It is nice to see JAB (Journal of Book Arts) being published again. After a few year hiatus issue 21 has just been released. The journal is now being published by Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts and is “Still dedicated to providing a forum for critical, theoretical, and creative engagement with artists’ books”. A highlight of the new issue is Elisabeth Long’s article Editioning One-of-a-Kind Multiples: Notes Toward An Understanding of Anselm Kiefer’s Books
I concur that the display of Keifer’s book art (or book art as a whole) has suffered from museum curators not having the experience of displaying or a deep knowledge of book art. She also talks about how Keifer’s pieces are unique yet part of one narrative. “The very use of the book structure implies an interest in narrative, but Keifer’s visual narratives progress at an extremely slow rate.” Of course another reason for the “extremely slow rate” is that Keifer’s book pieces are huge. The piece discussed in the article “The Secret Life of Plants” has pages that are over 6.5 feet tall and almost 5 feet wide and are made of lead. 🙂
Buzz Spector’s installation “The Big Red C” is on view at the Hirshland Gallery in Cornell’s Kroch
Library. The Big Red C” is a large architectural construction made entirely out of books written by people associated with Cornell University were Spector teaches. The exhibit premiered in New York in January
Ithaca Times article and interview with Spector
While we are in upstate New York The University of Rochester Rare Books & Special Collections has a stunning online exhibit titled “Beauty for Commerce: Publisher’s Bindings 1830-1910. It is based on the tangible exhibit of the same name that took place in 2002.
What is a publisher’s binding?
The first book covers that were designed and made with the masses in mind.
Don’t miss the chance to play with the magnifying box that accompanies each larger image.
Thanks to Japonisme for the lead
Graphic artist Lance Hidy is designing the new Ansel Adams book “Ansel Adams: 400
Photographs” that is due at in the fall. His own typeface, Penumbra, will be featured in the titles and captions for the book (the typeface has also appeared on posters for the movie version of “The Da Vinci Code” ). Hidy’s first high profile job was designing “Yosemite and the Range of Light” with Adams in 1978. He also took part in the selection of the photos to be included.
Article from the Daily News of NewburyPort with much on on Hidy’s relationship with Adams.
Poster is a portrait of Barry Moser