Speaking Volumes
dal 23/1/2010 al 22/5/2010
Segnalato da
Jonathan Callan
Brian Dettmer
Sam Winston
Karen Hanmer
Luigi Serafini
Marine Bouvier
Jenine Haard
Harriet Bart
Buzz Spector
Jen Bervin
Maureen Cummins
Toby Lee Greenberg
Ann Kalmbach
Nina Katchadourian
Tatana Kellner
Heidi Neilson
Scott McCarney
Donna Ruff
Robert The
Mark Wagner
Joanna Poehlmann
23/1/2010
Speaking Volumes
John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan
The Language of Artists' Books. The exhibition explores the book form in relation to the evolving nature of language - as it jumps off the page and down new avenues of communication. Several artists investigate the structure of words and books, shifting and folding them into new meanings. Others highlight the power of visual language to impact the written word through unexpected illustration, wordplay, and sculptural alterations.
At a time when many are moving away from physical books toward electronic publishing technologies, Speaking Volumes explores the book form in relation to the evolving nature of language—as it jumps off the page and down new avenues of communication. Several artists investigate the structure of words and books, shifting and folding them into new meanings. Others highlight the power of visual language to impact the written word through unexpected illustration, wordplay, and sculptural alterations.
Jonathan Callan (England) creates large-scale sculptures from the bodies of coverless books. From February 8 through 19, witness the extraordinary transformation of hundreds of recycled books as the artist builds a site-specific work of art in the Arts Center’s Entrance Hall. Please donate your used books for this project. Drop them off at The ARTery.
Brian Dettmer (GA) sees compendiums of knowledge, such as dictionaries and encyclopedias, as relics in the age of Google and Wikipedia. He carefully excavates these tomes, page by page, to reveal layers of words and images that commingle in sculptural forms.
Other artists whose work is featured are Sam Winston (England); Karen Hanmer (IL); Luigi Serafini (Italy); Marine Bouvier and Jenine Haard (MA); Harriet Bart (MN); Buzz Spector (MO); Jen Bervin, Maureen Cummins, Toby Lee Greenberg, Ann Kalmbach, Nina Katchadourian, Tatana Kellner, Heidi Neilson, Scott McCarney, Donna Ruff, Robert The, Mark Wagner (NY); and Joanna Poehlmann (WI).
Speaking Volumes: The Language of Artists' Books is a part of
Beyond Words
Language is a sophisticated human phenomenon and the root of all communication and expression. The ability to shape sounds and symbols into words that form a shared language is at the core of our very nature. In each of the three exhibitions within the theme Beyond Words, the featured artists work with various materials and processes to investigate the way language constructs meaning and brings order to our world.
Image: The Case of Dora and Other Papers by Robert The, courtesy of the Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection.
Press contact
Shannon Luckey, manager of marketing & Public Relations, P: 920.458.6144 ext. 107 sluckey@JMKAC.org
John Michael Kohler Arts Center
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