Center for Book Arts news

Opening Reception for Artist as Publisher and Fun & Games (and Such...)

2008-07-13T12:48:00.004-04:00

Thanks to everyone who attended our Opening Reception on Wednesday, July 9!

It was a great evening, as you'll see from these pictures, and we look forward to seeing you again for upcoming related events:

Artist Talk: Artist as Publisher
Wednesday, July 30^th , 6:30pm
Suggested donation: $10/$5 CBA members

Artist Talk: Fun and Games (and Such)
Wednesday, August 6^th , 6:30 pm
Suggested donation: $10/$5 CBA members

"Artist as Publisher" on ArtCal.com

2008-07-07T15:17:00.002-04:00

The Center's upcoming exhibition Artist as Publisher has been featured on ArtCal's Zine. The full article is copied below:

"Who writes? For whom is the writing being done? In what circumstances?," Edward Said said, asking after the intellectual conditions of production proper to a humanist criticism. (A modifier about which he confessed to have "contradictory feelings of affection and revulsion.") Though Said was invested in a slightly different field his observations apply equally to a a bumper crop of art writing. With regards a given professional constituency: "Once again we are back to the quandary suggested by the three thousand advanced critics reading each other to everyone else's unconcern... what is the acceptable humanistic antidote to what one discovers, say amongst sociologists, philosophers and so-called policy scientists who speak only to and for each other in a language oblivious to everything but a well-guarded, constantly shrinking fiefdom forbidden to the uninitiated?" Well one such prescription might be opening at The Center for Book Arts this Wednesday; Artist as Publisher includes a great number of artists who have "embraced independent publication as a means to bypass the gallery system, to produce new artwork affordably, and to distribute their artwork widely and on their own terms." Of course it remains to be seen which direction Omar Lopez-Chahoud's curation will emphasize - and though its hard to imagine a discourse more oblique than the one currently on offer; that's precisely the appeal of this show, insofar as we don't know what art writing might look like when pulled out from behind the lens of an overheated industry.

Saveur Magazine Features The Center for Book Arts

2008-07-01T10:26:00.004-04:00

There's a wonderful new article on the Saveur Magazine website about the Edible Book Festival hosted this April at The Center for Book Arts. The article is copied in full below (and you can click here to see photos from the event). Thanks Saveur!

Eat Your Words

by Karen Shimizu

This April, as the International Edible Book Festival entered its ninth year, bibliophiles around the world gathered to present, then devour, books made to eat.

The festival is the creation of the book-art archivist, historian, curator, and librarian Judith A. Hoffberg. It takes place on or around April 1 of each year and is loosely tied to the birthday of Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, author of The Physiology of Taste. (Like Brillat-Savarin's gastronomical treatise, the festival is mostly playful but is guided by a firm belief in the importance of both the palate and the page.)

"It's taken off with very little work on my part," Hoffberg said. "It's a self-duplicating machine." Since its inception, in California in 2000, the Edible Book Festival has been embraced by book centers all over the world, which manage the event on their own and may choose to register at the festival website. This year, groups in 11 countries, ranging from Australia to Singapore, and 23 U.S. states signed on.

Many libraries and other nonprofit book organizations have made the festival an annual fund-raising event, and the edible books vary in their ambition and scope, ranging from the silly to the sublime. "Everybody does it a different way," Hoffberg observed. "Some are really elegant, and some are really easy."

In New York, The Center for Book Arts, which offers workshops in traditional book-making methods, has made the Edible Book Festival part of its annual benefit. On the evening of April 3, supporters of the CBA gathered in Manhattan to bid on artwork, listen to Japanese Gypsy rock, and eat books.

For the past three years, the CBA has paired book artists with professional chefs. "At the beginning, you could really tell which ones the chefs worked on," said CBA executive director Alexander Campos. "We've been moving toward greater palatability."

The edible books on the CBA's dessert table were a smorgasbord of literary and culinary tropes. An excerpt from Don Quixote on lavash-like paper occupied one side of the table. A solitary pink balloon hovered above a cake crowned with two figurines, together representing the balloon from Around the World in 80 Days.

