2nd floor Art and Print Galleries
Parkway Central Library

Now through January 29, 2012

Artists have been involved with the production of books for centuries – from the illumination of medieval manuscripts to the illustration of children’s books to the graphic novels of today. What do we mean by artists’ books? Most simply (because even the experts don’t always agree), artists’ books are art works in which the artist has used the form and/or structure of the book as their medium. Sometimes text is involved, and, sometimes not. This exhibition features selections from the Print & Picture Collection of artists’ books dating from the 1970s to the present.

You’ll see Salient Seedling Press’s 1985 retelling of the Aesop’s tale, "The Fox and the Farmer", in which a rather traditional woodcut/letterpress page format is embellished with wild letterpress marginalia, or “gorp”.

 You’ll also see Alice Austin’s beautiful "Red, Yellow, Blue" (2000) in which three double-page lotus-fold pop-ups open to reveal primary-colored woodcuts of flowers.

 You can see these and more on Parkway Central’s second floor galleries outside the Art Department and Print & Picture Collection.