Rutland, VT: Carolyn Shattuck, 2021. Hardcover. One of 10 copies. This inventive work by Carolyn Shattuck joins previous artist's books she has produced to call attention to endangered animal species such as elephants and rhinos. The little known mammal in this work is the pangolin. She states that it is one of the world's most trafficked mammals, prized for its scales, which are used primarily for medicinal purposes in China and Vietnam. The book is a complex production that displays Shattuck's skill in using various book structures to convey meaning and context in the books she creates.An accordion style structure reveals a hand-painted pangolin in its painted forested environment. A foldout text lists the many ailments and other purposes that the animal's scales supposedly address. Printed on BFK Rives and painted with water colors. Housed in a black slipcase with title label on front. In addition to creating artists' books, Shattuck is a painter and creator of paper art. She exhibits her work nationally in numerous juried exhibitions and has received many awards. Her books have been collected by a number of special collections libraries at universities throughout the country. She teaches Book Art workshops in New England and Florida. She describes her work as "an expression of living life to the fullest while being aware of its risks." In fine condition. Measures 12 x 8 x 2.5 inches. ARTISTS/010422. Fine. More

Rutland, VT: Shattuck Studios, 2000. Number 1 of 5 copies signed by the book artist. This is an inventive work from well-known artist Carolyn Shattuck that displays her skill in using various book structures to convey meaning and context in the books she creates. She writes: Save the Rhinos was designed to bring awareness of their struggle as the population is rapidly declining due mainly to poachers. Her text describes the ongoing loss of these magnificent animals and the desperate efforts of those trying to save them. Despite these efforts, the Rhino Recovery Fund in South Africa estimates a rhino is killed every fifteen hours. They are sought because of the believe that powdered rhino horn has medicinal value and because the horn is valued in traditional Chinese culture as a symbol of wealth. Her design uses a flag book structure from which three origami rhinos, a giraffe, and three wildebeests are walking the grasslands of Africa when the book is opened. They are made with Lofta origami papers as well as Canson Mi Teinte, and Strathmore watercolor papers. The binding is a plain grey with an orange spine title label and a white title label, signed and numbered by Carolyn. The work is housed in a black stiff paper slipcase with an orange title label to cover. In fine condition. Measures 13.5 x 7.5 x 3 inches in slipcase. New York Times Article from 1/6/21 about rhino extinction: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/magazine/the-last-two-northern-white-rhinos-on-earth.html ARTISTSBOOK121520. Fine. More

Chicago: Starshaped Press, 2020. One of 40 copies signed and numbered by the book artist. This splendid production from Jennifer Farrell's Starshaped Press celebrates her love for Chicago and showcases the impressive type and ornament collection that she has gathered and uses for her work. For this production she created ten multi-colored prints, or ELEVATIONS, that cover the themes of printing, women, labor, music, neighborhoods, architecture, motherhood and perseverance. Each tells a story in image and anecdote while featuring a grouping of typefaces based on her approach to the subject. Ten CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS designed to resemble traditional architectural bluelines explain and document the text and typography of the prints. Each set is held in an archival folder and housed in a clamshell box. She writes: "Since 1999, Starshaped Press has stayed true to the original craft of letterpress, disregarding the naysayers that claim antique metal & wood type is too limiting for quality design. With solid presswork and hard working midwestern gumption, I like to buck popular trends by showcasing the beauty and relevance of well-designed, historic type. Unlike most letterpress shops, Starshaped focuses on reusing existing materials (some over 150 years old) for all projects, meaning no plastic is ever used in production. The substantial metal type collection at Starshaped Press is constantly growing and evolving alongside my life experiences that are deeply rooted in Chicago. The urban environment is the backdrop for this typographic memoir that showcases the studio’s type collection and serves as a pictorial representation of the first 25 years of my life in the city." Printed on Mohawk Superfine Cover paper. The clamshell box is covered with red cloth with a pictorial title label affixed to the cover. Fine condition. Prints measure 11 x 17 inches. Box is 11.75 x 18 inches. ARTISTSB/061920. Fine. More

Chicago: Starshaped Press, 2019. Hardcover. Number 6 of 50 copies. Signed and numbered by the book artist. This powerful book was created by book artist and printer Jen Farrell to describe the pain and anguish she experienced as Jo, her young daughter, was treated in 2018 to stem the growth of tumor nodules around her right lung. She writes: "While the treatments were challenging, the fallout that followed over the winter was unbearable. The chest pressure, pneumonitis and inability to breathe sent us to the hospital repeatedly, with unsatisfactory results. By ‘unsatisfactory’ I mean punching-a-hole-in-the-wall angry at the lack of understanding about why Jo had these side effects and the weeks, sometimes months, it took to get appointments with specialists. I sought solace in songs that directed my frustration away from people around me. One of these was Black Star’s Respiration, with lyrics that expressed a metaphorical difficulty to breathe in an urban environment. Many of the words applied to our reality; rewriting the lyrics was an outlet for acknowledging the trauma....Respiration is a rewrite of the song, but in this case applied to watching my child struggle to breathe." The book unfolds as a poster measuring 20x14 inches that folds down to approximately 5x 7 inches within red paper covered boards. The covers are printed in two colors on Mohawk Keakolour and the interior text is printed on Fabriano Tiziano paper with ‘fuzz’ in the texture as a nod to the scarring fuzz in Jo’s lungs. The book is accompanied by a white folded paper reference guide to the lyrics with notes on Jen's rewrites. In fine condition. Fine. More