Rough, muscular "bread rocks" by the artist Tattfoo Tan standing for Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching sat on the table in staggered rows. The brown, scorched surface of the bread was scattered with gold dust; fresh sprigs of rosemary added touches of gentle spring green. The combined effect was mesmerizing.

Lauri Ditunno, who runs the designer bakery Cake Alchemy, worked with science fiction–derived designs by the artists Rocco Scary and Austin Thomas. At one end of the dessert table, her rendition of the spaceship from 2001: A Space Odyssey—looking a bit like a thighbone cast in chocolate—hovered above a lunar landscape of nuts dusted with powdered sugar. Across the table, atop a broad rectangular cake base, accordion-fold sheets of chocolate framed an illustration from H. G. Wells's The Time Machine.

A few feet away, a huge fruit pie crust oozed over the sides of its rectangular pan like one of Salvador Dalí's postage stamps. The surface of the pie was covered in glyphs of crust and bright food coloring. "It's the tale of Momotaro, or Peach Boy," said baker Jon Zeltsman, who based the pie on a design by artist Micki Watanabe-Spiller. Zeltsman pointed to the discrete patches of sculpted crust that illustrated phases of Momotaro's journey. A cluster of cayenne-spiced sour cherries marked the home of fire-dwelling demons. In the bottom left corner of the pie, a swooning figure leaned out of a whole roasted peach: Momotaro being born. "He was meant to be standing up but fell over in the oven," Zeltsman said, then paused. "Actually, the peach is very womblike."

When it was time to cut the cakes and eat the books, no one hesitated. Knives flashed. Someone broke off a chunk of solid-chocolate spaceship and plated it beside a slice of The Time Machine. In a few minutes, Don Quixote was being dipped in roasted red pepper sauce and consumed along with red wine.

Between sweet, airy mouthfuls of Time Machine buttercream and knolls of Tao Te Ching rock bread, I remembered what Hoffberg said about an edible-book event that she'd attended in Germany, where a book artist had made gorgeous illuminated manuscripts of gingerbread and icing.

Could she bring herself to ingest them?

"I ate them up, my dear," she said. "I hated to."

This article was first published in Saveur in Web Exclusive!

New Catalogue for Mapping Correspondence!

2008-06-26T11:48:00.005-04:00

We have a new catalogue for Mapping Correspondence: Mail Art in the 21st Century! This publication is a beautifully produced overview of Mail Art and the works included in this exhibition.

The catalogue features:

Essays by writer John Held, Jr., and exhibition curator Champe Smith
Complete index of contemporary and historical works in the exhibition
Numerous color photographs
Detailed timeline of the evolution of Mail Art
Relationship chart of contemporary artists in the exhibition

Click here to purchase the catalogue. $20 ($17 for members of the Center).

Click below to see large-scale photographs:

The Center for Book Arts Featured on NPR!

2008-06-18T11:05:00.004-04:00

This morning, the Bryant Park Project broadcast a special feature on Mapping Correspondence: Mail Art in the 21st Century, an exhibition currently on show at the Center. Interviewee Martha Wilson discusses the importance of Mail Art and the various unexpected forms it can take.

Click here to listen to the show, and to see photographs from the exhibition.

Martha was also the Center last Friday, together with many other major figures from the Mail Art movement, to take part in a panel discussion on the history of Mail Art. To see photos of from the event, click here.

An Authentik and Historikal Panel on the Phenomenon of Mail Art

2008-06-10T10:39:00.004-04:00

We are pleased to welcome five major figures in the Mail Art movement to speak about this unique and vital art form at a panel discussion on Friday, June 13, 2008, at 6:30pm.

The panel discussion is entitled: "An Authentik and Historikal Panel on the Phenomenon of Mail Art," and will focus on the origins of this art form and how it continues to be a critical and subversive medium in a society where modes of communication are undergoing rapid upheavals.

Panelists will include:

John Held, Jr. (Moderator) has been involved with Mail Art since 1975. He has written extensively on Mail Art and is viewed as a leading historian of the art form. He has had dozens of solo and group exhibitions in America and Europe, has appeared in multiple Performance Art pieces, has guest-curated and lectured widely, and has direct connections and long-term collaborative partnerships with many major figures in Mail Art.

