The exhibit,The Beautiful Book Exploring the Allure of Artist Books, includes the work of Mary V. Marsh.
Collecting and reassembling discarded library books and cards, I think about how they have been read and transformed by time into historical remnants. Books and cards discarded from a community library imply a shared history of people reading the same books. Combining the ‘found’ phrases of the book titles to form poems, I use the cards as pages and tape or sew them into unique artist books. Images made with gouache, coffee and block prints intersect with the words to create a narrative. Re-reading history, consumer culture, and the future of reading are some of the ideas explored.
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23 Sandy Gallery is proud to honor the art and craft of the handmade book with our latest exhibition featuring artist books, The Beautiful Book, featured in the gallery June 5-27, 2009. Artist books are small edition or one of a kind book forms hand crafted by individual artists. This exquisite collection showcases the beauty in craftsmanship, materials, and imagery of the bookmaker’s art.