Past Exhibitions
Exhibitions in the Austin/Burch Gallery SFCB has mounted numerous exhibitions, ranging from group works to individual retrospectives and featuring local, national and international book artists.
Credit: All photos courtesy Aardvark Press, Lisa Jane Persky and the Artist
Past:
SFCB 15TH ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION
September 15, 2011 - November 25, 2011
We are proud to present this exhibition celebrating SFCB's 15 years of building the book arts community in the Bay Area! We will highlight some of the best work from our past 15 years of innovating and creating in the book arts.
2011: BLANKET IMPRESSIONS: BRAD FREEMAN, CLIFTON MEADOR, AND THE OFFSET PRINTED ARTISTS' BOOK
May 6, 2011 - September 2, 2011
This exhibition profiles two nationally prominent and well-traveled book artists whose work is rarely seen on the West Coast. Over the past 30 years, both have worked apart from the prevailing trends in artists’ books: for both, the printing medium of choice has been offset lithography, not letterpress, and both have created work that is driven more by concerns of content than physical structure or craft for its own sake. They have in the past worked separately at some of the most progressive book production studios in the country—Nexus Press in Atlanta, SUNY Purchase, Pyramid Atlantic in Washington, D.C., and the Visual Studies Workshop Press in Rochester. Now Brad Freeman and Clifton Meador are working together at the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts, where Freeman runs the studio and edits the Journal of Artists’ Books and Meador directs the MFA program.
Learn more about the Blanket Impressions exhibit here.
2010: LOS ANGELES LOTERIA: AN EXPLORATION OF IDENTITY
May 7 - Sept 19, 2010
Traditionally, Loteria is a game of chance played with 54 cards that represent significant Icons in Mexican culture. Aardvark Letterpress Co-owner Cary Ocon and designer/artist Rick von Dehl had been refining an idea for a letterpressed Los Angeles version of the game of Loteria for two years. For Aardvark, the idea was to ask artists to select and interpret some part of the Los Angeles experience in their own style within the design frame and layout von Dehl created for each card. Ocon talked some of the artists who came in for other printing purposes into creating cards but it was slow going, being that he was in the midst of running an already demanding printing business. In March 2008, Lisa Jane Persky began working with Ocon as co-curator. Within days they had gathered up Dan McCleary, Sammy Harkham, Andre Miripolsky, Ed Wexler, Greg Colson, artists with strong ties to Los Angeles, and the artists brought artists and the game was truly on. In this spirit of collaboration, Ocon and Persky refined and developed the full scope of Los Angeles Loteria, forming it around the Aardvark Letterpress business model: a crossroads of Los Angeles, a family place, a model of democracy, a melting pot. With that in mind Aardvark and artists began to create a gift for their city, a fine art edition like no other, and priced to be accessible to new collectors. Loteria Series I is a signed and numbered edition of 100 each of 18 19 ¾ x 13 inch works on Cranes Lettra 220 with the Aardvark Letterpress ‘chop’. Currently the prints are priced at 375. ea. and 6,250. for the suite of 18 (which includes a bonus 19th card). Available at www.aardvarkletterpressfinearteditions.com . List of Artists (alphabetical): Greg Colson, Richard Duardo, Angel Gonzalez, Daniel Gonzalez, Sammy Harkham, Karen Kimmel, Claudia Laub, Dave Lefner, Mel Lim, Marc Lumer, Dan McCleary, Andre Miripolsky, Cristina Padron, Somsara Rielly, Casey Ryder, Rick von Dehl, Ed Wexler, Ernesto Yerena. Exhibition includes the First image of Aardvark's Loteria Series II, a powerful impression by scratchboard artist and former cinematographer, David Trulli.
2010: RESTLESS DUST: A GHOST WALK WITH DARWIN
January 15 2010 through Earth Day, April 22, 2010
This exhibition explores the making of Restless Dust, created by Gail Wight during her one-year Imprint residency at SFCB in 2009. The exhibition also features previous works by Wight. Gail Wight has spent more than twenty years infusing playful irreverence into scientific investigation. Working primarily with installation, computer, text, and performance, Wight investigates issues concerning biology, the history of science, and technology. Providing context for her current project displayed here, the recently released SFCB Imprint Publication Restless Dust, are two early works in the exhibition: In Meaning of Minuscule 2006, an interactive Plexiglas sculpture of an enormously enlarged microscope, viewers scroll through images magnified at different scales, displayed on the microscope's stage, that reconstruct the history of technologies of magnification; in Cabinet of Curiosities 2001, an interactive CD encased in a wooden cabinet that is based on 17th century precursors to natural history museums, each object in this cabinet of curiosities leads to a small time-based meditation on the nature of evolutionary science.