A.A. Bronson is an artist whose work has spanned multiple genres and various modern media. He is currently Executive Director of Printed Matter, an organization in New York that is dedicated to the cultivation and dispersal of the artist’s book. He was also a founding member of General Idea, an artist collective from Canada.

John Evans has collaborated with almost every major Mail Arts figure of the last thirty years. His involvement with the movement began in the mid-1960s, and he continues to show in New York and in Europe. Evans uses the tool of collage and the philosophy of inclusion to express his personal sense of irony, humor and shifting aesthetic and socio-political ideas.

Barbara Moore is an art historian, writer, and former rare-book dealer specializing in avant-garde art of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s. She was first editor at Dick Higgins's seminal Something Else Press. Since then she has written essays on and curated exhibitions of artist's books, multiples, and alternative media. She curated the first Fluxus exhibition in New York.

Martha Wilson is the Founding Director of Franklin Furnace Archive, Inc., an artist’s center in New York which since its inception in 1976 has presented and preserved temporal art: artists’ books and other multiples produced internationally after 1960; temporary installations; and performance art. Trained in English literature, Ms. Wilson was teaching at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design when she became fascinated by the art field in which text and image intersect.

William S. Wilson is a historian, art critic, and novelist. He has written extensively on Mail Art and is regarded as an authority on Ray Johnson, a major figure in the New York artistic community. He received his PhD in English Literature from Yale in 1961.

Mapping Correspondence on Artforum.com

2008-05-14T18:33:00.003-04:00

One of our current exhibitions, Mapping Correspondence: Mail Art in the 21st Century, has just been featured as a "Critic's Pick" on Artforum.com!

As Courtney Martin writes, this exhibition "posits a mail-art history that is as aesthetically nuanced as it is literal and literary."

Click here to read the article in full - and to read more about Mapping Correspondence and see pictures from the opening, please click here.

Mapping Correspondence

2008-04-14T18:00:00.020-04:00

On Friday, April 11, The Center for Book Arts held an opening reception for its new exhibition, Mapping Correspondence: Mail Art in the 21st Century.

This exhibition invited artists, who in turn invited additional participants, to submit work via the postal service, creating a network of communication that reflects the complex and varied meaning of the book, mapping, and social networking in the 21st century.

Mail art is a democratic genre outside of the traditional system of art consumption through commercial galleries.

In addition to the contemporary work, the exhibition features work by some of the most influential artists and collaboratives of the movement, including Ray Johnson, Buster Cleveland, Diter Rot, Albert M. Fine, May Wilson, Dick Higgins, General Idea and vintage Anna Banana. Historical work is on loan from various sources, including Scott McCarney, Barbara Moore, Gordon Simpson, Marilyn R. Rosenberg, Franklin Furnace Archive, the Davi Det Hompson Archive at Virginia Commonwealth University, and the Center for Book Arts' own collection.

