The Print Booked
NOCCA (New Orleans Center for Creative Arts) Galleries
Ken Kirschman Artspace
www.nocca.com
Curator: Maddy Rosenberg
Book art is a natural territory for a printmaker to explore, it begins with the printed word or image on a sheet of paper. Yet why remain with the paper as support? Why remain within the confines of a flat surface? Artist’s books offer an exciting area of experimentation that is finally coming into its own, a place where the printmaker is very much navigating the currents, pushing beyond the traditional.
The book as an art form is going through a contemporary renaissance. Artists have always kept sketchbooks, worked with poets, and illustrated books. But the artist’s book is a work of art in itself, where the book as we know it is totally rethought. Why a codex? Why bound at all? Of course, it is an intimate object to be picked up from a shelf and enjoyed but also torn apart; enlarged; hung on a wall, ceiling; standing on the floor; as a part of a larger whole, a bevy of books. Cut, sewn, welded, printed, etched, wound. To be torn apart page by page, transformed as it is put together again. To be pondered from a distance, to be surrounded by it, to follow it with the eye, to sit quietly and caress its pages. We think of the book as hand held but, it, too, yearns to break through such limitations.
The printed, embroidered, stuffed sculptural books of Miriam Schaer combine to create tableaux that push the form. The juxtaposition of bold imagery with the delicacy of the transparent fabric Desirée Alvarez prints and draws on is hung into configurations that seem to defy gravity. April Vollmer, known for her multi-colored layered hanga woodblock prints, they often reference the more disturbing part of nature in a lovingly way. Cynthia Back’s multi-color etchings coalesce in her variations on the accordion book as Karen Kunc’s painterly printmaking dances across the wall, allowing Tammy Wofsey‘s woodcut sagas to unwind step by step in her boxed accordion books.
The sly witty underpinnings of Heidi Neilson tightly conceived books offer us a pinch of conceptualism while Rosaire Appel “documents†things that are not, thereby placing the solemnity of most conceptual art on its head as they both amply demonstrate that the cerebral can be playful and visual as well. Hailing from a Fluxus tradition, German artist Brandstifter embarks on his latest collaboration with xrays at their foundation. Though Amanda Thackray is adept at traditional letterpress, she finds herself enjoying the challenges of the book as sculptural installation in a variation of a message in a bottle.
Art Hazelwood brings his narrative tales to life with silkscreen that often goes beyond one layer and level, as the wonderfully quirky imagery of Thorsten Dennerline inhabits his masterfully printed etching and lithography artist’s books. The dreams of Eunkang Koh manifest themselves in a fantasy played out on the paper surfaces of her three-dimensional artist’s books; Margaret Craig invents a world of her own through fluid biomorphic forms with a flexible etching printmaking process, as well, of her own making. The original conceit of Jay Bolotin – an animated woodcut motion picture with an operatic text, six years in the making- is only Part 1 of an anticipated trilogy.
Kumi Korf’s delicate minimal prints translate into books that belie her architectural background, though Maddy Rosenberg uses architectural memories past and present and, from the flat, transforms them into multi-planar environments. The “page†for Suzanne Reese Horvitz can be glass, paper or metal as she prints and paints on any surface; sequence can be hidden behind spreading steel or transparently mysterious through layers of glass. Anne Gilman’s multi panels reveal the text as image integrated with words in subdued drawn, printed and collaged color as Sabra Booth’s silkscreen text across relief cut-outs fly across the wall. She also has the capacity to highlight an environmental tragedy with a light hand through animation.
This is an exhibition that has one re-examining the book as more than a mere container of information, but as an inspiration for the artistic imagination, rethinking the printed page. It is at the very core of CENTRAL BOOKING’s mission.
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Thursday February 24th, 6:30
DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH – COMPLETE WITH 3D GLASSES!
Join Heidi Neilson at CENTRAL BOOKING – and learn all about fake snow and orbital debris (in 3D)!
This meet and greet with Heidi Neilson will also be a multi-media event. Enjoy the pages of Orbital Debris Simulator projected on the wall (everyone gets a pair of 3D glasses to view it properly). See also the video of the diaromas of Fake Snow Collection along with the makings of these highly conceptualized, wittily presented, both in text and image, artist’s books.
And there promises to be a third surprise from the studio of Heidi Neilson- a glimpse into a treat in miniature.
