September 11, 2007 – October 26, 2007
In the hands of artists, books become magical things: a marriage of image and text, a sculptural object, a visual journey, a playful encounter, or an interactive experience. The visual experience unfolds scene upon scene, page upon page, and the viewer gets an intimate, tactile experience. Through bookmaking, artists find new ways of communicating and constructing meaning. This year’s exhibition is juried by Ruth R. Rogers, Special Collections Librarian, Wellesley College. Ms. Rogers is a serious collector and promoter of artists’ books, Rogers organized ABC: the Artists’ Books Conference, held in June 2005 at Wellesley College, and published the related exhibition catalog, Resonance and Response. Most recently she was the juror and guest curator of the national exhibition Beyond Words: Artists’ Books at the University of the South, in Sewanee, TN.
BookMarks ZMP showcases a broad range of interpretations of the artist’s book, from contemporary expressions to more traditional structures, with the common denominator being that each of the books incorporates hand printmaking. Some of the books are built around textual narratives or poems, while others are purely visual experiences. The books being shown in our studio Gallery are for sale, and range from one-of-a-kind visual books to illustrated letterpress editions. Artists whose books will be on exhibition come from all over the United States and Canada and include: Ashlee Weitlauf, Mary Taylor, Margaret Jean Taylor, Anita S. Hunt, Martha Galuszka, Steven C. Daiber, Tara O’Brien, Marvel Maring, Ginger Burrell, Brian Borchardt, Nicole Dore Brunet, Melissa Kaup-Augustine, Sun Young Kang, Annie Zeybekoglu and Nancy Diessner.
BookMarks ZMP presents viewers with the rare opportunity to handle the books on exhibit. Artist’s books are usually displayed in closed cases and actually “reading” them is not possible. At Zea Mays Printmaking, visitors are invited to take the books off the shelves and explore them fully at their own pace.