Current Exhibit in the Star Tribune Foundation Gallery

NEW WORK BY THE MCBA/JEROME FELLOWSHIP ARTISTS
October 3, 2008 – January 10, 2009
Opening reception Friday, October 3; 6-9pm

Witness the continuing evolution of contemporary book art in an exhibition of work by the 2007-2008 MCBA / Jerome Foundation Book Arts Fellowship recipients. The explorations of these five artists will be on display at MCBA as part of a culminating exhibition opening Friday, October 3.

A Fluxus-inspired installation by Brian Aldrich includes numerous individual projects, several of which require unique interactions by an eventual “owner-user”: a book of random numbers, the text of which is generated through the use of a bingo game cage; a cipher text to decipher; a paper charm to be completed through the process of carrying for two months; and crated fruit-like “Art Balls” which are made of boiled art and other ingredients, some of which include fat and spices. While not all in traditional book forms, each work performs the function of a book: it tells the user what it is and how to use it. A book, a map, a pair of pliers; Aldrich says that all of these have a certain use. “I want my objects to have the same feeling — that if you lived in their world, you would know how to use them”.

Sarah Peters' work explores the Arctic as a space of many mythologies: political, historical, and cultural. "My work is a meditation on a place where I have never been," Peters says. "The book reads like a series of quandaries, a collection of research facts, and a sketchbook." Made primarily from cast cotton fiber, the book includes letterpress printed text, drawings and embossed symbols. Individually cast pages are housed in five boxes; when unpacked, the non-traditional structure of the book creates a viewing experience that invites the reader to wander through unbound pages of image and text.

Distance, memory, love and longing are some of the themes explored by Katya Reka. Her project consists of two books, each containing 12 poems and linoleum-block print illustrations in handmade cases, as well as a short video that continues the themes of memory, love, distance and time.

To bring poetry and art to new audiences, CB Sherlock and Regula Russelle’s Kinship Circle project is dispersing 5,000 letterpress-printed keepsakes in a handful of urban neighborhoods in the Twin Cities. Ten different prints have been  produced; though each of them is able to stand alone, together they form a "community book" of portraits and poetry addressing the theme of the kinship circle. A companion installation in the gallery will explore the same theme.

All exhibits and associated events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted.

 

Minnesota Center for Book Arts is open to the public: Monday: 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday: 10 am to 9 pm Wednesday - Saturday: 10 am to 5 pm Sunday: 12 to 4 pm Minnesota Center for Book Arts is located in the Open Book Building in downtown Minneapolis 1011 Washington Ave S, Suite 100 Minneapolis, MN 55415 Phone: 612.215.2520 Fax: 612.215.2545 Email: mcba@mnbookarts.org © 2008 Minnesota Center for Book Arts