Artist books
What makes an artist book?
Artist books are an expressive medium, often in a great variety of forms these books take time to produce and for some, even longer to appreciate.
Some may find artists’ books hard to comprehend as a work of art, the artist book, after all, is at a disadvantage when compared to other art forms, for example a painting. The artists’ book by its very nature usually has to be opened or even handled to be appreciated, other art forms may be displayed in their entirety, whereas the artist book contains many aspects that are neither easy to display nor value.
Artist books are not a unique idea, the practice of incorporating images and text stems back to William Blake (1757 -1827). Many modern masters, such as Picasso, Leger and Kokoschka to name only a few, presented and participated in the making of artist books. Artist books over the past century have become more than a collection of pages in sequence, with or without text, artist books present the viewer with multiple possibilities of artistic expression.
Contemporary artists are breaking new ground, with renewed interested in bookbinding, book artists are producing many variations of the artist book for example altered books, sculptural books, book boxes, there seems no restrictions to visual communication through the book form. Reflected in the new work produced by book artists is the use of new technology, computer software and large format printers.
My own experience or introduction to the possibilities of artist books came in the 1980’s. A keen collector of old books; I discovered by chance a large folio of rococo etchings at auction. This folio contained thirty-nine original etchings produced by a range of artists from different countries, this was the catalyst for me to not only collect artist books but also create them. As a lithographer I decided to produce my first artist book, titled “The First Revelation”, a large folio-containing image and text inspired by literature (Shakespeare), so started my fascination with artist books as an art form. No longer confined to traditional materials and methods my books have developed over time but retain a continuous thread throughout the work. Since then, making artist books has been an important part of my art making. As a printmaker, the tactile quality and the intimacy of the artist book is fascinating.
The work offered in this exhibition depicts an array of subject matter, from literature, poetry, stories, science, travel, environmental and biography. These works reflect a time and preoccupation with the then subject matter; this subject matter is often rediscovered to become part of another series of books. Some are narrative driven, others whimsical and playful and still others are dark and moody. A variety of techniques have been employed to create the work as a professional printmaker; the books utilize most know printmaking methods, for example stone lithography, mono-printing, screen-printing, etching, solar etching, lino printing, computer generated images and photography.
All of the books selected for exhibition are hand bound and range from small to quite large, some of the books are award winning and some have never been exhibited. The exhibition contains around forty artist books, with selected images from within the pages of the books. Also on display is a selection of artist books from my private collection, Artist Books 3.0, National & International artist book exchange as well as the original Book of Shields circa 1800s.
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