<Apologies for cross-posting>
GUILD OF BOOK WORKERS 100th ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE
<http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byorg/gbw/>
This exhibition celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Guild of Book
Workers and closes the most active quarter century in the history of
the Guild. National traveling exhibitions became a regular occurrence
every two to three years. In many respects 1981's seventy-fifth
anniversary provided a benchmark for the Guild by highlighting the
work of its early members and the state of the craft. Subsequent
exhibitions featured increasing numbers of new binders and book
artists, the growth being fueled in part by the explosion of book
arts centers throughout the USA, and most recently the flood of
resources available online which exposed even more to the art and
craft. The Guild's Standards of Excellence annual seminar, begun in
1982, played a crucial role in elevating the awareness of the
importance of fine craft and techniques in all aspects of the book
arts through its demonstration by recognized "masters" in their
field. Initially divided into seemingly rigid camps of traditional
binders and book artists, the past twenty-five years have seen a
melding of the two sides with fine binders delving into the world of
artist's books and book artists applying traditional techniques and
materials to their work, enriching the arts of the book.
Curating and jurying an exhibition of this kind is always
challenging. For the retrospective, curated largely by Peter
Verheyen, that meant finding representative works by a selection of
the leading proponents of the craft, and providing a link to the
present. We are especially proud to be able to include among the
fifty-nine works two of the most significant works for the book arts,
Richard Minsky's Birds of North America and Hedi Kyle's April Diary,
both works which have had global impact on the book arts, setting the
field off on a course the early members of the Guild would not have
imagined. In the past the expression of craft, i.e. how well was the
book bound, was seen as the primary focus of the juror's work. Great
strides have been made in craft across the board and it is no longer
the domain of the traditional binders. This means that the jurors can
shift some of their focus to also judging how a work comes across in
a holistic sensehow do the various elements work together; does the
design relate to the text; what is the relationship between structure
and textthe end result being stronger works. The jurors for this
exhibition were Karen Hanmer, Richard Minsky, and Don Rash,
representing the broad spectrum of "book arts" in their own work. In
the end, 120 artists submitted 171 works, and it was their unenviable
task to select the sixty strongest works judging the level of craft,
but also how the work came across holistically, representing all
sides of the book arts. While past exhibition trends seemed to
forecast a decline in the number of traditional bindings vis-à-vis
artist's books, this exhibition saw a very even representation, also
including strong examples of calligraphy, decorated papers, and
presswork. This exhibition truly captures the essence of the book
arts within the Guild and provides a benchmark for the future.
The fully illustrated catalog brings together both the retrospective
and contemporary halves of the Guild's 100th anniversary exhibition.
This is especially important as the two halves will only be on
display together at the Grolier Club in New York City (September 20 -
November 25), with only the exhibition of contemporary work traveling
throughout the country until the end of 2007. You can, however,
experience both exhibitions in the catalog which the Guild is pleased
to offer at $32 (incl. s/h). Catalogs will ship in late September.
The complete catalog, with ordering information, is now available
online at the Guild's website - <http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byorg/gbw/>.
Catalog Specifications
Binding Soft cover
Size 8.5 x 11" Vertical
Pages 112
Illustrations - The catalog depicts all 58 bindings in the
retrospective exhibition and all 62 bindings in the juried exhibition
of contemporary works. All illustrations are in color. The catalog
includes introductions by Peter Verheyen, GBW Exhibitions Chair;
Betsy Palmer Eldridge, GBW President; juror's statements; complete
binding descriptions; biographical statements.
Design The catalog was designed by Julie Leonard and Sara Sauers of
Iowa City, IA, who last designed the catalog for the William Anthony,
Fine Binder exhibition held at the University of Iowa.
For more information about the exhibit and ordering catalogs, contact
the Exhibitions Chair, at <[log in to unmask]>
Enjoy,
Peter Verheyen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter D. Verheyen
Exhibitions Chair
The Guild of Book Workers
<[log in to unmask]>
<http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byorg/gbw/exhibit.shtml>
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