Press Contact: Sara Morgan, Communications & Marketing Manager
sara@centerforbookarts.org | 415-845-1138
Download Press Release | Download Press Packet
For Immediate Release: Center for Book Arts Presents Three Exhibitions Opening October 1st
2021-09-25, New York City — Center for Book Arts (CBA) is delighted to present three exhibitions opening October 1, 2021 that expand the boundaries of book arts into the culinary, digital, and sculptural realms: How to Cook a Wolf, curated by Alison Karasyk, features works by artists Nicole Coson, Giulia Crispiani, Lexie Smith, and Kiyan Williams that address this tumultuous time through culinary response; Impracticum: Mining Books on Color is JULM Studios’ (the collaborative practice of artists Jason Urban & Leslie Mutchler) foray into the digital applications of color through scientific, aesthetic, and conceptual methodologies; and What the Butterfly Dragon Taught Me: Dimensional Stories in Paper showcases CBA 2021 Faculty Fellow Colette Fu’s new work continuing her We Are Tiger Dragon People series of photo-based pop-up books about the ethnicities of China.
“We are thrilled to be showing new work by seven talented and accomplished artists in three exhibitions that exemplify the dynamism and adaptability of the book arts to various media and concepts,” says Corina Reynolds, CBA Executive Director.
The three exhibitions are on view through December 11, 2021 in CBA’s galleries at 28 West 27th Street, 3rd Floor. CBA is open to the public Monday–Thursday from 11am–6pm and Friday & Saturday from 11am–4pm. Admission is free with a suggested donation and all visitors are required to show proof of vaccination as well as wear a mask covering the nose and mouth at all times while on-site.
How to Cook A Wolf
On View October 1 – December 11, 2021
About the Exhibition:
How to Cook a Wolf brings together a selection of artworks produced between 2020-2021 that address this time of viral and political turmoil through culinary response. In the wake of such depravity and loss, artists have activated culinary rituals as profound sites of exchange: countering isolation, affliction, and scarcity with new networks of care, collaboration, and sustenance. Borrowing its title from M.F.K. Fisher’s 1942 book of essays and recipes arguing for pleasure and possibility in wartime, How to Cook a Wolf presents artworks that double as food stories and sources of solidarity during this unprecedented period.
The exhibition is accompanied by a riso-printed limited-edition catalog available for purchase in CBA’s shop.
About the Curator:
The exhibition is curated by Alison Karasyk, an independent curator born and based in New York City. Her research interests focus on the intersection of gender, space, memory, and materiality.
About the Artists:
The artists featured in How to Cook a Wolf are Nicole Coson, Giulia Crispiani, Lexie Smith, and Kiyan Williams.
Nicole Coson (b. 1992 in Manila, Philippines) is an artist living in East London who examines dichotomies of interiority/exteriority and visibility/invisibility using painting and analog printmaking techniques.
Giulia Crispiani (b. 1986 in Ancona, Italy) is a Rome-based writer and visual artist focusing on interviews, love letters, and manifestos.
Living in NYC and the Hudson Valley, Lexie Smith (b. 1989 in New York) is an independent researcher, writer, and bread baker pursuing her ongoing Bread on Earth project as well as developing a community-oriented small grain farming system and teaching program with Sky High Farm.
Kiyan Williams (they/them) (b. 1991 in Newark, NJ) is a multimedia artist and writer seeking to evoke the historical, political, and ecological forces that shape individual and collective bodies.
Impracticum: Mining Books on Color
On View October 1 – December 11, 2021
About the Exhibition:
JULM Studios’ Impracticum: Mining Books on Color is an exhibition of new work with an interactive website (colorimpracticum.space) that investigates color in the physical and digital realms through scientific, aesthetic, conceptual, and spiritual methodologies.
The exhibition and website are rooted in a fictive academic course, Geochromatic Studies, which offers a series of interwoven prompts exploring both rational and irrational applications of color in the context of historical precedence and speculative interpretation.
Rather than a “practicum,” which is a course emphasizing the practical application of a field of study, Geochromatic Studies is an “impracticum” – untethered by usefulness and applicability. Instead, it serves as a laboratory and a playground allowing for uninhibited exploration of color.
About the Artists:
Artists Jason Urban and Leslie Mutchler draw on their shared background in traditional and digital printmaking for their collaborative practice, JULM Studios. Their projects explore facts and fictions of pedagogy through books, printing, and publishing—utilizing photographs, video, and sculptural objects as facsimiles for research, experience, and exploration.
Related Programming:
Artist Talk: Color Impracticum—Books, Pedagogy, & Collaboration
with JULM Studios & Emily Larned
Thursday, October 14, 2021
1:00pm ET
On Zoom (Registration Required)
This online lunchtime discussion – moderated by publisher, designer, and educator Emily Larned – explores a range of subjects related to JULM Studios’ interactive web project Color Impracticum, including art as education, education as art, the translation of books from analog to digital platforms, and the role of collaboration in the creative process.
What the Butterfly Dragon Taught Me: Dimensional Stories in Paper
On View October 1 – December 11, 2021
About the Exhibition:
Building on two decades of pop-up book making experience, CBA Faculty Fellow Colette Fu’s new works for her We Are Tiger Dragon People series—about different ethnicities in China—comprises the exhibition What the Butterfly Dragon Taught Me: Dimensional Stories in Paper. Created during quarantine, these dynamic new pop-up works utilize photo collage to convey stories of the Miao, Dulong, Mongolian, Han, and Yi peoples.
About the Artist:
Philadelphia-based artist Colette Fu (b.1969 in Princeton, NJ) makes complex three-dimensional compositions that incorporate photography and pop-up paper engineering.
Related Programming:
Online Exhibition Tour: What the Butterfly Dragon Taught Me
with Colette Fu
Friday, October 15, 2021
6:30pm ET
On Zoom (Registration Required)
Join Colette Fu for a virtual tour of her exhibition, What the Butterfly Dragon Taught Me: Dimensional Stories in Paper. Fu will discuss the individual stories of each work in the exhibition as well as speaking to the overall series they are part of – We Are Tiger Dragon People.