Turning Pages: Artists’ Books of the Present
Examples of artists' books in the MAK exhibition
More than 300 artists' books and experimental publications have gone on show in the MAK’s Turning Pages: Artists’ Books of the Present exhibition in Vienna.
Among authors represented are Martin Kippenberger whose books here include O Rio de Janeiro besser (richtig) (O Rio de Janeiro Better (Right), 1987) and Peter Malutzki who alludes to Ed Ruscha’s 1966 accordion-format book Every Building on the Sunset Strip in his 2023 book Some Buildings on the Streets of Kharkiv which documents the destruction caused by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Other highlights include:
- Michael S. Riedel and Dennis Loesch’s 2003 book Oskar-von-Miller Strasse 16 on the temporary experimental art space at that address in Frankfurt am Main
- R. H. Quaytman’s 2012 Chapter 24
- Derek Jarman’s A Finger in the Fishes Mouth (1972) in which short poems and sketches echo the visual language of his Super-8 films
- A House of Dust (1967) by Alison Knowles which is an early example of a computer-generated poem
The exhibition also provides insights into the creative processes behind artists’ books through a selection of prototypes, photographs, drawings, over- paintings, archival documents, and materials used such as a tableau
consisting of cuttings from a fashion magazine that Halvor Rønning used in the research for his 2018 book I Would Button up My T-shirt if I Could.
Turning Pages runs through March 22, 2026 at MAK, Stubenring 5, Vienna.
