October 4 - December 6, 2019
(closed November 28 - December 2)
Through the deterioration of material and meaning, the artists included in this exhibition collectively question, manipulate, and expand the information communicated through the printed page. Working with books, book materials, and the printed text, they re-image the communicative nature of component parts. Their manipulation of book spines, cloth coverings, and text blocks, create new possibilities for processing and presenting information.
Some artists in this exhibition distill books into composite parts that as separate entities provide perhaps greater insight into a subject than the sum of their parts. Other artists manipulate the book form, expanding the qualities and connotations of books as repositories of information or call into question our reliance on and acceptance of texts without regard for their inherent biases. Others yet integrate new materials into books and printed documents, communicating more visceral information than text alone could provide. Collectively, these pieces help us to examine our own associations and explore new possibilities for “book learning.”
Unbound features artwork by Jody Alexander, Renee Billingslea, Terri Garland, Kio Griffith, Lisa Kokin, Sandi Miot, Julia Nelson-Gal, Lisa Occhipinti, Steph Rue, Vita Wells, Michelle Wilson, and Lori Zimmerman.
Michelle Wilson, Chacaltaya, 2011, artist book, handmade linen paper, linoleum block prints, hand cutting, digital prints, Coptic binding, artist made box. Image courtesy of the artist.
Vita Wells, Believing Is Seeing, 2006, books, metal, lenses, coins, wood. Image courtesy of the artist.
Jody Alexander, Hemingway and the Art of Awareness, No. 6, 2017, from series Bibliomuse 1, linen, bookcloth from discarded Ernest Hemingway books, stencils, thread. Image courtesy of the artist.
Kio Griffith, Ember, 2015, altered book "Fahrenheit 451" "Fires In The Plain", Fu Rong Wang cigarettes. Image courtesy of the artist.
Steph Rue, There is a Light 2, 2014, tunnel book made of cut, perforated, and embroidered panels. Handmade flax/cotton paper. Handmade and dyed paper thread. Enclosed in cloth-covered portfolio box. Image courtesy of the artist.
Lisa Occhipinti, Red/Read all Over, 2015, from the series Stacks, cut books, twine (on composite base). Image courtesy of the artist.
Lori Zimmerman, Mending, Roe v Wade, 2014, digital print, cotton, embroidery floss. Photo by Susan Einstein.
Lisa Kokin, Abridged, 2008, from the series Pulped and Shredded One, pulped dictionary, PVA glue, thread, snaps, mull. Image courtesy of the artist.
Terri Garland, Psalm 121:2, 2006, from the series The Good Books, archival pigment print. Image courtesy of the artist.
Sandi Miot, It’s Come Undone, 2015, from the series Disintegration, recycled book back, muslin, wax. Image courtesy of the artist.
Renee Billingslea, Slave Ship, 2013, mixed media.
Julia Nelson-Gal, Russian Literature, 2018, from the series Weeding, book cover linen, book pages, acrylic on panel.