Cahoon Museum of American Art

By some large act of serendipity, my sister saw there was an exhibit at a local museum called BOOK ARTS: CONVERSATIONS IN ART AND WORDS. She said to me, this is something we have to go see!

The definition of book arts, or artist books, falls somewhere in the intersection of art and literature. Printmaking, photography, multimedia art, poetry, sculpture, book binding, graphic design, and publishing are just a few of the fields it encompasses. The format for book arts is also wide ranging - from altered books, to cards, to all kinds of bound books. Sizes vary from large sculptural objects to miniature scrolls. Most artist books are meant to be touched and explored, and each has components that are handcrafted or constructed.

Perhaps most importantly, while artist books are inspired by some quality that is intrinsic to a conventional book, they are intended to be a work of art.

Not all artist books integrate art and language; however, the artists in this exhibition were asked to create artworks that do include words of some type. They have used journal entries, literature, clever titles, original poems, and other language forms to expand the meaning of their visual images.

The thirteen exhibiting artists all have deep roots on Cape Cod, and their artwork demonstrates the remarkably wide range of the field of book arts. Each artist has also invited the viewer to connect with their artwork, via contemplation, reading, direct interaction, or a project offered in the adjacent Learning Center.

Annie Dean, Curator

This felt so amazing to me. Here was an exhibit filled with the type of mixed media art, book making and art journaling that I do. It was very reaffirming to me that this type of art was curated for a museum exhibit. I have made a small album of pages showing more... You can find it here.