Featuring new work by : Abner Trellis • Adam Lowenbein • Aijung Kim • Alison Josephs • Amanda Thackery • Amelia Grohman • amk • András Böröcz • Andrea Poulsen • Andrew Krieger • Anna Banana •Anonymous • anticham • Arthur Cravan • Asha Ganpat • b.saved • Beverly Sokol • Bill Thomson • Bob Holman • Bo DuVall • Bob & Roberta Smith • Brad Birchett • Bruce Licher • buZ blurr • Buzz Spector • Carol Davis • Carol Stetser • Cathy Cullen • Chae Ho Lee • Charlotte Cooney • Cheryl Solomon • Chip Duyck • Chris George • Clarissa Sligh • Craig Saper • Cris Katearee • Dale Roberts • Delphi Basilicato • Diego Sanchez • Dikko Faust • Doug Beube • Doug Michael • Ed Varney • Edward Shalala • Emily Barrows • Eric Knutzon • Esther Smith • Felicia Gilman • Luc Fierens • Francis Duchamp • Franticham • Genie Shenk • Georgia Luna Smith Faust • Heather Green • Heidi Cody • Ina Archer • ivarykeith • Jack Cook • James Prez • Jamie Hart • Jane Gardner-Clayson • Jennifer Magee • Jeremy Schmall • Jessie Voorsanger • Jill Conner • Joanna Gardner • Joe Zane • John M. Bennett • Jon Esser • Josh Werner • Joshua Blank • Joy Cox • Judith Hoffberg • Christopher Gordon •Julia Featheringill • Justin Lincoln • Karen Zimmermann • Kat Bridges • Keiichi Nakamura • Kelly Dobson • Kelly Lonergan • Ken Montgomery • Kevin Guinn • Kevin Madill • Kimberly Purser • Kirsten Nelson • KK Kozik • Kym Olsen • Laura Ferguson • Laura Kikauka • Lauren Marsella • Leonard Seastone • Ligorano/Reese • Lissi Erwin • Mailarta • Mark Bryant • Mark Wagner • Matt Knannlein • Meg Belichick • Michelle Dussault • Miguel Jimenez Zenon • Mika Dashman • Minny Lee • Miriam Schaer • Nancy Loeber • Noelle Tan • Peter Fillingham • Peter Kruty • Phil Zimmermann • Pistol Pete • Polly EllaNora Smith Faust • Rachel Wiecking • Ramak Fazel • Richard Kostelanetz • Richard Tipping • R. J. Eck • Robbin Ami Silverberg • Robert The • Rod Summers VEC • Ronald Baatz • Roni Gross • Ruth Lingen • Sally Gardner • Sarah McCarry • Sarah Owen • Sayre Gaydos • S. C. Durkin • SCOTTATUKS • Sheila Lanham • Shinsuke Aso • Snappy • Stacie Birchett • Steven Dressler • Sue Gardner Smith • Sue O'Donnell • Tae Won Yu • Tom Butter • Tony White • Victoria May • Vittore Baroni • Vittorio Bacelli • Warren Lehrer • Willym Rowe • Zabeth Loisel-Weiner

Support for the Center for Book Arts Visual Arts Programs–Exhibitions, Featured Artist Projects, and the Artist-in-Residence Workspace Program–is provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Inc. and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Additional support for the Center’s exhibition program is provided, in part, by the Department of Cultural Affairs of New York City and the New York State Council on the Arts.

Many thanks to those lenders, the participating artists, and for the assistance of Ken Chu.

Mapping Correspondence: Mail Art in the 21st Century
April 11 - June 28, 2008

at

The Center for Book Arts
28 West 27th Street, Third Floor
(Between Broadway and Sixth Avenue)

Telephone: 212-481-0295

Opening hours:
10am-6pm, Monday-Friday
10am-4pm, Saturday

Mapping Correspondence opening reception, April 11, 2008

Mapping Correspondence opening reception, April 11, 2008

CBA Founder Richard Minsky (right) speaks with artist
Richard Kostelanetz, artist Sally Gardner (far left), and friends.

Mapping Correspondence opening reception, April 11, 2008

Artist Marilyn Rosenberg (center)

Artist Richard Kostelanetz

Artist Skuta Helgason

Artist Craven (left) and Tom Richard

Edible Books 2008: Travelogues

2008-04-08T11:07:00.005-04:00

Who needs 80 days? Last week, The Center for Book Arts traveled around the world in one evening with our annual Benefit Party, a celebration of books, artwork, and desert! We presented eight edible books - pictured above - and there were also twenty-five original pieces of art available for silent auction, all of which were sold to support the ongoing operations at the Center.

Thanks very much to all those who joined us at the party. We’re especially grateful to the chefs and artists whose culinary creations served as the centerpiece of the night’s festivities, the artists who contributed their work to the auction and those who created original postcards for our raffle. Long-time friend of the Center, Roni Gross, created the wonderful floral centerpieces. It’s the brilliance and originality of all these artists that make it possible for us to have such a successful benefit party each year.

