August 11, 2006

UCSD Libraries and San Diego Book Arts to
Host National Exhibition of Artists’ Books Aug. 11-Sept. 8

By Dolores Davies

Inside Out, Viviana Lombrozo

Fifty-eight artists’ books, selected from more than 200 entries and representing the first national juried exhibition sponsored by the San Diego Book Arts group, will be on display from Aug. 11-Sept. 8 at the Mandeville Special Collections Library at UC San Diego’s Geisel Library. The show, which includes submissions from artists across the country, was juried by Lynda Corey Claassen, director and chief curator of UC San Diego’s Mandeville Special Collections Library and an authority on artists’ books, rare books and manuscripts, and collection development.

“This exhibition is splendid evidence of the wealth of creative artists working with “the book” as their medium. We’re pleased to extend our collaboration with San Diego Book Arts, a community organization whose mission of outreach and education about the book arts matches ours.”

The Tokugawa Code, Jim Macachek

The works on display in the exhibition range from whimsical and humorous spoofs on popular culture to aesthetically-driven, sensual works rooted in history. On the whimsical side, the exhibition includes a wedding planning “book” composed of a series of pink-hued Monopoly-like game boards, complete with “go directly to jail” type cards saying things like “Oops, you’re pregnant. Go back three spaces.” In a more meditative vein, an accordion style book in lush red is steeped in mystery and secret codes, depicting the many faces from a large collection of Noh masks owned by the Tokugawa clan, Japan’s long-ruling family of the Edo period (1607-1871). Other works of note include an assemblage of “book stones,” books shaped and sanded to look like rocks collected on the seashore—“stone dreams”—which “…convey a book in the absence of text.”

I Do (I Don't), Jen Thomas

UC San Diego’s Mandeville Special Collections Library holds one of the largest collections of artists’ books on the West Coast, second only to UCLA. The Special Collections Library also houses an extensive collection of literary works, the Archive for New Poetry, which complements the artists’ book collection. The UCSD Libraries are the largest academic library south of Los Angeles, holding more than 3 million volumes. UCSD currently ranks in the top 25 U.S. public university libraries among the members of the prestigious Association of Research Libraries.

For additional information, e-mail or telephone 858-534-2533.

Media Contact: Dolores Davies, (858) 534-5994