October Issue 2001
Converse College in Spartanburg, SC, Presents an Exhibition of Artists' Books
Teresa Prater
Converse College in Spartanburg, SC, will host Women and Books: Uncovered, a national juried exhibition of artists' books, from Oct. 18 through Nov. 20, 2001, in the Milliken Art Gallery. Curated by Teresa Prater, associate professor of studio art at Converse College, the exhibition focuses on women book artists whose content explores women's issues.
Twenty-four artists are included in the exhibition.
Gwen Diehn, Ashley Worley, Sandy Webster, Lee Marchalonis and
Anne Beidler are from the Southeast. Elizabeth Buckley, Deborah
Phillips Chodoff, Maureen Cummins, Holly Hanessian, Roberta Lavadour,
Julie Harris, Martha Schermerhorn, Mindy Belloff , Alice Simpson,
Diane Fine, Gail Smuda, Tracy Honn, Emily Martin, Susan Rotolo,
Kay Kenny, Susan Hensel, Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord, Martha Hall,
and Sky Pape are from New York, Iowa, Oregon, New Jersey, Maine
and New Hampshire.
Teresa Prater
Many of the works found in the show explore
personal issues such as body image, breast cancer, child abuse,
marriage, relationships and the home. Deborah Phillips Chodoff's
books, for example, take a personal look at the chores of housework
and the emotional overload of mothering. Other books, such as
Susan Hensel's Creation, explore a feminist view of women
mythology.
Artists' books are an art form that has been in existence for
more than 100 years but has experienced an increase in popularity
in the past two decades. Unlike handmade books, which are often
found in gift shops and craft shows, the artist book is distinguished
by the content found within its pages. Like any art form, it has
an aesthetic quality and can take many forms. Artists' books often
take the form of a traditional codex book, which opens on the
spine, and can be created using computers or letterpress. Other
formats found in the exhibition include accordion, concertina,
pop-ups and Japanese stab binding. One of the exciting features
of artists' books is the use of nontraditional materials, many
examples of which can be found in this show. Julia Harris, whose
work incorporates found natural objects, uses a turtle shell as
the container for the handmade pages in her book, Fertility.
Mindy Belloff, a ceramic artist, creates books that are suspended
from the ceiling in the manner of a carpenter's plum bob.
Many artists who work with artists' books come to it from other
mediums, such as printmaking, photography and painting. Many of
the books found in the show include these mediums in their construction.
Depending upon its medium, the artist book can be a one-of-a-kind
or be a limited edition series.
This is the second book show curated by Prater, who teaches a
class on book arts and is herself a book artist. The Converse
College show is being held in conjunction with her books class
so that students can assist in the hanging of the exhibition and
have hands-on experience with artists' books. Guest artists will
be brought in for workshops for the class and public during the
exhibition dates.
For further information check our SC Institutional Gallery listings or call 864/596-9177 or 864/596-9181.
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