The benefit party also serves as a special opportunity for the book arts community to come together to honor those individuals who have made major contributions to the field. This year, we honored Milan Hughston, Chief of Library and Museum Archives at The Museum of Modern Art; Arthur Jaffe of the Arthur & Mata Jaffe Collection at Florida Atlantic University Libraries; Master Letterpress Printer Peter Kruty; Master Binder Hedi Kyle; and artist Martha Rosler. We’re truly fortunate to have had the chance to celebrate such an accomplished group!

Finally, we must express our deepest gratitude to the many volunteers who made this evening possible. This glorious event was a testament to the talent and dedication of the artists and other individuals who contribute to the Center’s ongoing success.

Please click here to see photos from the event, and click here to view the artwork from the silent auction. A complete list of the artists and chefs who contributed can be viewed here.

Early History

2008-03-08T15:56:00.006-05:00

We were very lucky to host a weeklong workshop with Julia Miller this past week, The Early History of the Codex. Students worked on four different historical models: a papyrus roll with leather enclosure, a multi-board wax tablet codex using cedar and encaustic wax, a nag hammadi codex, and a multi-quire codex based on the Glazier codex. What made this class especially enjoyable was Julia's depth of knowledge, and her ability to bring broad historical knowledge of the period and the forms to her students. Hands-on work was complemented by reading material and slide lectures, as well as Julia's extensive trove of teaching models.

Click here for more photos from the class.

Opening reception

2008-01-25T11:17:00.000-05:00

All three of our winter 2008 exhibitions opened last Friday night, and we drew quite a crowd. We were pleased to see so many new (as well as familiar) faces come out to see the work and talk to the artists. Skipping the Page, Featured Artist Project: Barbara Barnes Allen, and Spotlight: Block, Paper, Skin will all be on display through March 29th.

Saturday, January 26th from 1 to 5pm we're proud to host our annual Winter Open House. We'll feature book arts demonstrations with Sophia Kramer, Yukari Hayashida, Roni Gross, Barbara Henry, and Delphi Basilicato. We'll be answering all your questions about the upcoming season of workshops, and you can take some time to enjoy the current exhibitions. Please join us.

Click here to see more pictures from the opening reception.

Skipping the Page

2008-01-14T12:22:00.000-05:00

We're all hard at work on installing the first exhibition of the new year, Skipping the Page, organized by Graham Parker. This exhibition takes as its starting point the idea of tempo as it relates to the printed page. In doing so it invites us to consider the technology of the book as a device to depict and respond to the passing of time, at a time when other technologies are more often foregrounded as appropriate to the task.

All of the art works in this exhibition invoke an idea of rhythm, of mean tempo – in many cases invoking that rhythm only to compromise it with acts of ambiguity, failure, culture jamming, disruption, acceleration and deceleration from an expected tempo of an action or process. Including works by: Michael Baers, Svetlana Boym, Beth Campbell, Julie Chen/Barbara Tetenbaum, Tim Etchells, Hugo Glendinning, Neil Goldberg
Karen Hanmer, Ryan Holmberg,Vlatka Horvat, Sam Lewitt, Marie Lorenz, Richard McGuire,
Trong Nguyen,Lean Oates, Mark Orange, Garrett Ricciardi, Marco Roso, Seth Price,
Lan Tuazon, Uwasa Masato, Chris Ware, and 432a (Nami Matsuo & Lars Niki).

We're planning on having an artist talk in February with some of the artists in the show, as well as a screening on March 7th at 6:30pm; We'll be featuring some of the video projects related to the exhibition that night.

We're all anxious to see how these ideas will take form once the installation is complete. I hope you can join us for the opening this Friday.

Click here for pictures from the exhibition

Center for Book Arts Holiday Sale

2007-12-11T17:53:00.000-05:00

Please join us for our annual Holiday Gift Sale & Preview Party!
Throughout the 2 day event, artists and instructors of the Center will be selling their handcrafted creations. Instructors and staff will be on hand to answer questions about our extensive schedule of courses, as well as discuss our membership and residency programs.

