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Artists' Books

Learn about artists' books and explore the Libraries' collection.
The pages of this circular artists' book are spread out to reveal to reveal a purple flower with a light blue outer edge and pink center.

Bloom

Julie Safirstein, 2022.
 
Bloom is a book in the round whose pages open like petals, revealing a delicate bouquet of flowers.

 

 

A triangular shaped book that unfolds as a pinwheel structure with various ominous images and scary words.

In Case of Emergency

Scott McCarney, 1984.
 
Produced at a time of MAD (mutual assured destruction), In Case of Emergency combines text from a 1954 US government booklet with images drawn from the artist’s youth in duck-and-cover America.
 
Video

A book spread consisting of three pages containing a single black-and-white image of a palm with text on top.

Quartet

Judith Mohns, 1995.
 
Like variations on a theme, Quartet is a set of four books, each printed on different papers and independently structured. These books explore a personal journey of identity and conflict.                                                                                                                   
 

A book spread where the right page has four separate panels, two horizontal containing an image of The Last Supper, and one vertical with an image from the Twilight Zone.

Smiley, the Cannibal

Jacob Hughes and Taiwo Togun, 2018.
 
Dr. Hughes illustrates the many ways in which cannibalism is manifested throughout our culture, from the Eucharist to the Twilight Zone, to the savings we enjoy at Walmart, its Smiley face mascot knocking all the prices down by the cent.                                                                           

A triangular book with many horizontal lines and a blue staircase drawn bordering the longest edge.

[Untitled Book About Stairs]

Diane Fine and Mario Laplante, 1988.
 
Consists of a poem printed in a rectangular format, without beginning or end, and partly colored lithographic art work; all on one side of the sheet, which folds to a triangular shape.                                                                                                                         

A black portfolio containing a large piece of paper with blue-pen drawings of a man's face and handwritten notes.

"Collect Call on Pay Phone: Will you accept the charges?" -- Yes. Hello?

Matt Burke, 1995.
 
A large, fold-out drawing inside of a portfolio. One part of the artist's five-part series called Epilogue.                                                                                                                                                                                                   


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