A former sculptor who incorporates her fabricating skills into her work, Wight holds an MFA in New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute where she was a Javits Fellow, and a BFA from the Studio for Interrelated Media at Massachusetts College of Art. Wight has exhibited internationally, including venues such as the Natural History Museum of London and Cornerhouse, Manchester (England), Ars Electronica (Austria), Exit Art (New York), Kohler Art Center (Sheboygan, WI) and the Physics Room (New Zealand). She has worked for a research project on cognition at MIT, in the Exploratorium's Performance Program, and has held residencies at the Rockefeller Foundation in Bellagio, Italy, at Capp Street Project, the Exploratorium, the Albuquerque High Performance Computing Center, and Headlands Center for the Arts. After earning a Master of Fine Arts degree from the San Francisco Art Institute, Wight taught at Mills College. Currently, as an Associate professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Art Practice at Stanford, she teaches classes in emerging media and experimental media art, which provides the opportunity to work with scientists. Her ongoing dialogue with scientists has allowed her to "theorize in a poetic way." In that spirit, Wight was invited to participate in SFCB's Imprint residency program, and has spent the past year creating a dialogue in three dimensional book form with Charles Darwin. Restless Dust is a limited edition of 50 signed and numbered artist books, each housed in a wooden box containing a multi-media installation. Wight's text invites Charles Darwin's ghost to sail to San Francisco and wander with her through the greater Bay Area terrain. The resulting sculptural book celebrates the unique species of the San Francisco Bay Area, presenting the nervous system of an animal chosen for the way its system reflects in a significant way, either through contrast or similarity, the world of human emotion. The book examines ways in which Darwin's legacy has impacted contemporary Bay Area culture and acknowledges the fragile and endangered state of many of our local flora and fauna caused by environmental degradation. The project's illuminated birds, hand-bound letterpress-printed artist's book, and screen-printed box lid make this among our most ambitious and unique residency publication to date. The body type is completely set by hand using metal type for letterpress printing. Images carved in linoleum are also printed on a letterpress.
2009: Roadworks Steamroller Prints: 5th Anniversary Show
Printing in the Street. Highlights from our Roadworks Steamroller Prints Street Fair.
Once Upon a Book Second in a series of children's book exhibitions, this show explores the creative process in the work of six critically acclaimed illustrators. You can see the exhibit online by clicking here
Wings for Words: New Bookworks from Korea and Japan Bookworks from fourteen professional artists working in South Korea and Japan today.
2008: Livros do Cordel: Books on a String Celebrating the famous livros do cordel, the printed folk literature of northeastern Brazil.
New West Coast Design: Books This exhibition presents some of the best book artists on the west coast, with a high level of craft being the common denominator. You can see the exhibit online by clicking here
2007: Mutanabbi Street: An Exhibition of Broadsides Broadsides protesting the March 5th, 2007 car bombing of Mutanabbi Street, an old and established street for bookselling in the heart of Baghdad's literary and intellectual community.
Black/White [and Read] Black/White [and Read] seeks to advance an artistic challenge - to deliver a powerful graphic statement, eschewing color, and utilizing solely black and white imagery.
Art of the Book 2007 Recent student works
Eileen Hogan's Poetry Box Investigating the relationship between words and images
Bartkowiak's Best Book Art from the Hamburg Archives.
2006: The Calendar PCBA Member Show 50 Books/50 Covers Winners from the AIGA's 73th annual competition in 2006. X Libris Our 10th year anniversary exhibition.
Found In Translation A touring exhibition of multi-lingual artists books, prints, and digital and video documentation.
Photo Books Now Photo artists imagine myriad new possibilities for the book You can see the exhibit online by clicking here
2005: The Calendar PCBA Member Show 50 Books/50 Covers Winners from the AIGA's 72th annual competition in 2005.
Multiplicity for Millions: the Art and History of Rubber Stamps Featuring dozens of rubber stamp sets, both vintage and contemporary, from the collections of L. Scott Helmes and Picasso Gaglione.