Chicago: Starshaped Press, 2017. Hardcover. Number 20 of 50 copies, signed and numbered by artist. "The term 'girl' has a host of negative connotations; it sounds condescending to any woman who's done her share of living in the adult world. The subcultures represented here owned it, building their personas on style, music and most importantly, their attitude and approach to creating a self-defined culture. The girls of the Starshaped Press are letterpress printed with modular metal type and rule, proving even squares are hip" (title page). Includes four "girls" with accompanying lyrics: Rude Girl, Mod Girl, Good Girl, and B-Girl. Bound in black paper wrappers with circular cut out revealing title on first page (appropriately resembling a record cover). Includes prospectus, which has photographic images of the metal type used to create two of the four girls. Printed on black and metallic silver Mohawk Paper. A creative and beautifully printed book. [8 pages] PRI/051319. Fine. More

Eugene, OR: 2005. Number 8 of 12 copies. Signed and numbered by the book artist. Susan Lowdermilk is a book artist and printmaker working in traditional processes such as woodcut, wood engraving and intaglio etching as well as digital media. Her artist’s books involve movable parts, pop-ups and LED circuitry. She is a professor at Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon, teaching courses in printmaking, artist books and graphic design. Her work has been collected by over 60 public institutions including, the Getty Museum, the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library. Her artist’s books are represented in galleries throughout the United States. She earned her Master’s of Fine Art from the University of Oregon. The text of this book is a quote from Shakespeare's As You Like It: It is ten o'clock: Thus may we see how the world wags: 'Tis but an hour ago, since it was Nin; and after an hour more, 'twill be Eleven : And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe, And then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot, And thereby hangs a Tale." The poem is printed on eight Stonehenge paper panels and is in an Indonesian palm leaf style construction with sewn thread binding. When untied, the book can be opened to reveal all of the panels and the text. With black corrugated paper covers with grey title label on front. In fine condition. 12.75 x 4.6 inches. ARTISTSB/073118. More

Bennington, VT: The Bird Press, 2019. Number 2 of 30 copies, signed and numbered by Thorsten Dennerline. Founded in 1997 by Thorsten Dennerline, The Bird Press is an artist-run publishing project that has focused on hand printed artists’ books. All projects utilize some inherent aspect of the book and often take the form of open-ended collaborations with writers. Each project is a response to the last, both in form and content, in order for the work to continually to evolve. Poetry, broadly defined, is a major inspiration for most of the work. They produce editions of between 15-40 copies, utilizing various print media including: flatbed offset lithography, stone lithography, etching, letterpress, wood blocks, and digital pigment printing. The Bird Press books are represented in many library collections, including The New York Public Library, Stanford University, Smith College, Yale University, The Library of Congress, The Getty Research Foundation, and The National Gallery. This book contains visual collaboration by Thorsten Dennerline working with six poets, each on a 4 page section. Each section has a stunning visual inventiveness that complements the poet's words and meaning. Most of the poems include its English translation. Susanne Jorn, who selected the poets included, writes in her introduction: " I have chosen six distinctive Danish poetic voices for an art project in which words and images encounter one another in widely different dialogues. The six poets' diverging views of the world represent new contemporary Danish poetry as a whole." In the afterword, Anne-Marie Mai says: "What Dennerline and the poets have created here is a new artwork, an object in the world, an artist book, where texts and visual elements interact, challenging the book medium." This folio book was created using stone, late, and offset lithography, metal and polymer letterpress, woodcuts, handmade and machine made papers and is hand bound. The colophon cites the several printers, artists, and others who contributed to this beautiful achievement. Bound in white paper covers with an open spine and the letters NDP on the cover. The book is housed in a blue cloth covered slipcase. In fine condition. Measures 13 x 18 inches. ARTISTSB/111720. More

