The Center for Book Arts 2014 Spring Exhibitions

Once Upon a Time, There Was the End

Organized by Rachel Gugelberger

Borrowing its title from the stock opening and closing phrases of traditional oral narratives, in particular fairy tales, Once Upon a Time, There Was the End pivots around two central themes: stories elicited by modalities of the book in the face of rapid technological transformation, and anxiety about the end of the book as echoed in apocalyptic, dystopian and speculative visions. The exhibition presents the work of eleven artists who employ conceptual strategies and material forms that consider the dematerialization of the book; the interplay between physical and digital; and irreducible form(s) in books, works on paper, photography, video, sculpture, performance and Web-based projects. Artists include: Madeline Djerejian, Ellen Harvey, Warren Lehrer, Loren Madsen, MomenTech, Mitch Patrick, Emilio Chapela Pérez, Lisa Schilling, Sara Shaoul, Karina Aguilera Skvirsky, and Andrew Norman Wilson.

Public Programs in Conjunction with the Exhibit:

Friday, April 18, 7pm: Performance During the Opening Reception by Sara Shaoul 

Friday, May 9, 6:30pm: Performances by Warren Lehrer and Karina Aguilera Skvirsky, followed by a conversation with the artists including Sara Shaoul

Featured Artist Projects 

Diane Stemper—Sample Close at Hand 

Nature, history, animals, specimens and collections, what do they reveal? Is it possible to understand the 'truth' or 'essence' of living matter through recording and observing?  Diane Stemper is an artist deeply curious about the world of living organisms that surround her and fascinated by collections that organize, categorize, preserve and display oddities and specimens.  Her books and artwork have long focused on naturalist subjects and on specimens of a sort: insects, clouds, corn, dust, and bacteria.

The works in Sample Close at Hand reference Darwin, medical collections, and biological studies, codified in a series of prints and artist books, and books built into petri dishes.  The 'dish' references a culture of microorganisms and serves as a metaphor for the cultural context of science and the connection between our relationship with nature and the scientific discoveries that further deepen or exploit our knowledge; in the petri dishes Stemper builds circular artist books, informed by the petri dish's intended function, which fit into and emerge out of a dish.

Stemper uses mixed media and combines linoleum prints, archival inkjet prints, found and altered text, colored pencil, pen & ink drawing, maps and actual natural materials relevant to the content of the books.

2013 Workspace Artists-in-Residence: Cecile Chong, Dahlia Elsayad, Swati Khurana, Kameelah Rasheed, and Jeni Wightman

Each year, we present an exhibition of new work by the previous year's Artists-in-Residence, created during their time in residence at the Center for Book Arts.  Last year's 2013 Workspace residents were Cecile Chong, Dahlia Elsayad, Swati Khurana, Kameelah Rasheed, and Jeni Wightman. The workspace program is aimed at artists who have little to no experience with book arts, in order to foster experimentation in the field.  

Visit our website for up-to-date details:  www.centerforbookarts.org

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR BOOK ARTS

The Center for Book Arts is committed to exploring and cultivating contemporary aesthetic interpretations of the book as an art object, while invigorating traditional artistic practices of the art of the book. The Center seeks to facilitate communication between the book arts community and the larger spheres of contemporary art and literature through exhibitions, classes, public programming, literary presentations, opportunities for artists and writers, publications, and collecting. Founded in 1974, the Center for Book Arts was the first organization of its kind in the nation.