Book Art

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Book Art is a field of art that involves the creation of works that use or refer to the structural and conceptual properties of books. The term is also used to describe works of art produced in this field. These works may contain text, images, or both, or they may be sculptural. Book art has existed for thousands of years, and can be seen, for example, in Egyptian papyri, in Chinese, Japanese and Korean scrolls and books, and in Mesoamerican codices.[ citation needed ] As a field of contemporary art, book art has seen explosive growth since the 1960s. [1] The related term "book arts" refers to the creative and craft disciplines used to produce book art, such as printing, printmaking, papermaking, typography and bookbinding.

American colleges began offering book art programs in the 1980s, including the MFA program at the University of Alabama [2] and the MFA in book art and creative writing at Mills College in Oakland, CA. [3] The College Book Art Association, founded in 2008, [4] organizes annual conferences, publishes an open access journal titled Openings: Studies in Book Art, and maintains the blog Book Art Theory.

Organizations that exhibit, teach and promote book art include the Center for Book Arts in New York City, the Minnesota Center for Book Arts in Minneapolis and the San Francisco Center for the Book.

There are several sub-fields within book art, including fine press books, sculptural bookworks, artist's books, altered books, designer bookbinding, installations and performances. Fine press book art follows in the tradition of the book as precious object. Publishers like William Morris's Kelmscott Press, active as part of the British Arts and Crafts movement, was an important precursor to fine press book art. Examples of 20th century fine press book art include works published by Arron Press and The Gahenna Press. [5]

For a more extensive overview of the history of applied book art and more examples, refer to the Artist's book article.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fine art</span> Art developed primarily for aesthetics

In European academic traditions, fine art is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork. In the aesthetic theories developed in the Italian Renaissance, the highest art was that which allowed the full expression and display of the artist's imagination, unrestricted by any of the practical considerations involved in, say, making and decorating a teapot. It was also considered important that making the artwork did not involve dividing the work between different individuals with specialized skills, as might be necessary with a piece of furniture, for example. Even within the fine arts, there was a hierarchy of genres based on the amount of creative imagination required, with history painting placed higher than still life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artist's book</span> Work of art in the form of a book

Artists' books are works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects.

Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary tropes or with various traditions of poetry and poetics. Due to the looseness of the definition, it is possible for writing such as feature stories to be considered creative writing, even though it falls under journalism, because the content of features is specifically focused on narrative and character development. Both fictional and non-fictional works fall into this category, including such forms as novels, biographies, short stories, and poems. In the academic setting, creative writing is typically separated into fiction and poetry classes, with a focus on writing in an original style, as opposed to imitating pre-existing genres such as crime or horror. Writing for the screen and stage—screenwriting and playwriting—are often taught separately, but fit under the creative writing category as well.

Enrico Donati was an Italian-American Surrealist painter and sculptor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Arneson</span> American sculptor and professor (1930 - 992)

Robert Carston Arneson was an American sculptor and professor of ceramics in the Art department at University of California, Davis for nearly three decades.

Peter and Donna Thomas are American papermakers, book artists, and authors. They are co-authors of three commercially published books and produced over 100 limited edition books.

Timothy C. Ely is a contemporary American painter, graphic artist, and bookbinder, known for creating single-copy handmade books as art objects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Francisco Center for the Book</span> Art school in the United States

The San Francisco Center for the Book (SFCB) is a non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Mary Austin and Kathleen Burch in San Francisco, California in the United States. The first center of its kind on the West Coast, SFCB was modeled after two similar organizations, The Center for Book Arts in New York City and the Minnesota Center for Book Arts in Minneapolis.

Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA) is the largest and most comprehensive independent nonprofit book arts center in the United States. Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, MCBA is a nationally recognized leader in the celebration and preservation of traditional crafts, including hand papermaking, letterpress printing and hand bookbinding, as well as the use of these traditional techniques by contemporary artists in creating new artists' books and artwork.

Kathan Brown is an American master printmaker, writer, lecturer, and entrepreneur. In 1962, Brown founded Crown Point Press, a fine art print shop specializing in etching, and has owned and directed the shop since then. Crown Point Press is widely credited with sparking the revival of etching as a viable art medium. Some of the most important artists of our time, including John Cage, Chuck Close, Anish Kapoor, Ed Ruscha, Kiki Smith and Pat Steir, have worked there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Dailey (glass artist)</span> American artist

Dan Owen Dailey is an American artist and educator, known for his sculpture. With the support of a team of artists and crafts people, he creates sculptures and functional objects in glass and metal. He has taught at many glass programs and is professor emeritus at the Massachusetts College of Art, where he founded the glass program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bookbinding</span> Process of assembling a book

Bookbinding is the process of building a book, usually in codex format, from an ordered stack of paper sheets with one's hands and tools, or in modern publishing, by automated processes. Firstly, one binds the sheets of papers along an edge with a thick needle and strong thread. One can also use loose-leaf rings, binding posts, twin-loop spine coils, plastic spiral coils, and plastic spine combs, but they last for a shorter time. Next, one encloses the bound stack of paper in a cover. Finally, one places an attractive cover onto the boards, and features the publisher's information and artistic decorations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Selgin</span> American author and English professor

Peter Selgin is an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, essayist, editor, and illustrator. Selgin is Associate Professor of English at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viola Frey</span> American artist (1933–2004)

Viola Frey was an American artist working in sculpture, painting and drawing, and professor emerita at California College of the Arts. She lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area and was renowned for her larger-than-life, colorfully glazed clay sculptures of men and women, which expanded the traditional boundaries of ceramic sculpture.

Julie Chen is an American book artist and educator.

Susan Joy Share is an American book artist and performance artist, born in Syracuse, New York, who worked in New York City as an artist and conservator for more than twenty years before moving her studio to Anchorage, Alaska. She is known for her inventive moveable and morphing book art, architectonic paper structures, and wearable books used in her performances. In the late 1970s, she was part of the CETA-funded Cultural Council Foundation Artists Project in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hedi Kyle</span> German-born American book artist and educator (born 1937)

Hedi Kyle is a German-born American book artist and educator who has had a major influence on the development of book arts.

Nance O'Banion (1949-2018) was an Oakland based American artist who "pioneered creative explorations of handmade paper". She is known for her sculptural paper works and book works which focus on themes of change and transformation. A retrospective sample of the arc of her work may be viewed at: https://nance-obanion.com

Eleanore Edwards Ramsey is an American designer bookbinder based in San Francisco, California.

References

  1. Bright, Betty (2005). No Longer Innocent: Book Art In America 1960-1980. New York: Granary Books. ISBN   1887123717.
  2. "Book Arts – SLIS – The University of Alabama".
  3. "Mills College Catalog – Book Arts".
  4. "College Book Art Association".
  5. Eaton, Timothy A. (1991). Books as Art. Boca Raton, FL: Boca Raton Museum of Art. pp. 10–23.