The artist’s books will, of course, be available to view and purchase:
Fake Snow Collection includes annotated images of 40 fake snow specimens, 17 topical readings accompanied by 28 diorama images with different types of fake snow, and 24 samples. Edition of 100, $130
Orbital Debris Simulator, viewable with red-blue 3D glasses, describes the phenomena of ‘space junk’ in the earth’s orbit, showing points of interest between the moon and the earth such as geosynchronous orbit, medium earth orbit, and the International Space Station. Images of space toys—spaceships and action figures from various science fiction ‘universes’ as well as replicas of actual spacecraft—are used as stand-ins for the orbital debris itself. edition of 70. $600
https://centralbookingnyc.com/galleries/gallery-1-artist-books-prints/artists-work/heidi-neilson/
Heidi Neilson works in drawing, printmaking and book arts with an occasional public project—all with conceptual inclinations. She recently cofounded an artist-run weather station on a studio building rooftop and presented her Queens neighborhood as a gigantic sundial, with a lone skyscraper as the shadow-casting spire. She has participated in residencies at the Visual Studies Workshop, the Lower East Side Printshop, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, Kala Art Institute and Women’s Studio Workshop, and has exhibited widely, including at the Queens Museum of Art, the International Center for Prints New York, Exit Art and The Drawing Center. Originally from Oregon, Heidi received an BA in biology from Reed College and an MFA in painting from Pratt Institute, and lives and works in New York. Further information is available at: www.heidineilson.com.
Thursday February 17th, 6:30
BOOK LAUNCH: TWO new artist’s books by Heidi Neilson, “Fake Snow Collection†and “Orbital Debris Simulatorâ€
Join Heidi Neilson at CENTRAL BOOKING – and learn all about fake snow and orbital debris! For those who haven’t already discovered the wit and playfulness in the work of this thoughtful artist, this is your opportunity. Fake Snow Collection includes annotated images of 40 fake snow specimens, 17 topical readings accompanied by 28 diorama images with different types of fake snow, and 24 samples. Orbital Debris Simulator, viewable with red-blue 3D glasses, describes the phenomena of ‘space junk’ in the earth’s orbit. Images of space toys—spaceships and action figures from various science fiction ‘universes’ as well as replicas of actual spacecraft—are used as stand-ins for the orbital debris itself.
Heidi Neilson works in drawing, printmaking and book arts with an occasional public project—all with conceptual inclinations. She recently co-founded an artist-run weather station on a studio building rooftop and presented her Queens neighborhood as a gigantic sundial, with a lone skyscraper as the shadow-casting spire. She has participated in residencies at the Visual Studies Workshop, the Lower East Side Printshop, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, Kala Art Institute and Women’s Studio Workshop, and has exhibited widely, including at the Queens Museum of Art, the International Center for Prints New York, Exit Art, The Drawing Center and, of course, at CENTRAL BOOKING. Originally from Oregon, Heidi received a BA in biology from Reed College and an MFA in painting from Pratt Institute, and lives and works in New York. Further information is available at: www.heidineilson.com.
‘GALILEO’S FINGER and THE MISSING LENTICULAR GLASS’
An astronomically inspired performance!
By Alyson Pou
April 28 / 29 7:30PM
For the further study and exemplification of Scientific Mysteries and Natural Curiosities
“Galileo’s Finger†is the first in a series of four interlocking performances written by Alyson Pou to coincide with the theme of CENTRAL BOOKING’s current Gallery II exhibition, Astronomy: The Celestial, and three more upcoming exhibitions on the topics of Biology, Chemistry and Physics.
Part II: June 16 /17, Part III: October 20 /21, Part IV: December 8/ 9, 2010 (Each Part is performed twice and can be viewed on either night).
Alyson Pou has been making installation and performance work for over twenty years. With a background in dance, visual art and writing – her work combines movement, text, and objects. She has performed, exhibited and lectured at museums, galleries, art centers and colleges around the country. She is the recipient of a New York Dance and Performance Award (“Bessie”) in the category of choreographer/creator for “To Us at Twilight….” Her work has been presented in New York by Danspace Project, Performance Space 122, Franklin Furnace, The New Museum, Artists Space, Threadwaxing Space, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Creative Time, Dixon Place, HERE, LMCC, the Bronx Museum. Fellowships include The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and The American Antiquarian Society.
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‘ Reconstructing the Cosmos’
Panel Discussion
April 8, 6:30 pm.
