 2003
Graduate Program in Book Arts/Printmaking,University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Center For Book and Paper Arts, Columbia College, Chicago
The Bibliographica Foundation, a new school for the Book Arts now being organized in Britain.

[edit] Exhibits and collections

[edit] Organizations selling artists' books

Art Metropole, Toronto
Boekie Woekie, Amsterdam
Booklyn, New York
bookartbookshop, London
Intima Press, New York
Joshua Heller Rare Books, Washington, DC
Printed Matter, a non-profit organization in New York
Vamp & Tramp + Califia Books, Birmingham, Alabama
Women's Studio Workshop, New York

[edit] Individual artists' and presses' websites

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../a/r/t/Artists%27_Books_f60a.html"

Categories: Artist's books | Dada | Art media | Book arts