Bennington, VT: The Bird Press, 2017. Number 15 of 30 copies signed by the creators of this production. This complex and ambitious work is the result of an exchange between choreographer Susan Sgorbati and Thorsten Dennerline. They take Sgorbati’s concept of “Emergent Forms” as their point of departure. “Emergent Forms” grew out of Sgorbati’s study of the spontaneous composition of form in complex systems. Elements of order and interaction create recognizable patterns in these systems, but they remain dynamic, engendering differentiations that influence and modify the form. This phenomenon – the creation of order from a rich array of self-organizing interactions – is found not only in dance and music; indeed, it is present throughout the natural world. This project consists of four emergent forms (Pattern, Memory, Landscape, and Dream), each represented by a “volume”, a unique print/object. The texture, color and gesture of each form on paper emerged through the process of collaborative dialogue, reminiscent of a shared choreography. Each volume is not only a documentation of this dialogue, but also an interactive visualization of these emergent forms [artist's statement]. Various techniques were used in the creation of the volumes, including letterpress, woodblock, and stone lithography. The four volumes are housed in a CNC milled wooden box with a cloth top. The box in turn is in a stiff paper slipcase. In fine condition. Measurements: Box, 244x390 mm (9.5x15.5 inches) Books inside box: Pattern, 78x152mm Memory, 206 x151mm Landscape, 214x94 mm Dream, 151X305 mm. Founded in 1997 by Thorsten Dennerline, The Bird Press is an artist-run publishing project that has focused on hand printed artists’ books. All projects utilize some inherent aspect of the book and often take the form of open-ended collaborations with writers. Each project is a response to the last, both in form and content, in order for the work to continually to evolve. Poetry, broadly defined, is a major inspiration for most of the work. They produce editions of between 15-40 copies, utilizing various print media including: flatbed offset lithography, stone lithography, etching, letterpress, wood blocks, and digital pigment printing.The Bird Press books are represented by many library collections, including The New York Public Library, Stanford University, Smith College, Yale University, The Library of Congress, The Getty Research Foundation, and The National Gallery. Link to Video: https://youtu.be/0ZkNuAHvlFg ARTISTSB/111320. More

(London): Sadie Coles HQ, (1997). Paperback. Number 29 of 50 copies. Signed by both authors on title page in pencil. A collection of fifty love poems by English artists Thomson (1966) and Lowe (1967), who are known best for their humorous and sometimes offensive installations pieces. Their work often involves recreating elements from historical artworks by using everyday objects such as cigarettes or whiskey bottles to make statements about popular English culture. Fitting with their visual art, these poems are terse, crude, and very funny. They poke fun at the seriousness of the love poetry genre with verses like: "Tonight I want you more, than any other, it's crazy I know, after you left me for, me brother." The poems are printed in black ink on fine paper and are housed in a black paper covered box titled in silver on the front panel. Unpaginated. [51 pages.] ARTB/081914. Fine. More

San Francisco: Terry Turrentine, 2020. One of ten copies, signed by the photographer and book artist Terry Turrentine Two copies are artist's proofs and one is a handling copy. Although she grew up in a family whose traditions included guns and hunting, as an adult Terry became an esteemed artist and wildlife photographer, specializing in capturing spectacular photographic images of birds. Her previous artist's books were of snowy owls, egrets, and gannets. This latest work offers magnificent images of falcons and a message of hope at this challenging time in our history. She writes in her colophon: " Widening Circles celebrates the ferocious beauty of the falcon, and the interdependent relationship of all beings to each other. Some may see the portraits of falcons in their protective hoods as disturbing. But those familiar with the ancient art of falconry know the hoods are a means to protect the bird from the assault of outside stimuli, as they are extremely sensitive to light, sounds, color, and motion. This is why falcons are such fearsome predators. All predators and their prey maintain the balance of nature and are essential for the world as we know it to exist. It is the natural order of things that there is destruction and rebirth in every second of every day. The ultimate predator, mankind, however, often abuses the privilege of living off the resources of this planet, and upsets the natural balance, causing extreme destruction. As a result, we are witnessing a death spiral of the climate, of the social order, and of the basic balance we need to survive as a species." Terry says of the Rilke poem, "Widening Circles," printed in the book in both English and German: "Over 100 years ago, this was also the observation of Rilke, as he saw the degradation of some of the cities he visited. He could only find solace in God and the wonder of nature - and he dedicated his timeless love poems to both." She concludes: "Life, death, and renewal - each stage is fluid. I believe the sublime gift of living is its constant change, its eternal cycles, and our capacity for transcending destruction through creativity." The credits for this beautiful production: Photographs and creative direction by Terry Turrentine; Book and text design by Dana F. Smith; Editorial consulting by Susan Gangel; Typography and letterpress printing by Dina Pollack; Bound by John DeMerritt Bookbinding; Images printed at Electric Works by Noah and Kris Lang. The stunning images are printed in brilliant colors against a black background, with a line from the poem appearing on each page out of the dark background. The work is housed in a custom black cloth box with a red leather cover. Measures 10.5 x 14.5 x 1.5 inches. In fine condition. ARTISTB/052621. More

