Lawton Gallery to present artists’ books exhibition beginning Oct. 11
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Lawton Gallery will present the exhibition “How to Read a Book: An Artists’ Books Reading Room,” from Oct. 11 through Nov. 1 at the gallery in the University’s Theatre Hall. An opening reception will be held from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11, with a curator’s talk scheduled for 5 p.m.
The “How to Read a Book” exhibition offers visitors a hands-on introduction to the world of artists’ books, which are works of art in which artists use the medium of the book to create the artwork. The exhibition will showcase more than 200 books that span a wide variety of types within this genre, with the majority of submissions coming from artists in the United States and Canada.
The title of the Lawton exhibition plays on the different set of skills required in “reading” artists’ books, with an emphasis on typography, paper, shape, size, weight, structure, smell and narrative and non-narrative structures, among numerous additional distinguishing features.
An exhibition catalog that accompanies the “How to Read a Book” exhibit features an extended interview about artists’ books with Max Yela, special collections librarian at UW-Milwaukee. Yela will give a public lecture about artists’ books at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24 in the Lawton Gallery. The event is free and open to the public. In conjunction with the exhibition, UW-Green Bay’s Cofrin library will be starting an artists’ book collection. Many of the show’s artists have donated their books in order to jumpstart this new initiative.
Accompanying the “How to Read a Book” exhibit will be a small historical display of artists’ books, as well as a selection of books made for the Veteran’s Book Project. Artist Monica Haller coordinates this project, working collaboratively with veterans to create powerful books about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. These books have been purchased in collaboration with the Cofrin Library and the UW-Green Bay Vets 4 Vets student group.
The Lawton Gallery is located in the Theatre Hall Building, Room 230, and is open during fall and spring semesters. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, contact Curator of Art Stephen Perkins at (920) 465-2916, email perkinss@uwgb.edu or visit www.uwgb.edu/lawton.
#12-144
