School of Art, Media and Design, UWE Bristol:
Artists’ Books at the Scuola Internazionale Di Grafica, Venice, Italy
16th July - 17th August 2007
The art of the book is part of the history of Venice and we believe that the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica is an ideal place to continue the ancient tradition and bring it into the contemporary art world.
About twenty years ago the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica created a programme dedicated to the book arts. The printshop is professionally equipped for every printing technique and the book courses are taught by professional international artists. Since 1987 some of the book arts instructors at the Scuola have been Bertrand Dorny (France), Elias Benavides (Spain), Franco Vecchiet (Italy), Andreas Kramer (Germany), Michael Taylor (Great Britain), Loretta Cappanera (Italy), Sasha White (USA), Carrie Galbraith (USA), Lou Joseph (USA), Claire Rau (USA), and teaching currently is Adrienne Gale (USA). The Scuola has also hosted some visiting book artists such as Uta Schneider (Germany), Ulrike Stoltz (Germany), and Peter Koch from the United States who printed an edition of Joseph Brodsky’s book Watermark using the letterpress in the Scuola’s printshop.
The book arts collection of the Scuola has been exhibited in Italy and throughout the world in libraries, universities, museums, as well as such venues as The Center for the Book in New York City (2005). The participants of the book courses at the Scuola are varied in age and experience and bring many different aesthetic views to their work; however, they all share a common love for the book as art. The Scuola’s collection contains around four hundred examples of books, each one with its own story, message, and form, according to the artist who created it. In every book a different sequence of time and space can be found and not every book contains the traditional elements of text and image; there are complicated sculptural books, or book objects, as well as simple single-sheet books. The physical aspects of books are very important in book arts. Often times the materials chosen for the book augment the message that is being expressed. At the root of every work is a personal motivation of the artist that should be legible by the viewer. The book is in fact an intimate, true, and complex way for the artist to express his or her story.
Book artists give a lot of thought to the images as well as to the text that is used in their work. Text, image, materials, and the form of the book should work in harmony, each adding to the overall work and not detracting from the experience of viewing. In the courses at the Scuola, the history and techniques of book making are taught with emphasis on the function and structure of the book. Each student learns the proper way of creating a book that will have longevity and it is only afterwards that he/she can break the rules in order to create a book in an modern fashion.
The realisation of an artist’s book is a complex and multidimensional process in which the initial decision does not necessarily emerge until the end. The artist must find a new solution for every problem that arises and it is only through their creativity that they can achieve their goal. They must experiment with printing and binding techniques and always remain faithful to their initial idea.
It has been enriching for the Scuola to have the book collection travel throughout the world. In every city viewers have been most receptive of the works and interested in the Scuola’s philosophy on book arts. It is a confirmation of the quality of the work done by the artists at the Scuola to have this kind of reception.
Artistic Director of the Scuola
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