Beyond Words

A Celebration of Book Arts

curated by Barbara Brown

Includes work by artists Char Bacon, Ruth Bardenstein, Mona Diane Benton, Barbara Brown, Catherine Hightower, Alvey Jones, J. Wayne Jones, Julia Miller, Ben Reynaert, Sally Rose, Susan Skarsgard, Pati Scobey, Graceann Warn, Howard White and Elaine Wilson

September 15 - October 25, 2009

Opening Reception:

Friday, October 2, 7-10 pm

Gallery Book Artist Panel Discussion

Sunday, October 4, 2 pm

Talk by Visiting Artist Pat Truzzi

Sunday, September 20, 2 pm

Also showing are all gallery member-artists, and the following visiting artists:

Ruthanne Baker, John Lilley, Chris McCauley, Margaret Parker, Pat Truzzi, and Maria Ruggiero

Curator's Statement

Artists' books are not, as we in the western tradition might think, books about art.
Rather, an artist's book is intended from conception to be an art piece and might bear little resemblance to the books with which we are familiar.

Book art (book-inspired art) has surged in the last few years. For artists, there is excitement and magic to be found in the exploration of book structures - possibly in the traditional sense, but often in an entirely redefined form. Indeed, it is famously difficult to get book artists themselves to reach agreement as to what an artist's book should or should not be. In this show we might be surprised at combinations of media which have been incorporated by the participating artists in creating these mysterious little worlds.

Here we will find that words and images fly in the air, poise on walls, and alight in
structures - perhaps causing the viewer to question the idea of "book".

-- Barbara Brown

Silent Memory
artist book constructed from molded and formed plant material
8 "h x 20"w x 8"d
by Sally Rose

Egypte Book
mixed media artist book
5 "h x 10"w x 5"d opened
by Catherine Hightower

!!!Thank You!!!
artist's book sewn on linen tape with found material
5"h x 12"w x 6"d, extended
by Ben Reynaert

Book of Empires
pillar book, pigment ink on papyrus and bark paper, mounted on poplar and walnut
15 "h x 14"w x 3"d
by Alvey Jones

Puzzlebook
accordion style binding made with recycled leather floor panels from Bonnie Stahlecker's kitchen
letterpress text and images are printer's waste from Mellonberry Press and Lumino Press
collage and mixed media
8.25"h x 4.5"w x .75"d
by Julia Miller

Morning
relief printing letterpress, acrylic
by Pati Scobey

Runic Domino Calendar
carved dominoes
cow bone, engraved, with ink made from lampblack highlighting the marks
2.75"h x 1"w x 1.5"d
by Julia Miller

"I call it 'runic' because the marks remind me of runes and there are surviving historical rune calendars from Scandinavia, and 'domino' because it also reminds me of dominoes." -- Julia Miller