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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.

Selected Exhibitions:
2011      The Lay of the Land, Street Road, West Grove, Pennsylvania, USA, 8th September - 17th November.
             The Paper Co-operative, Spacex, Exeter, 6th August - 3rd September.
             The World as Text, Center for Book and Paper Arts, Columbia College, Chicago, USA, 16th June - 12th August.
             Cover-ed, Arnolfini, Bristol, 3rd March - 30th April.

2010      Bibliotheca Alexandrina Fourth International Biennale for the Artists’ Book, The Library of Alexandria, Egypt, 22nd April -14th May.
             The Secret Library of Solihull, Solihull Arts Complex, 8 March - 8 May 2010
             Re-Shelving Initiative Four, Eyelevel Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 19th February - 28th March.
             To Have and To Hold 2, Chapel Row Gallery, Bath, 13th February - 2nd March

2009      Labyrint 09 - Writings and Observations, Botkyrka konsthall, Sweden, curated by Joanna Sandell and Pia Sandström, 7th November 2009 - 13th March 2010.
             Inkubator II curated by David Faithfull, Durham Art Gallery and DLI Museum, 12th September - 18th October.
             5th Annual Southern Cross University Acquisitive Artists’ Book Award, Hosted by Barratt Galleries, Alstonville, NSW, Australia, 15th August - 24th September.
             Closure, Artworks-MK, Milton Keynes, 15th August - 19th September.
             O Pão Nosso - Livros de Artista/Our daily bread - Artists’ Books, Sala da Fonte, Paço Municipa, Brazil, 2nd July - 8th August.
             Place, Identity, Memory, Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries, 23rd May - 28th June (and touring until October 2009).
             Exhibition of Artists' Books, The New Art Gallery, Walsall, 1st February - 27th March.

2008      I Am Comedy, 12th November - WORM Rotterdam, 15th November - W139 Amsterdam, 16th December - HMK (Hotel MariaKapel) Hoorn, The Netherlands.
             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
2011 -  Follow-ed (after hokusai), co-curated with Michalis Pichler (Berlin). An international touring exhibition of artists' tribute books to Ed Ruscha.
           Winchester Gallery, February - March; Arnolfini, Bristol, March - May; P74
           International Print Biennale, Northumbria Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia, March - April,
2010-11 Drawing with Fire: an exhibition of laser cutting by book and paper artists, for the AHRC funded project Paper Models. UWE, Bristol, 14th - 23rd
           September 2010; AKI (ArtEz), Enschede, The Netherlands, 16th - 22nd January

2006-09 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.

Artists’ Books
2011      Video book: No Dutch Details, Tom Sowden / Sarah Bodman

2010      Stormy Seas and Corridors
             Goldfinger
             A Place of Interest, Tom Sowden / Sarah Bodman, for Doverodde Book Art Festival, May
             Scott’s Flight: Migrating East, Tom Sowden / Sarah Bodman. A unique, reconfigured laser cut book for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina
             Fourth International Biennale for the Artist’s Book, The Library of Alexandria, Egypt, May 2010

2009      Ø - Cherry Blossom Island Tree, Tom Sowden / Sarah Bodman, for Doverodde Book Art Festival

2008   Democratic Multiple. Perfect bound, full colour, laser printed. Open edition. 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

Books co-authored /co-edited
2010    Sowden, Tom and Bodman, Sarah A Manifesto for the Book, February 2010, ISBN 978-1-906501-04-4, 187pp

Books Edited
2005    What’s in the Box? A Collection of Artists’ Books, Volume V, UWE Bristol, March 2005, ISBN 0 9543810 7 6, 160pp, Contains the work of the following artists:
           Shelley James, Wayne Hamilton, Felicity Bowers, Mick Anderton, Frea Buckler, Sarah Bodman, Paul Laidler, Tom Sowden, Jane O’Sullivan and Luc Fierens.
           What’s in the Box? A Collection of Artists’ Books, Volume IV, UWE Bristol, March 2005, ISBN 0 9543810 6 8, 160pp. Contains the work of the following artists:
           Steve Hoskins, Savage, Ian Chamberlain, Sue Gregor, Neil Bousfield, Claire Carey, Sarah Pitt, Ollie Betts, Jan Martin and Laura Clark.

2004   What’s in the Box? A Collection of Artists’ Books, Volume III, UWE Bristol, March 2004, ISBN 0 9543810 2 5, 160pp. Contains the work of the following artists:
          Richard Anderton, Jill Barker, Sarah Bodman, Tina Cartledge, Ian Chamberlain, Vicki Johnstone, Imi Maufe, Rachel Merelie, Carinna Parraman and Kate Wood   
          What’s in the Box? A Collection of Artists’ Books, Volume II, UWE Bristol, March 2004, ISBN 0 9543810 1 7, 160pp. Contains the work of the following artists:
          Sarah Blake, Vic Browne, Lynsey Carpenter, Marina Harvey, Linda Johnson, Rachael Nee, Savage, Peter Simpson, Tom Sowden and Vicky Washington.
          What’s in the Box? A Collection of Artists’ Books, Volume I, UWE Bristol, March 2004, ISBN 0 9543810 0 9, 160pp. Contains the work of the following artists:
          Mick Anderton, Beate Gegenwart, Maggie Keeshan, Susan Lovatt, Paul Laidler & Brett Atkinson, Gail Mason, David Sully, Eleni Tzagkaraki, Melanie Ward and
          Aki Yoshimura.