Preview Party & Silent Auction
Friday, December 14th, 6-9pm ($10 admission)

Join us Friday night and have the first chance to purchase unique and affordable handmade gift items, while enjoying a festive evening of music with hors d’oeuvres and holiday cocktails. PLUS, a Silent Auction featuring jewelry and accessories, acupuncture sessions, museum memberships, private tours, private lessons and workshops, dining certificates, and getaways. Attendees will receive a special letterpress printed keepsake with each ticket

HOLIDAY SALE and FESTIVITIES
Saturday, December 15th, from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm (free admission)

Join us for seasonal treats, live music, and raffle prizes! The Center’s studio and exhibit space will be transformed into a book artists’ marketplace. Unique and affordable items for sale will include hand-bound books, journals, greeting cards, decorative boxes, photo albums, and original artwork and artist’s books. Prices start as low as $5 and most gifts can be found in the price range of $15-$75.

WHERE: The Center for Book Arts

28 West 27th Street, 3rd Floor

Between Broadway and 6th Avenue

N, R to 28th Street and Broadway

F to 23rd Street and 6th Avenue

1 or 9 to 28th Street and 7th Avenue

Call the Center for details on parking in the neighborhood

An Alaskan Decade

2007-10-20T13:13:00.000-04:00

We're very happy to present Susan Share as our Sally R. Bishop Faculty Fellow this year. Bishop Faculty Fellows give a lecture, exhibit a body of work in our Spotlight exhibition series and teach a master class for advanced artists in the field. Last night, Friday, Susan gave a slide lecture about the body of work she's created over the past ten years, since moving from Brooklyn, NY to Anchorage, Alaska. Susan talked about process and materials, as well as the ways her work relates to books, sculpture and performance. She also demonstrated the workings of a performance prop/ book object she made, called Carrots, Anyone? Here's some photos of the lecture:

She also taught this weekend a Master Class called Imbedded Thoughts, that deals with layering of content and images through the use of materials like wet felted wool, acrylic gel medium and hog gut. The students were ecstatic. Here's some photos of the workshop:

The Friday night lecture also kicked off our fall series of special events, which includs readings, lectures and professional development workshops. We're excited to bring a full schedule of programming this fall- be sure to check out the whole schedule of events through December-posted on the events page on this website.

Production, Not Reproduction

2007-10-13T17:13:00.000-04:00

The opening of our fall exhibition, Production, Not Reproduction, was a great event, coinciding with Printed Matter's Art Book Fair, which helped bring in a new crowd. The day after the opening we hosted a spirited discussion featuring Tony White, guest curator, Brad Freeman, and Jan Voss of Boekie Woekie. Brad and Jan discussed their careers in the world of offset printing, and talked about the differences between the European and American book worlds. We're happy to host this exhibition through December- be sure to visit the Center to check it out.
Here's some photos from the opening and the panel discussion:

Installation

2007-09-21T13:14:00.000-04:00

Before you can install, you have to de-install.

Our fall exhibition, Production, Not Reproduction:Offset Printed Artist Books, opens next Friday, September 28. We're excited about the show and think it's going to be a great event.

But in the meantime, we've got a week to install. All of the work from the summer show is packed up and is being shipped out/ picked up. We're now on to prepping the walls to paint so that we're ready to go next week on installing all the work.

Wish us luck!

Cynthia Thompson: Within the Veil

2007-08-18T11:28:00.000-04:00

Please join us next Tuesday, August 21st at 6:30 pm for an Artist Talk & Reception

Featured Artist Project

Cynthia Thompson: Within the Veil

The work of Cynthia Thompson explores themes of religion and the human body. Raised in a Catholic tradition, her work references Adam and Eve and St. Theresa, while exploring issues of body image, beauty, desire, vulnerability, imperfection and body-centered guilt.

Using handmade paper pigmented to resemble flesh, flocking the surface with powdered soap, the materials evoke the subject as do the images of hands and bodies.

