Minsky Exhibition at Yale
Yale University’s Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library, 180 York Street, will host the exhibition “Material Meets Metaphor: A Half Century of Book Art by Richard Minsky” from August 2 through November 29.
The exhibition covers 50 years of Minsky’s work — from a 1960 sample book, used when he started his first letterpress printing business at age 13, to “Self-Portrait 2010,” a book that documents the evolution of a canvas, from pencil sketch through many layers of oil paint.
Yale University Library acquired the Richard Minsky Archive in 2004. It includes maquettes, molds for castings, and correspondence, as well as holographic manuscripts and early versions of select works. It documents Minsky's exploration of printing technologies from the mimeograph and spirit duplicator to his early use of inkjet printing on handmade paper.
“Minsky’s work as an artist and as founder of The Center for Book Arts in New York changed the way people see and make books,” said Jae Jennifer Rossman, the Haas Family Arts Library’s Assistant Director for Special Collections.
Many of Minsky's editioned works (non-commissioned work made in multiple copies) will be on view in the exhibition, along with unique works that have become iconic in the field of book art. These include his 1975 binding of “The Birds of North America” and “The Crisis of Democracy,” bound in sheepskin, gold and barbed wire.
More information about Minsky and his work is available online at www.minsky.com. His new book, “The Art of American Book Covers, 1875-1930,” was published this year by George Braziller, Inc.
The Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library opened in August 2008 in the renovated Paul Rudolph Hall and the new Loria Center for the History of Art. The library brings together the collections, staff, and resources from the former Art + Architecture and Drama libraries and the Arts of the Book Collection, as well as staff and services for the Visual Resources Collection. It serves as the library for the Schools of Art, Architecture, and Drama, as well as the Department of the History of Art and the Yale University Art Gallery. The library is open to the public Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. during the summer. In September the library will be open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on Fridays. For more information, visit http://www.library.yale.edu/arts/.
For information on the exhibition or the Richard Minsky Archive, contact Jae Rossman at (203) 432-4439 or jae.rossman@yale.edu. High quality images of the artist and items in the exhibition are also available.
PRESS CONTACT: Doris Baker, 203-432-1345
June 25, 2010
