The exhibition Lynda Morris / “Dear Lynda…” (July 4th-August 4th) at CHELSEA space in London opens on July 3, 2012 from 6 – 8.30pm.
Lynda Morris / “Dear Lynda…” was first organized by White Columns in New York.
Wednesday 4th July
Lynda Morris in conversation with Jo Melvin and Gustavo Grandal Montero
5pm
Old College Library
Chelsea College of Art & Design
16 John Islip Street, SW1P 4JU
Please RSVP info@chelseaspace.org
Originally published in 1972 by the Nigel Greenwood Gallery, Book as Artwork 1960/1972 was the first catalogue devoted to the then new medium of the artist’s book and it remains a canonical reference (though one that, due to its scarcity, is not as well known as it should be).
This publication started as an article and a list of about 80 artists’ books which appeared in 1970 in the first issue of the Italian magazine Arte. Not long after it was translated and published in Data magazine. Then in 1972 the Nigel Greenwood Gallery in London mounted an exhibition of artists’ books and issued a catalogue with a greatly expanded bibliography (now nearly 300 titles) compiled by Lynda Morris. The exhibition was the first of its kind and the catalogue a genuinely historic publication.
With the new edition it is possible to regain the perspective of 1972. It was a period when, as Celant describes it, the “the rules used for the identification of the art object were destroyed” and thus “medium became significant in itself.” Artists’ books were emblematic of the new multidisciplinary approach taken by the era’s avant-garde and, as that approach continues to be the predominant mode among artists working today, it is increasingly clear that artists’ books have been, and continue to be, integral to the practice of art in the contemporary era.
6 Decades is dedicated to artists’ books, the history of the book as an artistic medium, and to documenting the essential role these books have played in the development of contemporary art.
BLONDE ART BOOKS 