Astral Projections
Cairo, Egypt: Islam Aly, 2022. Number 16 of 30 variant copies, numbered and signed by the artist. According to Islam Aly: "’Astral Projections’ explores talismanic shirts, constellations, and the mystical beliefs surrounding them. The book features intricate illustrations of six talismanic shirts, each uniquely crafted using cyanotype prints that showcase a distinctive vocabulary of religious texts, sacred invocations, symbols, magic squares, and seal markings. The use of cyanotype prints adds an ethereal quality to the illustrations, evoking the spiritual significance of these garments. The book covers are also cyanotype prints, showcasing a blend of blue hues, constellations, stars, and talismanic shirts. The accordion binding allows the book to open up fully, revealing a panoramic view of the shirts."
Accordion bound in illustrated blue and white paper covered boards with inlaid light blue title label to front board. The interior of dark brown handmade Cave paper features six talismanic shirts that have been sewed along the edges into the pages of the accordion book. Size: 3.5 x 7 x .5 inches (closed); 42 inches extended.
Islam Aly is an Egyptian-born book artist and teacher. His books explore the possibilities of historical bindings in contemporary book art practices They have appeared in international exhibitions in the United States and abroad, and in private and public collections including the New York Public Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Library of Chile, Yale University, and Bibliotheca Alexandrina. In an artist's statement he writes: "When I make a historical book structure, I go through a learning process. I learn the history as well as the different physical aspects of the binding such as how a book form is constructed in a specific sequence. I learn about the use of different materials such as paper, wood, leather and dyes. I learn to make choices in selecting and replacing traditional materials that I don’t have access to. I use these different experiences to enhance my work in making artists’ books and to use historical and cultural references from these structures in the actual content. In essence, I wish to explore new ways to use the rich structures of historical books in contemporary artists’ book practice and incorporate contemporary content into strictly historical structures." ARTB/070725. Fine.
Item #38109
Price: $500.00