About Us...
Artists’ books have re-emerged as an energetic contemporary artform over the last thirty years. Developing from their last materialisation in the 1960’s as a way of bypassing the constraints of the gallery; as a vehicle for the dissemination of ideas and a radical format of bringing art to a wider public through artists self-publishing their work. This notion of making art in an affordable non-wall based format led to the growth of what we now recognise as the artist’s book.
As part of our research we explore many aspects of artists’ publishing: from the conception and history of the artist’s book to creative processes and output, current developments and critical assessments of the subject. Through our research projects and collaborations, we hope to widen critical discourse within the book arts field.
Developments in Desk Top, Internet, E-book, Publish-on-Demand and Video books, have led to many more artists now producing artworks in these formats. This is not to say that traditional means of production such as letterpress type, etching, woodcut and screenprint have ceased. Advances in technology have meant that the traditional and the innovative can be combined to produce artwork and the renewed interest in the artist’s book has also led to a re-appreciation of traditional creative methods.
All of our artists’ books projects, news, events, lectures, conferences, essays, papers, symposia and exhibitions are archived online here at the CFPR bookarts website.Many of our public lectures, symposia talks or published essays are available on the publications or events pages as free PDF or audio downloads. For students we have a research section with reading lists and links to information.
For information on our current projects, please visit our Projects Pages. Some of our more recent projects include an AHRC Funded investigation into What will be the canon for the artist’s book in the 21st Century?; 2008-2010; Bookmarks VII - Infiltrating the Library System, The Artist’s Book Yearbook 2010-2011, and Al-Mutanabbi Street Broadsides project tour 2010.
As part of our investigation of contemporary book arts practice we publish the Book Arts Newsletter, the Artist’s Book Yearbook, a biennial publication with essays and information on many aspects of the book arts, and The Blue Notebook journal for artists’ books. Please see the Publications Pages for more information.
For French speakers... there is an essay explaining some of our activities in So Multiples Revue française sur les éditions d'artistes contemporains, N° 3, June 2009, ISSN 1961-9618; Les activités du Centre for Fine Print Research de Bristol by Sarah Bodman, translated by Anne Béchard-Léauté (Université Jean Monnet) online as a free PDF at: http://www.so-multiples.com/revue/numeroc.php
As part of our research, we also collaborate with other institutions and partners interested in artists’ books such as Arnolfini, Bristol; Winchester School of Art; AKI (ArtEz) in Enschede, The Netherlands; University of Missouri and many other national and international organisations. We also have an MA option in Book Arts, which runs through the MA Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking programme.
At the School we have a popular artist’s book Collection and Exhibition Programme in the Library. This area was launched in May 2002 with an exhibition of the works of James Castle and an inaugural lecture: Provenance in the Wild West: James Castle and the Icehouse Books by Professor Tom Trusky, Director of the Idaho Center for the Book and the Hemingway Western Studies Center, Boise State University, USA. After his unexpected death in November 2009, the School’s library exhibition cases are named in honour of Tom Trusky and all of his wonderful work for book arts.
All of the exhibitions are archived online and available from our Exhibitions and Events page, where you can also view current events.
Sarah Bodman
Research Fellow for Artists' Books
Centre for Fine Print Research
School of Creative Arts
University of the West of England, Bristol, UK