Cooking the Books: Ron King and Circle
Press
June 15 September 8
Ron King and his Circle Press have been making beautiful and creatively
significant books for the past thirty-five years. Since 1967, when
he formed the Press to “draw together a circle of like-minded people” to
make books, King has collaborated with over one hundred artists, writers,
and poets. The resulting works are made from an extraordinary range
of materials--paper, wood, metal, stone, glass, and wax--that stretch the
concept and definition of the book to its limits.
This retrospective exhibition, organized by Elisabeth Fairman, Curator of
Rare Books and Archives, traces the history of the Press from its
beginnings. Related archival material, including drawings,
prototypes, and cutting and creasing formes, will also be on
display. A fully-illustrated catalogue, with pop-ups and other
special features designed by Ron King, will be available in the Museum
Shop, along with Circle Press publications. The exhibition is made
possible with assistance by the British Council.
There will be a number of related special events for the opening week,
which coincides with the start of the International Festival of Arts and
Ideas. Ron King will deliver a lecture entitled 'Hole, Horse,
and Hell-box': A Journey Through Thirty-five Years of Circle Press
Publishing on June 14 at 5:30 pm in the Center’s lecture hall.
On June 20, artist and filmmaker John Christie will discuss his early
book-works with Circle Press and his award-winning I Send You This
Cadmium Red, a two-year correspondence with the writer and critic
John Berger on the subject of color, in a lecture called Paper and
Light: Collaborations with Writers and Artists.
On June 21, writer and oral historian Cathy Courtney will talk
about her work as director of Artists' Lives, an oral history
project established in 1990 by National Life Story Collection at the
British Library. She will play extracts from a number of the
completed interviews (including Ron King) as she discusses the particular
problems/joys of recording artists' life stories in her talk entitled
Painting with Words: The Artist Speaks. All lectures take place
in the Center’s Lecture Hall. Please note that seating is limited
to 200.
For more information, visit the Center’s web site at
http://www.yale.edu/ycba/
or call 203-432-2800.