Rockport, ME: Two Ponds Press, 2020. Number 29 of 60 copies. Copies number 1 to 20 are the deluxe edition. This beautifully conceived and executed limited edition private press work explores in parallel two critical contemporary issues: the impact of climate change and the status of the increasing number of refugees in our world. Nansen’s Pastport is an artistic re-invention of Norwegian polar explorer and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen’s refugee passport for post-Great War Europe.  The book, designed and conceived by artist Anneli Skaar, is re-imagined as a climate refugee passport for humanity, using Nansen’s own words in a contemporary context, inviting consideration on how to meet the pressing issues of current and future climate migration with wisdom from the past. Skaar writes: "The Pastport's design is based on the United States passport, arguably one of the most recognizable and coveted identity documents in the world. On its pages the U.S. passport features a number of iconic American landscapes and quotations by well-known citizens.... Nansen's Pastport also features landscapes and quotations. The quotations...are taken directly from Nansen's 1922 Nobel Lecture, 'The Suffering People of Europe.' Although Nansen's words reference the issues facing the displaced citizens of post-war Europe, the excerpts feel equally relevant and inspirational even today."  The Pastport is bound from blue North Atlantic salmon leather sourced from Iceland. On its cover is the image of an Arctic tern, the animal the migrates the farthest, making a 50,000 mile trip back and forth from the poles every year. The blue cloth covered box housing the Pastport is constructed to feel like an atlas, its dominant size symbolically enforcing geography's significance to the passport within. On the inside cover of the box is a mounted copperplate etching by Skaar. Named Carta Borealis (Northern Map), it emulates the perspective of an Arctic map; its center is the star of the North Pole. The outer case measures 19 x 13 inches. Nansen’s Pastport is 5 x 3.5 inches, 32 pages, identical to a standard passport. Letterpress printing by Art Larson at Horton Tank Graphics and bound and boxed by Amy Borezo. The Pastports cyanotypes processing by Sal Taylor Kydd and the map was printed from the copper plate by Wingate Studio. Accompanied by a softcover illustrated catalog by Anneli Skaar that describes the book, with an introduction by Steven R. Koltai. In fine condition. PRI/111021. More

Chicago: Ann Tyler, 2018. Hardcover. Number 4 of 5 copies. Signed and numbered by Ann Tyler, the book artist. A book about Syria, the violence taking place there, how abstract the atrocities feel to us in America, and how we attempt to process the information. Ann is a noted book artist and print maker whose works have been exhibited at many galleries across the United States. Her artist’s books are in several permanent collections including the Tate Gallery, London, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and the Joan Flasch Artists Book Collection, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She says of this powerful and complex work: "Catastrophic Geometries emerged from my research on Syria and the government military violence against the citizens. These books focus on one particular detention and torture site: Hospital 601. Hospital 601 is part of a military complex in Damascus. In news articles, aerial images of the site were published along with descriptions of what occurred at the site; images were smuggled out of Syria and provided to human rights organizations; testimony and documentation were provided by human rights organizations and in turn published in the media. The aerial images of building exteriors and roofs and shadows cast provided the basis of the abstractions I developed for this book. Catastrophic Geometries requires explication, as the sequencing of the text content underpins the viewer’s understanding of/relation to the abstractions – even though the abstractions comprise the bulk of the pages." The texts for each volume discuss visual and psychological factors that affect perception and understanding. For example, in volume IV: Car Garage Addendum: "The greater the distance the less detail. This tells us we are far away. Additionally, the greater the anticipated effort required then the greater the perceived distance. In tests, people within our own group are perceived to be closer while people out of our group are perceived to be further away because of the anticipated effort to understand that culture. Someone is sitting in a chair in the United States looking at a satellite image taken approximately 500 miles above Damascus, Syria reading a description of the site as told by another person who was standing at the scene photographing bodies but who has now fled to London carrying the evidence. The dead are strewn on the concrete floor of a car garage — some are isolated, some are slightly touching one arm on another, some are piled onto each other with no space in between. How do we determine distance in this scene? And what is the effort required?"    This work is a four volume set housed in a custom slipcase. The books are casebound in red and magenta linen cloth and are hand-sewn with gold foil stamped titles and volume numbers on their spines. The graphite notations on one of the last pages of volume IV are individually hand-drawn lines and numbers. Being hand-drawn this page varies slightly with each set.   Type set in Futura and Adobe Garamond and printed on MOAB Entrada Rag Natural paper. In fine condition. Books measure 9 3/8 x 12 1/8 inches. Slipcase is 9.5 x 12.5 x 3.5 inches. Volume I: 90 pages; Volume II: 52 pages; Volume III: 48 pages; Volume IV: 32 pages. ARTISTSB/072921. Fine. More