Excerpt below from Centaurie Dreams‘ article “Notes and Queries 4/8/10”
by Paul Gilster
Interlacing Art and Science-
Those of you in the New York area will want to take advantage of a panel on art and astronomy that will be held tonight at Central Booking in Brooklyn (111 Front St., Gallery 210). Interstellar flight specialist Greg Matloff and the artist C Bangs will be on the panel, along with Denton Ebel (American Museum of Natural History) and Ari Maller (New York City College of Technology). I’m just finishing Matloff and Bangs’ new titleParadise Regained: The Regreening of Earth(Copernicus, 2009), written with NASA’s Les Johnson. I’ll have more on the book in a subsequent post, but for now I’ll simply mention how C Bangs’ elegant artwork complements the book’s central argument, that space resources can help us revive our tired planet.
Bangs’ work has graced books like Matloff’s The Starflight Handbook and has appeared in permanent collections including the Library of Congress, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the Chrysler Museum. Matloff continues to explore our prospects for travel both within and without the Solar System in books and scientific papers. The panel will convene at 6:30 this evening and should be well worth the modest $5 entrance fee. (for the whole article, please visit Centauri Dreams)
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‘ Astronomy: The Celestial’
March 4 –May 2, 2010
Artist’s reception: March 25, 6-8pm
DUMBO First Thursday: March 4, 5:30 – 7:30pm
Special Appearance & Book Signing by
Legendary Singer/Songwriter Judy Collins
Celebrating Book Launch of Over the Rainbow
a Collaboration with Painter Eric Puybaret
Central Booking opens its latest exhibition with the Big Bang in Astronomy: The Celestial, a group show featuring artists whose work explore the universe from a very earthly base as well as a more cosmic one. The exhibition premieres with a special appearance by folk icon Judy Collins who will be signing copies of her new book project, Over the Rainbow, a creative collaboration with renowned painter Eric Puybaret. Judy Collins will be at the gallery Thursday, March 4 from 5:30 – 7:30pm. She might even sing…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZmzeWgxIs0
Astronomy: The Celestial is Central Booking’s third exhibition in the series, ‘where art explores science.’ Work from 15 artists is presented in this new show curated by Maddy Rosenberg (artist/curator/gallery director). Ted Victoria’s human industrial detritus amuses us as it hovers continuously above the earth, and Doug Beube brings us back down to earth as he has us “read†all about it. Barbara Houghton in her re–visiting of Galileo evokes an eerie channeling as Karen Hanmer turns the heavens into paper riddles. Mary Hambleton’s delicate lyrical painted world softens the blow as Ilse Schreiber-Noll brings us to a dark one, built up in layers of paint and scratched through. Eric Puybaret takes us over the rainbow with child-like wonder and Donna Levinstone calms us with her quiet passing of the day sky into the night one. With John Noestheden we find a brilliant universe dazzling us with the light from the darkness as Eva Lee weaves patterns of light that contrasts with the vastness of the space between. Susan Schwalb presents us with altar-like reverences for the beginning of it all while Carol Prusa delicately silverpoints a black hole and C Bangs combines the reality of it with the possible. Pamela Moore reduces all to pure form as Despo Magoni takes the personal and abstracts it into the universal universe.
Participating Artists: C Bangs, Doug Beube, Mary Hambleton, Karen Hamner, Barbara Houghton, Eva Lee, Donna Levinstone, Despo Magoni, Pamela Moore, John Noestheden, Carol Prusa, Eric Puybaret, Ilse Schreiber-Noll, Susan Schwalb, Ted Victoria.
A catalog of the exhibition will be available as part of the NEW Central Booking Magazine. More information to follow.
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Central Booking presents
‘Anthropology: Revisited, Reinvented, Reinterpreted’
(November 19, 2009 – January 17, 2010)
An exhibition where Art explores Science
Opening Reception: Thursday November 19, 2009, 6 – 9 pm
New York, NY, November 15, 2009 – Central Booking gallery presents, Anthropology: Revisited, Reinvented, Reinterpreted, an exhibition where artists explore the great cultural landscape of past and present, and take a look at cultures from the inside, the outside, and through the passage of time. Myth and religion are examined and turned inside out. Human events are placed within an historical context that may have happened, could have happened and the most fantastical ones that actually did.
