In Issue 1 - Center for Book Arts

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

Welcome to the first issue of Book Art Review magazine—published by Center for Book Arts. This new print and online magazine is part of BAR’s larger initiative, developed over the last two years, to create a platform for critical writing about artists’ books. The magazine follows on past CBA publications including Book Arts (a quarterly journal published from 1975-1982), Book Arts Review newsletter (published from 1982-1991 and 1998), and koob stra (1993-1998). Book Art Review will appear twice a year in print and on CBA’s website.

We are interested in encouraging varied discourse around a broad range of artists’ books that engages with the book as an object. Each issue will include feature essays around a theme, an interview with a bookmaker, publisher, or other artists in the field, and reviews of contemporary and historical artists’ books. In this inaugural issue we’ve assembled writing around the theme of, “A New Manifesto for Book art Criticism,” including a conversation among the founders on the origins and aims of BAR; a look back on the last 50 years of writing on artists’ books with a view to the future; a recontextualization of the field of artists’ books; and much more. We welcome you to this community and invite you to join us in conversation at BAR by pitching us, commenting online on our content, proposing an event, and reading and sharing our writing.

Sincerely,

The Editors

To respond to anything you read here, please email us at bar@centerforbookarts.org or add a comment to the content online.