Seaton, UK: Old School Press, 2018. Paperback. Number 21 of 60 copies. Numbered and signed by the poet, artists, translator, and printer. This collaboration between Mexican poet, Carmen Boullousa and English artist, Philip Hughes was inspired by space travel. According to the introduction, both the poet and artist decided to create this book after viewing new images of the planets and moons taken during recent space missions. The first step in this collaboration was Hughes's paintings, which are colorful abstractions of photographic planetary landscapes. Boullousa's poetry draws on Hughes's imagery and also on her research into celestial bodies in mythology, ancient rituals attached to their worship, and perfumes used during these rites. She cites Hesiod's "Theogony" and "Orphic Hymns" as being influential. This is the third book that Boullousa, Hughes, and translator, Psiche Hughes have collaborated on.  This work is comprised of an introductory booklet and twelve folders containing poetry and artwork, each devoted to planets or moons including: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Europa, Saturn, Enceladus, Rhea, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. All text is letterpress printed in English and in Spanish. The contents include 32 artworks by Phillip Hughes, printed digitally from paintings, pastels, and digital collages, 13 poems, an introduction, and a list of included celestial bodies with details about relevant space missions. The poetry was hand-set in Hunt Roman type on Somerset Velvet Radiant White and the images were printed on Somerset Velvet Enhanced and mounted on Velin Arches Noir. Housed in an aluminum box with magnetic closure, which was produced by Graphic Metal Company, Ltd. with a blue silk-screened design to the front panel.

Phillip Hughes (1936 - ) is a self-taught English artist that often paints unusual landscapes from remote areas and archaeological sites; however, this is his first series of work dealing with extra-terrestrial topography. For this book, he was heavily influenced by photography from the New Horizons mission (2015) which provided close-up images of Pluto as well as images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2016), the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn (2016), the probe Dawn to the dwarf planet Ceres (2016), images from the Hubble Space Telescope, and more. His work is held in international collections including The British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Library of Congress. Mexican poet, novelist, and playwright, Carmen Boullousa (1954 - ), often addresses issues of feminism and gender roles in her work. When researching celestial bodies for this project, she was pleased to learn about Tapputi, a Babylonian woman who is considered to be the first female chemist and perfumer recorded in history. It is perhaps due to her that Boullousa chose to include references to perfume within her poetry.  Folder Size: 12.5 x 14 inches. Box Size: 14.75 x 16.5 x 3.75 inches. Fine.

Item #36085
ISBN: 9781899933440

Price: $3,000.00