Exhibitions

Printers in Residence

The work of six presses and one bookbinder at The Center for Book Arts.

Ted Danforth said of the exhibition: “Beyond offering an excellent schedule of courses in the book arts, mounting shows in this gallery, and operating as a nexus for the book arts the Center for Book Arts also has a small and affordable spaces for rent to book artists. Space being such a problem in this city–but especially for anyone brave enough to encumber themselves with the necessary impediments to letterpress printing–these studios offer presses and binders the opportunity to work in a congenial environment and to share some basic equipment.

This show presents the work of six presses and one bookbinder working in five studios at the Center. Heterodox by definition, we have brought together here the work of book artists with very different aesthetic and intellectual programs and varying degrees of experience. Two of the presses–Nadja and Purgatory Pie–have been producing fine printing for over a decade. Vital Signs and Alileah have been in operation for only a little more than two years each and have so far produced admirable work very different from each other, as well as from the two more ‘mature’ presses.”

Support for the Center for Book Arts’ visual arts programming is provided, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Exhibition Checklist

Alison Alpert

Memoir: Sholom Aleichem in My Life by Ber Green
(1985)

Songs for Shabbat
(1986) (with cassette)

Songs of Marriage
(1985) Translations of old texts by Ber Green (with cassette).

Christopher Erb

Coda by Christopher Erb
(1987) Mechanical by Elena Laza; Binding by Angela Scott.

Dead Birds
(1988) Suite of 24 prints by different artists; poems by Christopher Erb.

Venom
(1988) Rives BFK and bark paper for interior and binding of book cloth and snake skin with burlap slipcase.

Dikko Faust

3 X 3 Pyramid Pie
(1986) Cooperative project at Pyramid Atlantic

Dress Eclectique
(1986) Drawings by Isabelle Dervaux. Mix and match movable book, hand set Futura type printed letterpress with photoengravings and linoleum cut on ANW drawing and Framing paper.

Hidden Agenda, The
(1989) Datebooks for 1987, 1988 and 1989 (prototype binding)

Lilly Lou by Holly Anderson
(1986)

Mysteries of Prague by Paula Goldman
(1984) Linocuts by Dikko Faust. Set of thirteen postcards.

Postcards Seven
(1988) Series of 12 postcards

Postcards Six
(1987) Complete set of Purgatory Pie Press postcards

World at My Fingertips, The; by Donna Ratajezak
(1986)

Katherine Kuehn

Aunty Em on Binders by Karen Snider
(1986)

Dorothy During Wounded Knee by Karen A. Snider
(1984)

Fox and the Farmer, The; by Thomas P. Pinkert
(1985) Woodcuts reproduced from a 1780 edition of Aesop, additional illustrations by Ruth Lingen.

O, Glinda Love. . . By Karen A. Snider
(1984)

T.S. Eliot: A Tribute by Ted Hughes
(1987) Printed for Faber & Faber. Three Mylar-encapsulated books.

Walking with My Sons by Joe Bruchac
(1986)

Elena Laza

Coda by Christopher Erb
(1987) Mechanical by Elena Laza; Binding by Angela Scott.

Dead Birds
(1988) Suite of 24 prints by different artists; poems by Christopher Erb.

Venom
(1988) Rives BFK and bark paper for interior and binding of book cloth and snake skin with burlap slipcase.

Nora Ligorano

Two prototype Roger Powell bindings
(1987)

Ruth Lingen

Dream and Reality

Hesitation
(1982)

Intestinal Fortitude
(1988) Prototype

Mark Twain Compliments the President’s Wife
(1984) Hardbound book with letterpress pages

Nothing by Tim Raworth
(1987)

Peter Parley’s Visit . . .
(1987) Printed for Bowne & Co.

Ruth Makes a Masterpiece
Xerox flipbook

Scighte by Joe Napora
(1987) Binding by Tim Ely. (Specimen pages and broadside in case, special edition on wall.)

Lois Lowenstein

Memoir: Sholom Aleichem in My Life by Ber Green
(1985)

Songs for Shabbat
(1986) (with cassette)

Songs of Marriage
(1985) Translations of old texts by Ber Green (with cassette).

Esther K. Smith

3 X 3 Pyramid Pie
(1986) Cooperative project at Pyramid Atlantic

Dress Eclectique
(1986) Drawings by Isabelle Dervaux. Mix and match movable book, hand set Futura type printed letterpress with photoengravings and linoleum cut on ANW drawing and Framing paper.

Hidden Agenda, The
(1989) Datebooks for 1987, 1988 and 1989 (prototype binding)

Lilly Lou by Holly Anderson
(1986)

Mysteries of Prague by Paula Goldman
(1984) Linocuts by Dikko Faust. Set of thirteen postcards.

Postcards Seven
(1988) Series of 12 postcards

Postcards Six
(1987) Complete set of Purgatory Pie Press postcards

World at My Fingertips, The; by Donna Ratajezak
(1986)

Carol Sturm

Bronze by James Merrill
(1984)

Candles of Your Eyes by James Purdy
(1985)

Japan: Prose of Departure
(1987) Text by James Merrill. Printed letterpress from handset Bembo type on T. H. Saunders handmade paper. Sewn in wrappers of Richard de Bas handmade paper.

Carol Sturm

Japan: Prose of Departure
(1987) Text by James Merrill. Printed letterpress from handset Bembo type on T. H. Saunders handmade paper. Sewn in wrappers of Richard de Bas handmade paper.

Carol Sturm

Japan: Prose of Departure
(1987) Text by James Merrill. Printed letterpress from handset Bembo type on T. H. Saunders handmade paper. Sewn in wrappers of Richard de Bas handmade paper.

Jonah by Guy Davenport
(1986)

Kinder Capers by W.D. Snodgrass
(1986) Letterpress printed Optima type on Whatman paper

Souvenirs by James Merrill
(1984)

Sun at Midnight by Muso Soseki
(1985) W.S. Merwin, trans. Woodcuts by Antonio Frasconi.

Verses for a Fordham Commencement by Seamus Heaney
(1984)

Doug Wolf

Bronze by James Merrill
(1984)

Candles of Your Eyes by James Purdy
(1985)

Japan: Prose of Departure
(1987) Text by James Merrill. Printed letterpress from handset Bembo type on T. H. Saunders handmade paper. Sewn in wrappers of Richard de Bas handmade paper.