University's MFA Book Arts/Printmaking Program Hosts International Event

PHILADELPHIA (May 26, 2009) – Hundreds of book artists will converge to explore their art and craft at the international conference and fair "The Hybrid Book – Intersection + Intermedia," June 4 – 6, 2009, at the University of the Arts.

The University’s MFA Book Arts/Printmaking program hosts the event featuring panels with established and emerging artists, designers, educators, and collectors; exhibitions of work by acclaimed artists Irma Boom, Gunnar Kaldewey and Hedi Kyle, and university alumni; and a book fair featuring over 100 artists selling a wide range of artists’ books.

“Book arts represents a multi-arts forum — two and three-dimensional, and time-based — one in which design, fine arts, craft, language, and new technologies combine, compete, and intersect,” said conference organizer Susan Viguers, MFA Book Arts/Printmaking professor at the University of the Arts. “The focus of The Hybrid Book will be on that aspect – the book as a hybrid art form and book arts as multi-disciplinary.”

Conference panels will explore book arts in academia, the book form in the social sphere, the future of letterpress and off-set printing, and digital media and text. Roberta Fallon of The Artblog and Anabelle Rodriguez, a Philadelphia-based artist, curator and visual anthropologist, will participate in the final event on Saturday evening, a dinner and a critical response to the conference and fair.

The exhibition “The Hybrid Book” at the university’s Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery (333 S. Broad St., Philadelphia) runs from June 4 – 30 and features work by Boom, Kaldewey and Kyle, internationally known pioneering artist/designers whose concepts and renderings of the book are vastly different.

Boom is one of Europe’s most prominent book designers and most notably the winner of the prestigious Gutenberg Prize for her complete oeuvre. In 1991, she founded the firm Irma Boom Office, which works nationally and internationally in both the cultural and commercial sectors. Kaldewey explores and transforms major writings through the visual, structural and tactile properties and potential of the book. Internationally known for her workshops and book designs, Kyle combines a profound knowledge of book conservation and a wildly imaginative approach to book structure. Artist and critical writer Buzz Spector, Dean of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Ats, Washington University in St. Louis, has written the critical essay for the exhibition’s catalog.

Concurrently, an exhibition of recent post-graduate work by MFA Book Arts/Printmaking program alumni will be on display in Hamilton Hall (320 S. Broad St.). Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the program, the show runs June 4 – 29 and is juried by Mindell Dubansky, preservation librarian at Metropolitan Museum of Art, critical writer, curator and book artist; and Clarissa Sligh, a prominent photographer, installation artist and book artist.

The Hybrid Book Fair in the Levitt Auditorium and gymnasium of the university’s Gershman Hall (401 S. Broad St., Philadelphia) runs from 1 – 6 p.m. on June 5 – 6. Artists and vendors will showcase the wide range of work being produced by book artists today. Purchase prizes will be awarded at the fair by numerous institutions, including Special Collections at Columbia University, Free Library of Philadelphia, Jaffe Center for Book Arts, Swarthmore College, Temple University, University of the Arts, University of Pennsylvania, Wellesley College and Yale University. In addition to purchase prizes, there will be several awards presented, including the Bright Hill Word and Image Award, College Book Arts Association Student Award, Journal of Artists’ Books Emerging Artist Award and Philadelphia Center for the Book Regional Book Award.

The University of the Arts is the nation’s first and only university dedicated to the visual, performing and communication arts. Its 2,300 students are enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs on its campus in the heart of Philadelphia’s Avenue of the Arts. The institution’s roots as a leader in educating creative individuals date back to 1868.

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