Marking Time: the Guild of Book Workers
May 15 – August 15, 2009
Time has long captured the imagination of writers, scientists, philosophers, and theologians — and, of course, artists. Guild of Book Workers members were invited to interpret the theme “marking time” as broadly or narrowly as they wished. The exhibition was curated and coordinated by Guild of Book Workers exhibition chair Karen Hanmer.
“The curator’s challenge is to find a theme that will inspire potential venues, viewers and exhibitors alike,” Hanmer explained. “For a Guild of Book Workers members’ exhibition, the theme must also be one that inspires both the most traditional fine binder and the most cutting edge book artist.”
View a sampling of images from this exhibition. Refresh the page for another sampling, or visit MCBA on Flickr to view the full album.
Featured Artists:
Cathy Adelman
Jody Alexander
Eric Alstrom
Jeffrey Altepeter
Alicia Bailey
Kristin Alana Baum
Marlyn Bonaventure
Susan Collard
Melissa Jay Craig
Coleen Curry
Lesa Dowd
David Esslemont
Don Etherington
Madelyn Garrett
Stephanie Gibbs
Donald Glaister
Karen Hanmer
Roberta Hilbrandt
Deborah Howe
Andrew Huot
Jamie Kamph
Ellen Knudson
Deborah Kogan
Dorothy Simpson Krause
Monique Lallier
Amy LeePard
Sue Huggins Leopard
Emily Martin
Chela Metzger
Bridget O’Malley
Todd Pattison
Jana Pullman
James Reid-Cunningham
Wilber “Chip” Schilling
Genie Shenk
Sarah Smith
Priscilla Spitler
Jessica Spring
Kathy Strother
Bonnie Thompson Norman
Richard Troncone
Gerritt VanDerwerker
Peter D. Verheyen
Laura Wait
Shu-Ju Wang
Ellen Wiener
Rutherford Witthus
Stephanie Wolff
Pamela Wood
114 Guild members submitted 155 works for consideration. Interpretations included, but were certainly not limited to, a specific incident in or period of history, the future, science fiction, time as a scientific or spiritual concept, the measurement of time, current events or the role of time in one’s own life. A jury of three accomplished binders and book artists narrowed the field to 47. Each juror was then invited to submit one work, for a total of 50 pieces in the exhibition. Jurors had a difficult time narrowing the field of submissions to less than a third of the original total, working over the course of several weeks to come to a consensus.
“It is an enormous tribute to the creativity and skill of the Guild’s members, I think, that while choosing the final pieces, we each found ourselves advocating for works which fell well outside our personal orientations to the field,” juror Melissa Jay Craig remarked. “Though the choices were extremely difficult, and a number of excellent works could not be included, we have a strong and varied exhibition.”
“I was struck by how much the quality of the submitted works continues to rise, [and] by the wide variety of techniques and metaphors employed,” fellow juror Peter Verheyen observed. “As a genre the book arts are as vital as ever and getting better every day.”
Works on display will include techniques, disciplines and formats ranging from the ancient to the contemporary; from “work in the codex format [to] complex folded structures, wooden constructions, hand-held toys and sculptural objects,” Hanmer said.