past exhibitions : the art of reading

The Art of Reading : Books and Non-Books
An Exhibition of Contemporary Artists' Books
September 16 - October 28, 1999

The twenty artists in The Art of Reading: Books and Non-Books consider the form of the book as an artistic medium, producing works which may or may not conform to the convention of "the book" in contemporary Western culture. The conventional definition of the book is challenged through the artists' use of innovative bindings, materials and content. The Art of Reading presents artists' books which range in publication from one-of-a-kind to editions of thousands; in form from the standard codex (pages held together by a binding) to the scroll to series of boxes; in content from social codes to birds to Iowa to mythology. Incorporating sound, found objects and collaborative processes, these works encourage the viewer to engage in an unusually self-aware and creative experience of reading.