Past discussions about the artists’ book not only questioned what it is, but also where it is. Libraries asked if these were books, and museums questioned whether they were art. Institutional collecting policies on artists’ books also limited their access. More recently, seeking visitor engagement and attendance, libraries and museums are collecting and exhibiting works with contemporary social and political content including artists’ books and printed ephemera. Many artists now make books as part of their diverse practices, and museums and galleries regularly include books in exhibitions. The question has changed from what are artists’ books to how they can best be presented.
Formerly Associate Director for Special Collections and Exhibitions and Chief Curator at the Getty Research Institute, Marcia Reed acquired many of its notable rare books, prints, and archives from 1983 to 2022. She is the author of the award-winning exhibition catalogue Artists and Their Books / Books and Their Artists (2018) on the GRI’s collections of artists’ books. Her catalogue for the Getty’s 2021-2 exhibition on Dada, Surrealist, and Fluxus works, Fluxus Means Change: Jean Brown’s Avant Garde Archive, features this foundational collection which includes more than 4,000 artists’ books.
This public lecture is part of a seminar made possible with support from Getty through The Paper Project initiative.
