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Tom Sowden

Education:
2002 - 2004   Camberwell College of Arts, London, MA Book Arts.
1995 -1998   Southampton Institute, Southampton, BA (Hons) Fine Art.
1993 -1994   Filton College, Bristol, Foundation Art and Design.

Work in Collections
Tate Britain, London.
Winchester School of Art Library, Winchester.
Camberwell College of Art Library, London.
Manchester Metropolitan University, All Saints Library, Manchester.
University of Plymouth Library, Plymouth.
Wexford Artists' Book Collection, Ireland.
Mills College, Oakland, California, USA.
Private collections in the U.K. France, Brazil, USA, Mexico, China and South Korea.

Selected Exhibitions:
2008   B**K, londonprintstudio Gallery, London, July.
             Through the Lens, Open Photography Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, June - July.
2007   Off the Page: An Exhibition of Artists’ Books, The Greenhouse, St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, November 2007 - January 2008.
             Stick*Stamp*Fly, Gasworks, London, August.
             Committed to Print, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, June – July.
             Regenerator, Off Centre Gallery, Bristol, April.
          Bibliomania, Holden Gallery, MMU, Manchester, January.
2006   GIFT, Museum MAN, Liverpool, November.
          Objects in waiting, End Gallery, Sheffield, October.
          Artistbookarts, Main Gallery, Pittville Studios, University of Gloucestershire, May.
          Altered Beast, Three Colts Gallery, London, February.
2005   Multiples, LOT Gallery, Bristol, November – December.
          The Art of the Book: Collaboration, Gallery FAB and Gallery Visio, University of Missouri, St. Louis, USA, September – November.
          Publish and be Damned, LOT Gallery, Bristol, July – August.
          Dave, Hengrove Arts Space, Bristol, February – March.
          Lot Poster Show, Lot Gallery, Bristol, February – March.
          Modern Nature, curated by Mel Gooding Camberwell College of Arts, London, January – February.
2004   Artists’ Books 2, The Winchester Gallery, Winchester.
          Open Print Triennial, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, May – June.
          Artists’ Books, Houseroom, Bath, May.
2003   History Book That Never Was, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, USA.
          50 Concertinas, The Winchester Gallery, Winchester School of Art, Winchester.
2002   Beyond the Page, Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, Bath.
2001   Survey of Photomechanical Prints, Glasgow School of Art.
          Contemporary Print in Enamel, Kent State University, Ohio, USA.
          British Council Exhibition, S. Widjojo Center, Jakarta, Indonesia.
2000   Louder than Bombs: Part II, Millais Gallery, Southampton.

Curated Exhibitions
2006-08 Sitting Room, An Exhibition of Artists’ Books (May 2006 – June 2008). The show presented artists’ books in a re-created sitting room within
             gallery spaces, allowing the majority of books to be handled and read by the viewers. Sitting Room was shown at seven venues across the
             UK and internationally, including: The Winchester Gallery, Winchester; Permanent Gallery, Brighton; Ruskin Gallery, Cambridge; K Gallery,
             Alameida, California; Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Mexico City.
2005      Primary Source, an exhibition of artists’ books, University of Warwick Library Exhibition Room, Warwick, September 2005. Sole curator, invited
             by the members of the artist collective Ilka.

Recently Published Artists’ Books
2008    Some of the Buildings on the Sunset Strip. A 15ft concertina, inkjet printed artist’s book with screen-printed cover. Produced in an edition of 30.
2007    Postcards from America. A perfect bound, full colour, laser printed artist’s book. Produced in an edition of 10.
           Record, September. A French sewn, full colour, laser printed artist’s book with screen printed cover. Produced in an edition of 10.
2006   Sitting Room, A perfect bound, inkjet printed artist’s book. Produced in an edition of 15.
          Pheasant on the Crescent and 34 Other Stories, A French sewn, laser printed artist’s book with screen-printed cover. Produced in an edition of 15.
2005   Winter Gardens, A perfect bound, laser printed artist’s book with flocked cover. Produced in an edition of 15.
2004   Fiftytwo Shopping Trolleys in Parking Lots, A perfect bound, laser printed artist’s book with screen-printed cover. Produced in an edition of 15.
          Homeless People, A perfect bound, laser printed artist’s book with screen-printed cover. Produced in an edition of 15.
          10 Trips, A perfect bound, laser printed artist’s book. Produced in an edition of 15.

Journal Articles
2005   'Books Books Everywhere', Artist's Book Yearbook 2006-7, Impact Press, Bristol, ISBN 0 9543810 9 2, pp 79 – 83.
2005   'What's in the Box?’ The Art of the Book: Collaboration, Department of Art and Art History, University of Missouri, St. Louis, USA, pp 72 & 73.

Publications
2006   Art Editor for Artist's Book Yearbook (ongoing) The Blue Notebook journal for artists’ books (ongoing).
2005   Co-author of the bookbinding chapter in Creating Artists’ Books by Sarah Bodman, A&C Black, London, 2005, ISBN 0 7136650 9 2 pp 86-106
2004   Editor and curator of the What’s in the Box? series of 50 artists’ books 2004 -2005:
Vol. I - ISBN 0 9543810 0 9, Vol. II - ISBN 0 9543810 1 7, Vol. III - ISBN 0 9543810 2 5 Vol. IV - ISBN 0 9543810 6 8, Vol. V - ISBN 0 9543810 7 6