Anthropology is Central Booking’s second exhibition from their series where art meets science; curated by Maddy Rosenberg (artist/curator) and Jon Coffelt (artist/curator) this group show features the work of 29 international artists. The participating artists are:
Pinky Bass, Sang-ah Choi, Paul Clay, Béatrice Coron, Mitchell Gaudet, Laura Gilbert, Janet Goldner, Karen Graffeo, Kelly Grider, Mona Hatoum, Christina Hope, Lee Isaacs, Kahn & Selesnick, Janice Kluge, Eunkang Koh, Chris Lawson & Leng Seckon, Max Carlos Martinez, Dana Matthews, Avery McCarthy, Antjuan Oden, Omar Olivera, Lothar Osterburg, Joel Seah, The Chadwicks (J. Blachly and L. Shaw), Elisabeth Wöerndl, Emna Zghal.
As you explore Anthropology, you will come across the installation of artists Kahn & Selesnick whose work provides a context for the impressive hypothetically “found†artist’
s book, The Circular River, which is meant to document through text and panoramic photographs a Russian expedition of a century ago. Jimbo Blachly and Lytle Shaw assure us that they take their role as keepers of the flame for The Chadwicks, an historical New York family, quite seriously, albeit with wit. Béatrice Coron, creates a life-size cut paper human maze for us to wander through while Janet Goldner, influenced by her yearly ventures in Mali, gives us a sequence of metal gates with text and image that are meant to be read as we pass through them.
From the years of studying the Roma of Italy, Karen Graffeo allows us to understand the unique culture of an otherwise private people, and the addition of books made by the Roma children gives us further insight into what their culture means to them as a clan. Chris Lawson’s collages made with Buddhist Monk Leng Seckon in Cambodia become a cultural record while transcending mere documentation. Lee Isaacs brings us “The Day Of The Deadâ€
series that asks us to understand how culture expresses itself through the loss of loved ones. Paul Clay, who studied anthropology and therefore sees his work within that context, in his photographic and video work examines with the same rigor whether it be foreign cultures or ones closer to home. Mitchell Gaudet uses cast and slumped glass as a vehicle to explore our perceptions of specific religious practice and idolatry while Laura Gilbert explores the family unit and asks us to understand how we react to each other as a culture and as individuals.
Mona Hatoum breaks down barriers to understand the domestic and how it is a microcosm of what we understand on a global level. Janice Kluge in her ceramics works within the confines of what many understand as domestic but turns these ideas on their head. Max Carlos Martinez remains haunted by the myths of the American west that his childhood was steeped in. German born Lothar Osterburg explores the myth of his adopted country with his photographs of staged sets of his own making that evoke the romance of the American Great Plains. Sang-ah Choi uses the pop-up book form in her own unique way, as a commentary on her life in America seen from the point of view of the outsider and Eunkang Koh externalizes her internal memories, conflating her past culture with her present in her oversized book worlds.
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Come join Central Booking at the Fair!
We’re at Z12 on the second floor.
Printed Matter, Inc. presents
The NY Art Book Fair, October 2-4
At P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center
(22-25 Jackson Ave at the intersection of 46th Ave, Long Island City, NYC)
Free and open to the public:
Thursday, October 1, 6-8 PM
Friday and Saturday, October 2 & 3, 11-7 PM
Sunday, October 4, 11-5 PM
http://www.nyartbookfair.com
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Central Booking Art Gallery presents ‘Natural Histories’
An exhibition where art explores science
(September 10 – November 8, 2009)
New York, NY, September , 2009 – Central Booking, a unique international art space specifically dedicated to the entire breadth and scope of “the bookâ€Â as art launches its inaugural show, Natural Histories; this exhibition traces a range of artistic responses to an ever changing external and internal environment, touching on the mere presence of human intervention. Natural Histories is the first in a series of exhibitions where art explores science; the opening reception is Thursday, September 17, 2009, 6-9PM in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn.
Curated by Maddy Rosenberg (artist/curator) and Jon Coffelt (artist/curator) Natural Histories transforms the gallery into an evocative space that creates its own natural habitat from the elements of each artist’s personal response to their concept of nature.
Some of the artists exhibited are Judy Hoffman, whose leaf-like formed paper book works are separately displayed, created an installation of found materials mostly organic with a contamination of inorganic materials that “grows†out of the ground and walls to invade the space. The Swedish artist Leonard Forslund contributes a unique book whose textural pages beckons to be touched, unlike his more typically formal work. And we know how in Ana Mendieta’s work her own body became inextricably intertwined with the natural world; here in a rarely exhibited artist’s book she focuses on her etchings.
