The San Francisco Public Library's Book Arts & Special Collections and The Guild of Book Workers are pleased to present Marking Time, the Guild's triennial juried members' book arts exhibition.
Time has long captured the imagination of artists, writers, scientists, philosophers and theologians. Guild of Book Workers members, both established masters and gifted emerging artists, were invited to interpret the theme "marking time" for an exhibition featuring 50 works that will travel to nine venues across the country from May 2009 to March 2011. The exhibition will make its West Coast premiere at the San Francisco Public Library Sept. 6 and will be on view through Nov. 22, 2009 in the Skylight Gallery at the Main Library.
Marking Time showcases the rich diversity of backgrounds, talents and interests that has been a hallmark of Guild membership for more than 100 years. Exhibitors are conservators and bookbinders, arts educators, full-time studio artists and people with jobs outside the arts. A number of works in this exhibition refer to or incorporate actual parts of time-keeping devices. Some pieces reference the end of time; others suggest historical structures or formats, and several create contemporary "book of hours." Some celebrate the cycles of nature, while others track deterioration of an environment. Some deal with a literal or figurative journey or with cultural or personal history.
Traditional leather bindings stand alongside contemporary bindings that have been dyed, collaged or incorporated with photographs or handwriting. Texts selected to be bound are as likely to be poetry or classics as they are science fiction or hard science. The exhibition includes work in the codex format, complex folded structures, wooden constructions, hand-held toys and sculptural objects. Text and imagery is produced by the most ancient and most modern mark-making methods: calligraphy, painting, woodcut, letterpress and digital output.
An accompanying exhibition catalog will be on view in the exhibition and available for purchase at the Book Bay at Main Bookstore and online at www.guildofbookworkers.org. The catalog features: full color photographs and complete descriptions of each work; biographies of the artists; remarks from jurors Jeff Altepeter, Melissa Jay Craig and Peter Verheyen; and essays by Marking Time curator Karen Hanmer and Guild president James Reid-Cunningham.
Related Event:
Saturday, September 12 --- 2 - 4 p.m.
Local Guild of Book Workers members Jody Alexander, Coleen Curry and Debbie Kogan will present a walk-through discussion of the exhibition.
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