Research Projects
2008 - present In an arena including digital and traditional artists' publishing formats - what will be the canon for the artist's book in the 21st Century?
          This research project intends to open a responsive exploration with a collaborative, international audience of artists, academics, students, presses, publishers,
          curators, dealers, collectors and students involved in the field. The aim is to extend and sustain critical debate of what constitutes an artist’s book in the 21st
          Century - to publish a manifesto for a canon which will include both ‘old’ and ‘new’ formats of artists’ books publishing - in order to propose an inclusive structure
          for the academic study, artistic practice and historical appreciation of the artist's book.
2006-08 Sitting Room, a touring exhibition (May 2006 – January 2008) of 116 artists’ books on the theme of domesticity and the act of sitting. Co-curated with
             Lucy May Schofield. Venues in Manchester, Bristol, Winchester, Brighton and Cambridge, Enschede, The Netherlands and Mexico City, Mexico. Designed and
          published the accompanying catalogue, ISBN 1 900756 34 X.
2005-07 AHRC marketing and production survey for comparing the different methods used by artists for marketing their artists’ books which is being conducted through
          the book fairs in London, Halifax, Washington and Seoul. The project is an investigation into how selection policies affect the artist’s book market as a whole in
          order to establish a general benchmark guide for artists and collectors.
2005   Librarians’ Books, a project involving 47 curators, writers and librarians from institutions in Europe and the USA, making an artist’s book to be exhibited at UWE,
          Chicago, RCA. Participating institutions include: Tate Britain; British Library; V&A; Winchester School of Art; Joan Flasch Artist’s Book Collection, Chicago; Norwich
          School of Art; Chelsea College of Art: Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art; Strathclyde University; AKI Enschede, the Netherlands; Bristol Central Library and
          UWE, Bristol. Ran one-day workshop for participants held at UWE, Bristol.
2005   Assistant for the Arcadia id est, artists’ books, nature and the landscape. An exhibition and symposium examining the use of nature and the landscape in the format
          of the artist’s book, launched at TRACE Gallery, Dorset in March 2005 before touring: Europe, Australia and the USA and a symposium held at UWE in April 2005.
          Accompanying ISBN publication with essays by Patrick Eyres and Sarah Bodman.
2005   Assistant on the production of the digital print portfolio, A Perpetual Portfolio. Working with visiting artists on residency at UWE to create and print large format digital
          prints that become a part of the collection at the Centre for Fine Print Research. Accompanying catalogue ISBN 0 9547025 0 6.
2004-05 Curator and editor of the annual postgraduate and visiting artist book project entitled What’s in the Box?

Conference Contributions
2008   10th Biennial Pyramid Atlantic Book Arts Fair, The Future of Publishing. Presenting and discussing examples of new and theoretical formats for artists' publishing.
          Surveying the artists, educators, researchers, students, publishers, librarians, curators, dealers, collectors and readers of artists' books at the fair.
2007    Speaker at Artists Talks on Artists’ Books, Winchester School of Art, Winchester, July 2007. Presenting a talk about the Sitting Room exhibition, co-curated with
               Lucy May Schofield, which was being exhibited in the Winchester Gallery at the time.
2003    Artist participant in The History Book That Never Was at Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, USA, for the Southern Graphics Council Printmaking Conference
              Making Histories: Revolution and Representation April 2003.

Consultancy and External
2008   The Cover of a Book is the Beginning of a Journey, advisor for an exhibition of conceptual and instructional artists’ books from the archives of the Arnolfini gallery and
          the Centre for Fine Print Research, University of the West of England, Bristol. 22nd November 2008 -18th January 2009, Arnolfini, Bristol.
          Artist's book surgery, for book artists to discuss and receive advice and feedback on any aspect of a book related project: conceptual, technical, marketing or
          otherwise; 1pm - 5pm, Saturday 1st November, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, USA.
          Artists’ Books workshop for scholarship students from the University of Missouri, Saint Louis, USA, in Marian Amies’ London atelier, 13th May.
2007   Bristol Artists Book Event, Bristol, one-day book surgery run in conjunction with Sarah Bodman. Consultations for artists and publishers by appointment, to discuss a
          range of book arts related issues.
2006   Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Birmingham, one-day artist's book workshop for 10 artists, as part of the Cover to Cover exhibition of artists' books and fine press
          publishing at RBSA Gallery.
2005   North East Somerset Arts, Radstock, two-day printmaking and artist's book workshop with 10 artists, to collectively produce a limited edition, hand printed book.
2004   Houseroom Gallery, Bath, one-day artist's book workshop, as part of the Artists' Books exhibition curated by Ingrid Hill.
2002   Beyond the Page, Bath, one-day artist's book project and workshop for 12 artists at Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, Bath, in conjunction with artist's book
          exhibition curated by Karen McDonald.

Invitations to Lecture
2008   Artist's Books Abroad, Saturday, November 1; 11:00am. Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, USA. Sarah Bodman and Tom Sowden present an overview of
          artist's book publishing in Europe and further afield: contemporary artist's books, Internet publishing projects, altered books, performance books, and use of digital and
          traditional production methods.

Reviews and Inclusions in Publications
2004   Artists’ Books reviewed in Umbrella Journal ed. Judith Hoffberg, Volume 27, No.4, December 2004, ISSN 0160-0699, pp102-3
2003   Work featured in Printmaking Today, Volume 12, No.3, Autumn 2003

Work cited in lectures
2007   The Hybrid Lexicon: An Overview of Contemporary Artists Publishing in the UK, CODEX International Symposium, University of California, Berkeley, USA, 13th Feb 2007
2004   Contemporary Artists’ Books Houseroom Gallery, Bath, 4th June 2004
2004   Contemporary British Artists’ Books 1960-2004, Tate Modern, Bankside, Nov 15th 2004
2007   The Hybrid Lexicon: An Overview of Contemporary Artists Publishing in the UK, CODEX International Symposium, University of California, Berkeley, USA, 13th Feb 2007

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