Suggested admission: $10/ $5 CBA members

Also on view: (un)Contained Vessels

Both exhibitions close September 15, 2007

Support for the Center’s Visual Arts Programs—Exhibitions, Featured Artist Projects, and the Artist-in-Residence Workspace Program—is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Additional support for the Center’s programs is provided, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

(un)Contained Vessels opening

2007-07-26T17:49:00.002-04:00

(un)Contained Vessels opening

2007-07-26T17:49:00.001-04:00

Did you join us for the opening for (un)Contained Vessels?
Did you get to enjoy some great work, a fantastic crowd, amazing food prepared by Roni Gross and friends, cocktails mixed by our multi-talented Executive Director Alexander Campos, and this summer's Featured Artist Project, Cynthia Thompson: Within the Veil?

Did you miss a great opening to a great show? Well, never fear, you can always join us for the panel discussion...

Please join us on Tuesday, August 7th at 6:30 pm for a panel discussion in conjunction with(un)Contained Vessels, the 2007 Artist Members Exhibition.

Artists Josh Harris, Tara O’Brien, Amee J. Pollack, Miriam Schaer and Miki Watanabe-Spiller will talk about their work. The work in the exhibition draws connections between book arts and the artistic practices of installation, sculpture, and/or conceptual art. The title of the exhibition refers to the notion that the container (box) is more than a mere holder of the item it houses; it becomes an active element in which it itself is a key component of the piece. Without its involvement the object would be unsuccessful as a whole.

Moderated by Alexander Campos, Executive Director

Reception to follow.

Both exhibitions on view until September 15, 2007.

Here's more photos from the opening:

Eat Your Heart Out: Edible Books 2007

2007-04-06T14:42:00.000-04:00

Who knew eating books could be so much fun? Thanks to everyone who attended the Center for Book Arts annual benefit Eat Your Heart Out: Edible Books of Love & Revenge. What a great turnout! We all had a rousing good time and the event was a great success! We were especially happy to honor William Dane, Mindy Dubansky, Barbara Henry, Jerry Kelly, and Martha Wilson for their tremendous contributions to the field of book arts. This is a great opportunity for new and old friends to toast these talented and dedicated individuals, while supporting the Center’s programs.

We must extend our sincerest gratitude to all the individuals who contributed to the success of the evening. Our Eatery Club Sponsors and Patrons Society contribute the fuel to launch the event. We are eternally grateful for their generosity! We are also indebted to Chef Lauri Ditunno and Jurgen David from the French Culinary Institute for creating the fabulous edible books, based on proposals from artist members. Idee Schoenheimer and Dana Kravis also designed and created delicious books of their own. Roni Gross and Peter Schell created the fantastic table arrangements. Thanks to Bliss Blood of the Moonlighters for her ukulele entertainment. The elegant awards were hand lettered by Karen Gorst. Many thanks go to photographers Star Black and Rebecca Robertson. Timothy Sullivan designed the invitation artwork, and Amber McMillan designed the gorgeous benefit invitation.

We would also like to thank all the artists who donated work to the Silent Auction and Raffle of tormented love diaries. The Auction and Raffle add dimension to the evening’s activities, in addition to increasing revenue and merriment. Last but not least, we must thank our team of volunteers, without whom the event could not happen. Volunteers are a crucial part of our “behind the scene” activities, making calls, stuffing envelopes, draping fabric, and attending to every detail too numerous to mention. They are truly invaluable.

Click here to view photos from the event

Click here to view Silent Auction

Click here to view Raffle items

Dafatir Panel Discussion

2007-02-17T11:36:00.000-05:00

We'd like to thank everyone who made it out to Panel Discussion we co-sponsored at the New School last night, Visualizing Iraqui Politics & Cultures in Iraq and the Diaspora. A sizeable crowd turned out to Wollman Hall to hear speakers Hashim al-Tawil, Ella Shohat, Michael Rakowitz, Sharokin Betgevargiz, and Sinan Antoon. Thanks also to Nada Shabout, the exhibition curator for Dafatir, for moderating the panel. The event was co-sponsored by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics of the New School and funding was provided by the New York Council for the Humanities. After the panel the speakers joined us back at the Center for refreshments, and to meet our guests from the College Art Association conference, who were enjoying the reception for the current Featured Artist Project: Red Herring Print Portfolio. Many of the artists contributing to the portfolio were able to join us and a good time was had by all.
Here's some pictures from last night:

Holiday Sale 2006

2006-12-21T16:26:00.000-05:00

I hope you were able to make it to our annual Holiday Sale last weekend- a good time was had by all this year. Guests enjoyed some lovely klezmer music and tasty hors d'oeuvres prepared by staff members Alex and Sarah on Friday night during our Preview Party. The Center raised some money for its programs through a silent auction and raffle. The vendors got a chance to enjoy each other's work (as well as sell their own). On the whole, a smashing success. Here's some more pictures from the event.

