The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts is proud to present “Book / Art”, a group exhibition featuring Pamela Takigawa, Anna Rheim, Julia Nelson-Gal, Tracey Harris, Esther Siegel, Joy Colangelo, Susan Giacometti, Jamie Dagdigian, Robert Armstrong, Ingrid Brook-Kothlow and Raven Cook.
With an Opening Reception on May 29th from 5-7 pm and running through June 28th, this exhibition brings together 11 artists who have spent many years between them, making highly personal hand-stitched or handwritten books, books that chronicle family members in the process of dying or of being incarcerated; natural history books that open and unfold in unexpected ways or making art from the covers and pages of books: glued, collaged and painted over to create unique narratives, or folding book pages in specific ways, to make objects that look like teapots or scenes from a Busby Berkeley musical.
Assembled under one roof, these 11 artists are each working at the top of their craft, painting photo-realistic books with titles that address social norms and gender roles (with a clever sense of humor), carving out and adding sculpture or illustration to BANNED books to create new works of art, in PROTEST of the banning of books; or deconstructing and repurposing an entire two-story “Burning Man” collaged installation titled “UnBound” into dozens of collectible works of modern art.
Some of the books in this show have been used in service of a pun, as an object to decorate (or sink a ship into) or simply to feature the rich textures and colors of their natural deterioration. Taken together, this exhibition celebrates the ingenuity, style, humor, pathos, and individual aesthetic of 11 remarkable artists who each have something they need to say.
There will be a Free Artist Walkthrough on Saturday, June 13, beginning at 1 pm.