Cosme Herrera interprets formal landscape tableau within the confines of his inlaid wooden mythologies. Josh Willis’s seemingly bucolic miniatures are whole environments in themselves but seen together create a dreamlike world. Mary Frank has long explored the natural world in her work and the human place within it. Tina Flau who is fascinated by her own garden in the outskirts of Berlin, uses a native historical German text on natural history as the impetus for her artist’s book, with each illustration becoming its own printed plate. Donna Maria de Creeft’s images collaged from text become incorporated into a series of flags and Michelle Wilson’s text becomes the soil for her plant as it actually grows between the bindings of a book.
The softly transparent cloth prints of Desirée Alvarez juxtapose the bold inked imagery with the delicacy of the fabric. The strongly graphic collaged prints of Martin Mazorra reflect human social mores echoed in the aviary world. The seemingly innocuous proliferation of butterflies by Sabra Booth contains the disturbing subtext of their exploding male population in central Texas, while April Vollmer’s painted creatures foreshadow her print work as they ominously fly out of the sky at us in their amoral quest to survive.
Complete list of featured artists:
Amina Bech
Ana Mendieta
Antonia Contro
April Volmer
Chris Jordan
Cosme Herrera
Desirée Alvarez
Donna Maria de Creeft
Doug Baulos /Janice Kluge
Elisabeth Woerndl
Gerhard Mantz
Heidi Neilson
HelgaEilts /JuleRump
Holly Sears
Josh Willis
Judy Hoffman
Julie A. McConnell
Leonard Forslund
Martin Mazorra
Mary Frank
Michelle Wilson
Robin Holder
Sabra Booth
Sandra Hartleb
Sara Garden Armstrong
Steven Daiber
Tammy Wofsey
Tina Flau
Travis Childers
S.P. Weather Station
Zane Berzina
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CENTRAL BOOKING Art Space Opens in Brooklyn’s DUMBO Area
Providing Rare Accessibility to the Breadth of ‘Book Art’
New York, NY, September 8, 2009 – A unique international art space specifically dedicated to the entire breadth and scope of “the bookâ€Â as art, Central Booking, opens on Thursday, September 17, 2009, reception 6-9PM in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn.
Dating back to William Blake, who pioneered the genre, and central to the conceptual art of 1960s artists such as Sol LeWitt, “book art†has in recent years devolved into a niche art form…until now. Conceived by respected and accomplished artist/curator, Maddy Rosenberg, Central Booking’s objective is two-fold: create a distinctive space where the virtually infinite forms and range of book art and prints can be seen in one place while simultaneously providing both established and emerging practitioners of the genres with an outlet for their work. Central Booking’s overall mission is global in scope: to serve as a catalyst for the integration of artist’s books into the mainstream art world where they are now often marginalized.
“Book art,†explains Rosenberg, “can be anything from a pamphlet done inexpensively on a copy machine to a letterpress codex bound book integrating words and images to a sculptural piece that is an object itself.â€
To make accessible something that might seem to be an abstract concept, as well as to underscore the affordability of book art, Central Booking’s layout combines the informality of a store with the selectivity and installation of a gallery. To achieve this mission, Rosenberg has arranged the physical layout of Central Booking into two distinct but integrated spaces:
· Gallery I will be dedicated to Book Art and Prints.
· Gallery II will be reserved for curated thematic exhibitions. These exhibitions will showcase an unusually broad variety of genres while always integrating the participation/work of at least one book artist.
The initial exhibition in Gallery II is “Natural Histories,â€
the first in a series of explorations where art meets science.
Central Booking’s innovative integration of spaces is organic, as many book artists work in other media as well: painting, sculpture, installation and video art. Indeed, book art often incorporates these other genres to create truly original multi-media works.
Additional Attractions
Central Booking will host screenings, book launches, musical events, special lecture series, discussion panels and workshops on topics of interest to both a specialized audience and the general public.
Building on its own interactive orientation, Central Booking also has a major online presence that will continue to grow. The website is a virtual gallery with easy purchase of art work; a center of educational information, including a magazine highlighting the artists and their works, scholarly articles and related news items; a home for special web-based projects; subscription series for the purchase of certain works at limited-time special pricing; portfolios of prints of select artists available for purchase; and an events calendar.
“Brooklyn has taken its position as a major art center in the world,†says Rosenberg, “yet it still lacks a place where the public can have access to book and related arts on a continual basis.†Rosenberg continues, “
Central Booking promises to change that situation via a completely new approach, beyond that of the handful of galleries in the world where book art is usually exhibited intermittently or as only one of many genres.