FYI: The Center is closed as of December 23rd, reopening January 2nd.
Happy Holidays from the Center for Book Arts!

December Events

2006-12-04T10:15:00.000-05:00

Be sure to join us at the Center this month as we close out the year-

On Friday, December 8th at 6:30 pm we will host the last of this year's Center Broadsides Reading Series, featuring David Trinidad and Karen Garthe, hosted by Jeanne Marie Beaumont. There's a suggested donation of $10 at the door ($5 for CBA members) which gets you a free limited edition letterpress printed broadside as well.

On Friday, December 15th and Saturday December 16th we will host this year's Holiday Sale and Open House. New this year is a Friday night Preview Party and Silent Auction-Join us from 6 to 9pm and have the first chance to purchase unique and handmade items, while enjoying a festive evening of music with hors d'oeuvres and holiday cocktails. PLUS, special this year is the Silent Auction of Private Book Art lessons with some of the Center's instructors, museum memberships and private tours of collections. Attendees on Friday night will receive a special letterpress printed keepsake with each ticket. Throughout the two day event, artists will be selling their handcrafted creations at affordable prices.

Call to purchase your tickets to the Friday night Preview Party/Silent Auction at 212-481-0295. Saturday the fair will be open from 11 am to 5pm, free admission all day long.

Center Broadsides Reading Series

2006-11-04T13:52:00.000-05:00

Every year the Center for Book Arts hosts twelve poets over six readings, and prints a limited edition letterpress printed broadside for each poet. We've had a great group of poets and designers thus far this fall: On October 20th we welcomed Sheila Maldonado and Sharon Mesmer to the Center at a reading organized by Lydia Cortes. Jessica Duffett and Amber McMillan printed beautiful broadsides to commemorate the occasion.

Last night, November 3rd, we held the second reading of the season, hosted by Sharon Dolin. Elisabeth Frost and Rachel Wetzsteon read their work, and we enjoyed the gorgeous broadsides produced by Linda Seller and Barbara Henry. A good time was had by all.

Found in Translation opening

2006-10-02T09:18:00.000-04:00

Our fall exhibition opened on Friday, September 29th, with great excitement. Organized by Marshall Weber from Booklyn Artists Alliance, Found in Translation is a collection of multi-lingual artists books, prints, and digital and video documentation of innovative projects that explore the cognitive, literary, and political processes of translation. An exhibition catalog published by Booklyn is available. It is a traveling exhibition, which premiered at the San Francisco Center for the Book, and will continue on after it's time here in New York to the Minnesota Center for Book Arts.

The exhibition includes work by: Kurt Allerslev, Asian Classics Input Project (ACIP), Harriet Bart, Xu Bing, Nathaniel Bletter, Enrique Chagoya, A. P. Ferrara, Vincent FitzGerald & Company, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, M.T. Karthik, Lewis Koch, Clemens-Tobias Lange, Zahra Partovi, Eliana Perez, Felicia Rice, Veronika Schäpers, Clarissa Sligh, C. David Thomas, Marshall Weber, and Christopher Wilde.

The opening was a great night for all involved. We'd like to thank everyone who helped out- Delphi Basilicato, Kendra Sullivan, Michelle Raccagni, Jennifer Verbit, Kendra's very helpful friend, Eden Stork, Josh Harris, and Nicole Lorenti, - as well as Booklyn for all of their hard work.

We'll be hosting an Artist's Talk on October 27th, with John Brady, MT Karthik and Zahra Partovi, moderated by Marshall Weber.
Here's some photos: