Beaten & Bound: 21st Century Book and Paper Art
“Beaten & Bound” is a look at a unique group of contemporary book and paper artists at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts, Michigan City, IN.
Much like glassblowing, paper-making and book binding are ancient craft forms that had a major re-birth and resurgence in the twentieth century and continue unabated in the twenty-first. This exhibition will highlight the work of a dozen different American artists whose work ranges from the sublime to the humorous to the jaw-dropping. Here are but 3 of them:
New York artist, Lesley Dill has long been fascinated by the visual qualities and symbolic power of language, often via an exploration of the nature of the body and its clothing. Her work uses metaphoric imagery to explore the role of language in cloaking or revealing the human soul.
Sculptor, book artist and art theorist, Buzz Spector is one of the nation’s premier contemporary artists making use of books as an expressive medium. A pioneer of the 20th century “book arts” movement, Spector has acquired international stature for his inquiry into the relationships between the physical and conceptual identities of books. He often builds room - sized installations of book sculptures.
Chicagoan, Brian Dettmer is called the “book surgeon” as he actually carves into books revealing the artwork inside, creating complex, layered 3D sculptures. Dettmer takes outdated books, dictionaries and encyclopedias and gives them new meaning and the chance at a second life, by carving them into intricate artworks.
Richard Minsky from Hudson, New York founded the Center for Book Arts in 1974 and has worked for 35years to bring attention to book art and is one of the most influential book artists today. His new work titled Pop Delusions: A House of Cards, the artist’s uses credit cards, Chinese paper money, 23K gold leaf, binder’s board, bookcloth,felt, linen tape wood, two copies of Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. The copy bound in the artist’s credit cards is a 1963 printing of the 1932 L. C. Page reprint of the 1852 edition. The other copy is the 1852 edition, in the original binding by Burn of Hatton Garden.
Exhibit Dates:
May 26 through August 26, 2012
Reception June 1, 5-8pm
Much like glassblowing, paper-making and book binding are ancient craft forms that had a major re-birth and resurgence in the twentieth century and continue unabated in the twenty-first. This exhibition will highlight the work of a dozen different American artists whose work ranges from the sublime to the humorous to the jaw-dropping. Here are but 3 of them:
New York artist, Lesley Dill has long been fascinated by the visual qualities and symbolic power of language, often via an exploration of the nature of the body and its clothing. Her work uses metaphoric imagery to explore the role of language in cloaking or revealing the human soul.
Sculptor, book artist and art theorist, Buzz Spector is one of the nation’s premier contemporary artists making use of books as an expressive medium. A pioneer of the 20th century “book arts” movement, Spector has acquired international stature for his inquiry into the relationships between the physical and conceptual identities of books. He often builds room - sized installations of book sculptures.
Chicagoan, Brian Dettmer is called the “book surgeon” as he actually carves into books revealing the artwork inside, creating complex, layered 3D sculptures. Dettmer takes outdated books, dictionaries and encyclopedias and gives them new meaning and the chance at a second life, by carving them into intricate artworks.
Richard Minsky from Hudson, New York founded the Center for Book Arts in 1974 and has worked for 35years to bring attention to book art and is one of the most influential book artists today. His new work titled Pop Delusions: A House of Cards, the artist’s uses credit cards, Chinese paper money, 23K gold leaf, binder’s board, bookcloth,felt, linen tape wood, two copies of Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. The copy bound in the artist’s credit cards is a 1963 printing of the 1932 L. C. Page reprint of the 1852 edition. The other copy is the 1852 edition, in the original binding by Burn of Hatton Garden.
Exhibit Dates:
May 26 through August 26, 2012
Reception June 1, 5-8pm