Journal Articles
2011 -  Paper Models: investigating laser-cutting technology to develop new artists’ books and paper-based works, The Blue Notebook, Volume 5, Number 2,
           April 2011, ISSN 1751-1712 (print), 1751-1720 (online), pp 29 - 37

2010    Ruscha Rip-Off, Rip-Out, The Journal of Artists’ Books, Issue 27, Spring 2010

2009    Follow-ed, The Bonefolder: an e-journal for the bookbinder and book artist, Volume 6 No. 1, Fall 2009, ISSN 1555-656, pp 15 - 18
           L. Vandegrift Davala, interview, Artists’ Book Yearbook 2010-11, Impact Press, UWE Bristol, Sept 2009, ISBN 9781906501020, pp 98-105
           Sally Alatalo - Sara Ranchouse Publications, Interview, The Blue Notebook Journal for Artists’ Books, Volume 3 No 2, April 2009, ISSN 1751-1712, pp 29 - 36

2005   'Books Books Everywhere', Artist's Book Yearbook 2006-7, Impact Press, Bristol, ISBN 0 9543810 9 2, pp 79 - 83.
           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.

Book Chapters
2010    Co-author with Kevin Petrie of a chapter in Ceramic Transfers by Kevin Petrie, A&C Black, London, published November 2010.

2005    Co-author with Guy Begbie of the bookbinding chapter in Creating Artists’ Books by Sarah Bodman, A&C Black, London, July 2005, ISBN 0 7136650 9 2,
           pp 86-106, also published by Watson-Guptill, New York, USA, September , ISBN 0 8230 1012 0, 2nd edition published August 2007.

Conference, Symposia, Festival Papers / Public Lectures
2011   Public lecture: Drawing with Fire, Northumbria University, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Tuesday 1st November.
          Follow-ed (after hokusai), conference paper (Wednesday 28 September) and exhibition at IMPACT 7: Intersections & Counterpoints | International
             Multi-disciplinary Printmaking Conference 27-30 September 2011, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
          A Manifesto for the Book - artist's book - artist's publication - book art? Sarah Bodman and Tom Sowden joint conference paper (Wednesday 28 September),
             IMPACT 7: Intersections & Counterpoints | International Multi-disciplinary Printmaking Conference 27-30 September 2011, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
          Cover-ed, Arnolfini, Bristol, 3rd March - 30th April. Performance Reenactment Society, Tom Sowden and Michalis Pichler presented a three-day performance
          of photography, a participatory performance event, an installation, a new book work and an evening of talks and performative readings called Re-Use, Re-Make,
          Re-Enact on 24th March.

2009    Investigating the artist’s book in the 21st Century, Impact Print Conference, UWE, Bristol, Saturday 19th September 2009.
           Artists’ Books in the Digital Age, Doverodde Book-arts Festival Doverodde, Denmark, Saturday 9th May 2009.

2008    The Future of Publishing, 10th Biennial Pyramid Atlantic Book Arts Fair, Cafritz Art Center Montgomery College of Art and Design, Silver Spring, MD, USA,
           November 8th, 2008.
           Artist's books abroad, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, USA Sarah Bodman / Tom Sowden, Saturday, November 1st, 2008.

2007    Artists Talks on Artists’ Books, Winchester School of Art, Winchester, 13th July 2007.

Conferences / Seminars Hosted
2010    Paper Models: investigating laser-cutting technology to develop new artists' books and paper-based creative practice for arts, crafts and design.
           15th September 2010, University of the West of England, Bristol.
           The Art of Laser Cutting Paper, Drawing with Fire, Doverodde Book-arts Festival Doverodde, Denmark, Saturday 15th May 2010.

2009    Traditional and emerging formats of artists’ books: Where do we go from here? 9th and 10th July 2009, University of the West of England, Bristol
           Seminar 2 - Artists’ books reports from Poland, Germany, USA and UK, Friday 20th March 2009, University of the West of England, Bristol

2008    Artists’ Books Seminar 1 - How are artists using and investigating new media for publishing? Where are we going with this? Where will the books end up?
           Thursday 8th May 2008, University of the West of England, Bristol

Artists’ Books Lectures for External Educational Institutions
AKI (ArtEz) The Netherlands
Hereford College of Arts, UK
Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Braunschweig, Germany
Institute of the Arts, Bournemouth
Mills College, Oakland, USA

Educational events, group visits and consultancy
2010-11 25 artists for the Art of the Book: Journals Then and Now, curated by Marian Amies, University of Missouri and touring 2010-2011. Co-curation
           with Sarah Bodman of UK and Eire contributions, and two catalogue essays (publication March 2010).

2010    Artists’ Books surgery day at UWE Bristol, Weds 21st April 2010 
              Artists’ Books surgery day at UWE Bristol, Weds 27th Jan 2010
           Sally Alatalo and Simon Anderson and students from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) to visit CFPR as part of a study trip, January 2010.

2009    Artist's book surgery, Third Manchester Artist’s Book Fair, Holden Gallery, Manchester Met. University, 7th November 2009
           Artist's book surgery, BABE, Arnolfini, Sunday 5th April 2009.
           Student and staff visit to CFPR for artists’ books, Gloucester College, 9th February 2009.

2008    Public Artists’ Books surgery day at UWE Bristol, 12th December 2008.
           Student and staff visit to CFPR for artists’ books from Media and Design Academy, Genk, Belgium, 18th November 2008.
           Artist's book surgery, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, USA, Saturday 1st November 2008.
           Artists’ Books workshop for scholarship students from the University of Missouri, Saint Louis, USA, in Marian Amies’ London atelier, 13th May 2008.
           Gloucester College, one-day artists’ books visit to CFPR for staff and students, 28th February 2008.
           LCC, University of the Arts, Book Arts students visit to CFPR, Thursday 7th February 2008.

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