Swiss Impressions: Romano Hanni and the Art of Metal Type The stunning technique and design mastery of Basel designer/printer Romano Hanni.
Journey to the Source: Handmade Books from Cuba A look at Cuba's Ediciones VigÃa fascinating handmade books.
The Calendar PCBA Member Show 2004: 50 Books/50 Covers Winners from the AIGA's 71th annual competition in 2004.
Show Me a Story: Children's Books & the Technology of Enchantment This show explores the intangible workings of children's books, with a focus on design and structure.
Reading the Future: Experimental Books from Yale Works from from the students in Yale University's MFA Graduate Design Program.
Fateful Attractions: Fine Printing and Bookmkaing in Santa Cruz Works from the vibrant community of Santa Cruz fine-press printers and bookmakers.
Convergences: Works by the Teaching Assistants from the Mills College Book Arts Program Exhibition of work done by TAs in the Mills College Book Arts Program.
2003: Paper, Ink, Fresh Perspectives: Letterpress at SFCB Exhibition of original work printed at the San Francisco Center for the Book.
50 Books/50 Covers Winners from the AIGA's 70th annual competition in 2003.
Massin in Continuo: A Dictionary A touring exhibition devoted to the French graphic design artist Robert Massin.
Site and Passage: Inside Artists' Books This exhibition marks the culmination of the Center's second yearlong course on the artist's book.
Inside Cover An exuberant and witty exhibition of international artist's books.
XOXOX: Heart Art, Valentines and Love-letters Celebrating the art of romance.
2002: Revealing the Mysteries: The Development of the Artist's Book in the Bay Area This exhibition pays homage to the development of book arts in the Bay Area over the past half century.
Zines! This exhibition showcases an international collection of eye-popping zines, ranging from black-and-white photocopied editions to elaborate letterpress productions.
The Relevant Structure An exhibition that showcases relevant structures, in which form genuinely supports the text (a portion of Through the Looking-Glass).
The Artist's Book:Unlimited Engagement This exhibit marks the culmination of a year-long class dedicated to sustained inquiry into the nature of the artist's book. You can see the exhibit online by clicking here
Celebrating Teachers as Artists An exhibit of works by our local instructors. You can see the exhibit online by clicking here XFR: eXperiments in the Future of the Book In the summer of 1999, the Research in Experimental Documents (RED) group at PARC asked San Francisco Center for the Book for help recruiting book artists to work in the parc Artist-in-Residence program.
2001: Jack Stauffacher, the Years Away: 1955-1963 The show encompassed the discoveries, friendships and projects of Jack Stauffacher when he left the San Francisco-based The Greenwood Press.
Reading the Cards Many book artists and printers have found inspiration from the symbols and structure of cards
Convergence: three fine bookbinders Historical, Traditional and Experimental Bindings of Michael Burke, Dominic Riley, and Joanne Sonnichsen
Books from S.F. Waldorf High School book arts 2001: a student odyssey Celebrating a spectrum of booksworks inspired by teachers + classes at the San Francisco Center for the Book.
2000: Learning Curve/s 20 Years of Book Arts at Mills College
What Is Reading? A Pacific Center for the Book Arts exhibit
Back East Artist's Books from the North Eastern States
XFR: Experiments in the Future of Reading Volumes (of vulnerability) An International Artist's Book Project
FLT 2000, RT: CHI - SFO Works by the members of Hand Bookbinders of Chicago come to San Francisco
Wolfgang Lederer Retrospective Bridging Many Worlds Of Book Design,
1999: So-Called Books Diversity in Artist's Books from Southern California.
Breaking Type: The Art of Karl Kasten Faux Post Artists' postage stamps from the collection of John Held, Jr.
Purgatory Pie Press Works on View RSVP: Invitations for All Reasons A lovely look at other people's favorite mail.
1998: Art Making Book Making Art Boundless: Liberating the Book Form West Coast Book Artists of the 1970s Hand Bookbinders of California presents: Greatest Hits Form / Spirit: Anna & Arne Wolf 1998 Distinguished Book Artists Makeready: Finding Art in the Unexpected 1997: CCAC: 25 Years of Book Arts Flashback: Graphic and Book Art of the Psychedelic Era You call THAT a Book? Artists Books from Local Collections Design Bindings: Hand Bookbinders of California Introductions: The Art of the Business Card Pages of Sin: Beat Era Book Arts 1996: A Girl, a Guy, a Landscape: a Novel on the Wall