Material
Meets Metaphor: A Half Century of Book Art by Richard Minsky
August
2 through November 29, 2010
Yale
University, Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library
Entrance
is in the Loria Center for the History of Art, 190 York Street, New Haven, CT
Richard Minsky,
pioneering contemporary book artist and founder of the Center for Book Arts in
New York City, is known for his conceptual approach to hand bookbinding and
commitment to changing the perception of the book arts from craft to fine art.
He combines a background in Economics with an innovative use of traditional
methods and new materials to create sculptural, often political
bookworks. His blending of an eclectic mix of interests, from musical and
theatre performance to social issues and virtual worlds, remain a hallmark of
Minsky's career. This exhibition showcases his editioned
(non-commissioned, made in multiple copies) bookworks alongside selections from
the Richard Minsky Archive, which documents the history of his career and his
working process.
This exhibit is
free and open to the public. Summer hours are Monday through Friday from
8:30am to 4:45pm. In September the library will be open to the public until
6pm Monday through Thursday.
Of
particular note is the 2009 work, Freedom of Choice: Three Poems of Love and
Death by Lucie Brock-Broido, which pushes Minsky’s "material
meets metaphor" philosophy to the extreme. The book is printed
inkjet on J. Barcham Green 1976 handmade paper, bound in dark teal goatskin
with 23K gold title, chained to an oak electric chair.
For
the full experience, the reader can strap on the head restraint with three
electrodes, applying one electrode to the leg. An MP3 player on the head
restraint plays Minsky's reading of the three poems, two of which concern
shotgun suicides and one, an electrocution. On the back of the chair is a
cabinet containing a 20 gauge shotgun, a Manila hangman's noose, a wakizashi
sword, razor blades, poison and a hypodermic syringe. Readers are invited to
experience Freedom of Choice when the Arts Library Special Collections reading
room is open.
For
images of the exhibition visit http://minsky.com/yale_2010.htm
Jae Jennifer Rossman
Assistant Director for Special Collections
Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library
Yale University
180 York Street
New Haven, CT 06520
203.432.4439
203.432.0549 (fax)
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