Starting from tomorrow, July 15, Braided Tapes will participate in Eye of the Beholder: The Art of the Found Object National Juried Exhibition at the Maryland Federation of Art in Annapolis. The group show will run through August 15.

Maryland Federation of Art
18 State Circle
Annapolis MD, 21401
mdfedart.com

This past weekend I stopped by MoMA to catch the Henri-Cartier Bresson exhibition before it ends this week. There were some book/paper arts on display as well. Let's see what they have.

At Mind and Matter: Alternative Abstractions, 1940s to Now, we have late Louise Bourgeois's Ode à l'oubli (2002), a fabric book with hand-embroideries and lithograph cover:


On the wall, there are the pages from Ode à l'oubli (2004), a fabric book with lithographs, digital prints, machine- and hand-embroidery, and appliqués that she made 2 years later, modeling off the 2002 piece:


According to the gallery label:

Bourgeois made illustrated books, a format that she herself collected, since the late 1940s, incorporating her own texts and those of other authors. This editioned fabric volume is modeled after a unique book she made in 2002 using textiles she had saved throughout her life, including scraps of nightgowns, scarves, and hand towels from her wedding trousseau, monogrammed with her initials. Bourgeois spent her childhood around fabric–her family had a tapestry restoration business—and she used the material for years in sculptures and as the support for prints and drawings.

On Thursday I travelled up to Syracuse to speak at Everson Museum of Art about my work that are currently on exhibition. I spoke about my background and bookmaking experience, as well as the the ideas and process behind the two pieces. I shared the stage with fellow artists Wendy Cross and Kelly Roe, who also spoke about their fascinating work.


Before the talk, I managed to take some installation shots at the gallery. Both pieces (Duotone and Rapunzel) were installed inside a case. They were arranged a bit differently than what I had expected, but I was delighted to see them in a different way.


Part of the excitement comes from seeing how they can be arranged differently, they almost become like new work as a result. One side of Rapunzel's cords are more spread out than the other, which creates a kind of energy flow; the two volumes of Duotone are put together back to front, which creates a unique view from all around.

There is also a cellphone audio component with the exhibition, visitors can listen to artists' own view and definition of "artist's books" with their own cellphones. (Gosh, it's definitely odd for me to be part of this, as five years ago I created the Talking Street cellphone walking tour with another company.)

The best of all was to get to meet two of the curators, Debora Ryan at Everson and Peter D. Verheyen, founder of Book Arts Web & Book_Arts-L Listserv!

You can see more installation shots and pictures of Everson on flickr.

Marianne Petit's The Struwwelpeter was shown at the MoCCA Festival this past weekend. I didn't get a chance to go but here are some pictures of The Struwwelpeter from the event:





Thanks to Jody Culkin for the photos.

As you may already know from my Facebook and Twitter updates, I have two pieces accepted into Everson Museum of Art for the coming Fit to Be Bound, part of Everson's Biennial alternative, The Edge of Art: New York State Artist Series.

First of all, there is Rapunzel. I couldn't be more proud and honored that it is featured on Everson's website:


Then, there is Duotone. I simply love this piece. Need I say more? I am simply overjoyed to have both of them in the show.

Fit to Be Bound will open next month, from April 17 to July 11 at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY. Hope to see you there!

February seems to have just flown by in a snap. Where did the entire month go?

Chinese New Year, perhaps? I feel that I have spent almost the whole month preparing for and recuperating from the holiday. My Chinese New Year, as usual, started with a series of seemingly non-stop shopping trips, followed by the cooking marathon. I cooked a lot and ate a lot this year. Sounds like Thanksgiving, doesn't it? Traditionally, Chinese celebrate the Lunar New Year for 15 days, and this year it will end on February 28.

On top my that, one of my closest friends from college came to visit me in New York; we talked a lot, ate a lot, which also made the days went by faster.

And then there is Art D'Eco. The Shopping B(ag)ook is travelling again. From now through April 3, it is being shown in a show called "Art D'Eco" at Gallery 125 in downtown Trenton, New Jersey.


Not to mentioned that I was just being notified that 2 other pieces have been accepted to another upcoming show in a couple of months. More details to come.

This month just flew by.

I stopped by P.S.1 on a beautiful Sunday morning for the the last day of the NY Art Book Fair. Honestly, I think there was just way too much to look at. It's not a bad thing, but I simply got overwhelmed and a bit tired out walking around. So, I just walked by most the tables. I didn't even take any picture.

The Fair was scattered around P.S.1, which was really unique and interesting. I thought it was a great use of P.S.1's amazing space. Instead of being in a giant hall at most fairs, you get to walk around different rooms on different floors to see the exhibitors. There are also themed rooms around for classes, talks, performances and screenings.

It was definitely a fair for "art books" (not necessarily "book art"): most of the exhibitors were art book publishers. There were quite a lot of independent artist book publishers, and they were the most intriguing. Bookbinders were quite a rare-find, although I did run into Susan Mills again. She had a table at the fair and we had a nice chat over some of her new work.

I did spot 2 editions that were particular interesting:
Your House by Olafur Eliasson (Carolina Nitsch, New York)
One Billion Colored Dots (PDF of press release) by Robert Berry (mfc-michèle didier, Brussels)

This year's NY Art Book Fair will be held at P.S.1 in Long Island City, Queens between October 2nd to 4th. I live practically a few subway stops from P.S.1 so there is no excuse not to go. Plus, the admission is free. You can find out about the exhibitors and buy tickets for the Contemporary Artists Books Conference which will coincide with the Fair on nyartbookfair.com.