The Best of the Best
A Traveling Exhibition of the Guild of Book Workers
The Guild of Book Workers' new traveling exhibition, The Best of the Best
has just opened at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio where it will remain
until June 15. The exhibit is on display in Alden Library. See
http://www.library.ohiou.edu/ for more information. With 33 participants
from 18 states, this juried exhibition presents 35 of the best works from
the last part of the century.
The Guild of Book Workers began in 1906 with 42 members. Now there are
eight regional chapters and more than 1,000 members, included illuminators,
printers, binders, type designers, and book and bookplate designers.
Among the jurors are two Guild members, Scott Kellar, binder/conservator;
Audrey Niffennegger, binder/artist; and Doro Boehme, keeper of the Joan Flash Artist Book Collection at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
The exhibition was organized by Barbara Lazarus Metz, exhibition chair for
the Guild of Book Workers.
The jurors selected a stunning array of work from traditional
design-bindings to artists' books in a variety of media. These include
bindings on published works, one-of-a-kind artist's books, and examples
using letterpress printing and calligraphy. Various illustration techniques
have been used, including printmaking, lithography, etching, linocut, as
well as watercolor, photocopier collage, and inkjet prints. Among the
formats are the traditional codex, accordion books, and some wildly unique
structures.
One of the primary goals of the Guild, since its inception, has been to
sponsor national exhibitions of members' work. These shows vary from
multiple bindings of the same text, to a specific theme, or, like The Best
of the Best, a general overview. In recent years the exhibitions have
seldom focused solely on bindings because the membership includes not only
bookbinders, but papermakers, calligraphers, printers, artists, marblers,
and conservators.
To accompany the exhibition, which is also online at that Guild's Website
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byorg/gbw, the Guild is pleased to offer a fully
illustrated catalog. The catalog is in postcard format and housed in a
hinged plexiglass case. Dimensions are approximately 4" x 6. The Guild is pleased to offer the catalog at the price of $20.00 + $3.50 s/h for the first copy, $4.00 for 2, and $5.50 for orders of 3-5 copies. Orders for more than 6 copies will receive a quote. Overseas shipping charges will be pro-rated. Institutions may request open account billing. An online form can be found on the Guild's site along with instructions for mailing in your order, if you so wish.
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