This is why I am so excited to be taking a letterpress course with Scott King at Red Dragonfly. The Anderson Arts Center is really such a wonderful organization, and it's lovely to have this place so nearby. In fact, this collective out to mark July 11th on their calendar in hopes of a Red Wing field trip; this is the summer celebration of the arts, where you can tour the studios of the artists-in-residence, purchase some of their work, enjoy music, and lie in the sprawling lawn amongst the sculptures.
I've included some images and links here that intrigue me as well as two events at the bottom that are book and art related. I feel that Colleen C is more of an expert on this subject and hope she'll post / comment some on this topic.
In the meanwhile, who else is going to see Louise Gluck? Anyone going to the lunch? I teach at 12:20, so I'll be able to sit in on nineteen minutes of the lunch, but I will be photographing the reception and reading / lecture, as I did for Junot Diaz, so that evens things out a little.
Walker Arts Center: Text/Message. December 19 2009 - April 19 2009.
While literature is often a point of departure, artists’ books often bear little resemblance to conventional volumes. Many are sculptural, multidimensional, or made of material other than paper—some have no pages at all. Over the past three decades, the Walker has amassed a significant collection of books by artists, now numbering some 2,000 objects. Many of these are housed in the Walker’s library, where they have long been an insider favorite. Staff and visitors conducting research cannot help but be drawn in by librarian Rosemary Furtak’s enthusiasm for the eclectic collection, which has been steadily growing under her watch since the early 1980s. The library, says Furtak, “tries to have books by all artists represented in our permanent collection who have made books.” She is also “constantly trying to balance the need for new titles with an attempt to acquire out-of-print material that might represent a significant period or style of bookmaking.” Examples include books by Surrealists and Futurists, elegant tomes conceived by artists such as Robert Motherwell and Ellsworth Kelly, conceptual projects by Lawrence Weiner, humorously subversive books by Karen Finley, Mike Kelley, and Paul McCarthy, and rare illustrated editions such as Salavdor Dali’s take on Alice in Wonderland. Usually accessible to the public only by appointment, these items are now brought together in a major exhibition.
Co-organized by Furtak and Walker curator Siri Engberg, the show highlights this important trove of material, which is supplemented with pieces from the museum’s collection. Showcasing examples from a broad range of artistic movements, the books and book-based works on view come from some of the most recognizable names in contemporary art as well as lesser known artists. The process of selecting the works in Text/Messages: Books by Artists was a fascinating endeavor for the curators, who found the premise of the exhibition to be an ideal opportunity to explore many areas within the Walker’s collections. Even in today’s digital age, artists’ continued engagement with books—as medium, material, and subject—is evidence, say Engberg and Furtak, that this is an area of artistic invention alive with ideas and possibilities.
Minnesota Center for the Book Arts: Reflections. March 20 - May 3 2009.
Text + Image: Collaborative Broadsides from the MCBA Archives
March 20 – May 3; Open Book Lobby Gallery
Text + Image presents an historic format for the pairing of writing and art -- the collaborative broadside. Words, phrases, verses and stanzas are paired with drawings, calligraphy, illuminations and symbolic imagery in over 20 contemporary works.
5 comments:
Hello ladies! A few thoughts this lovely morning (where I wake and see my pock marked backyard and groan at what tomorrow brings--yes, the abject, the poop soup--don't forget we have two big dogs, so don't take that the wrong way):
- Louise Gluck's receptions and readings were pretty neat. But I missed the lunch and heard she did a lot more talkin' about some other interesting things. Would one of you who attended the lunch be willing to put up a post about that, especially since CAM and I missed it?
- I'll follow it up eventually (once I have time to upload) with a handful of photos I took at the events... poor Gluck was attacked by my camera, but she knew me as "the photographer" and asked that I don't harass her during the reading and after, she said I was "very good." I felt like a five year old, but a very happy five year old.
- I also had her sign a stack of books because I have no shame, and two of them she didn't not sign them to me. I was thinking this, if it's something that interests you all: if we want to use this blog as something that would eventually have some kind of audience, and maybe even a small local audience who would come see us read if that is what we indeed want to do, one of the ways we can both appreciate and build is to have a kind of "drawing" on the blog--you know, have people leave comments then draw a name from that--of cool things, like signed Louise Gluck books with a few prints of her reading, etc. It's up to you if that's something you want to do. Otherwise, maybe I'll just keep them for myself, though I don't think I really need SIX Louise Gluck books signed (yep, I was that unabashed--what got into me?!).
- Hope to see all of you today--CAM in lecture and the rest with Maria. (Hope you are feeling better, C!)
I look forward to your photos, Molly.
One from lunch:
Glück talked about her books having horizontal or vertical axes, specifically Averno's oscillation between grief and awe, although she also called The Wild Iris vertical. After she works in one axis she wants to work in another; something about wanting colloquial language after high diction; a different source of access. It makes sense then that Meadowlands would be horizontal and also this new book. I think I like her "vertical work" more.
She also talked about the creative necessity of turning the conscious mind off (or at least allowing it an autopilot) through guilty pleasures like TV, or in Gluck's case, murder mysteries. The idea being that, although the connection may not always be clear, when the front of the brain is occupied it frees the back for all kinds of rich subconscious activity. It made me feel a lot better about my winter break reading!
A post, a post! :) I've overposted and want to hear your voices, um, you know, beyond the comments...
PS: But thank you, Amanda and Meryl!
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