Ten Views of Florida
New York: Russell Maret, 2025. Hardcover. Number 26 of 70 copies, signed and numbered by the book artist. Russell writes in this powerful and provocative new work by first discussing the the effects of banning books, then describing the long history of book banning in Florida. This then first leads to his thoughts about not having read the list of books most recently banned in that state. He then engaged in a thought experiment about these titles, focusing on nine titles he found particularly evocative and inspiring. These were The Bluest Eye, Fade, Beyond Magenta, Rainbow High, Triangles, Tilt, Half of a Yellow Sun, Smoke, and Red Hood. He started drawing, saying "What I see when I read these titles is not a library shelf but a catalogue of views, They bloom in my mind as images, patterns, and colors, coposed with no thought to the textual content of the books that inspired them." Thus these stunning images inspired by the books' titles are colorful and beautifully designed. The tenth view is actually an impassioned personal statement about the harms caused by book banning.
The book has a striking structure. It is bound in gray cloth with a vivid orange and yellow paper inset on the book's opening flap, which must be opened to allow the book itself to be opened and viewed.The nine images are printed in an accordion structure, followed by the section titled The Tenth View with five pages of text. They were made with linoleum cuts metal type ornaments, photopolymer plates, and smoke on Rives BFK paper. The book was produced for the 2024-2025 Marjorie S. Coffey Library Endowment Residency at the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida. The book's concept and structure were inspired by materials in the Florida History/Florida Tourism Ephemera Collection in the Special and Area Studies Collections and grew to incorporate issues of book banning in the Florida Public Schools (from the colophon). Accompanied by two copies of the prospectus. In fine condition. Measures 9 x 12 inches. Unpaginated. ARTB/090525. Fine.
Item #38216
Price: $1,750.00