University Library partners with local art center to host artist's book exhibit
Herron Art Library, part of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis' University Library, has partnered with the Harrison Center for the Arts to sponsor "Bookish," an Indianapolis Downtown Artists & Dealers Association First Friday event. The exhibit is free and open to the public, and it will hang through Aug. 29, 2009.
"Bookish" builds on last year's "Book It!" artist's book exhibit and promotes local and regional book artists in the field of fine arts. Featured artists include Karen Baldner, Elyce Elder, Elizabeth Tuburgen, Dante Ventresca and Katherine Webb. This year, University Library will award a $400 prize to the "Best-in-Show."
Karen Balder, an IU alum and an adjunct professor at the IUPUI Herron School of Art and Design won "Best in Show" for her work in the "Bookish" exhibit. Pictured above is her work, titled "German/Jew."
The Herron Art Library will also exhibit recently acquired artist books from its special collection of artist and fine press books. Located at the Herron School of Art and Design, the Herron Art Library is home to a growing and significant collection of artist books.
"This partnership with the University Library brought new audiences to our facility and gave visitors a chance to explore new ideas about art and the role of books in our lives. We are looking forward to building on the success of last year's event, which had over 600 exhibit visitors," says Joanna Taft, executive director of the Harrison Center of the Arts.
Also returning this year are guest speakers Tony White, an IU Bloomington professor, and nationally recognized book arts dealers Bill and Vicki Stewart of Vamp & Tramp Booksellers LLC.
Baldner, an IU alumna and an adjunct professor at the Herron School of Art and Design at IUPUI, won the "Best in Show" award for the exhibit. The title of her award-winning pieces are German/Jew; Homo Sapiens; Obituaries/Nachrufe; and Push Me Pull You. In her work, Baldner tries to express all the varied dimensions of human emotions, from pain to humor to anger or cynicism. She works from a personal penchant for combining the dark and light sides of humanity in a manner that balances both.
Baldner grew up in West Germany where she began her studies in visual arts. She completed her formal art training in the United States, with a master's degree in printmaking from IU. She has taught printmaking, drawing, design and bookmaking at the University of Arkansas, Bucknell University, IU and St Mary's College of Maryland.
The Herron Art Library's collection of artists' books contains many forms of the book arts from fine press books illustrated by artists such as Mark Rothko to miniature books, some conveying powerful messages addressing social and family issues of personal significance to the respective book artist. These books often become a very personal extension and means of expression of a significant event or issue of an artist's life.
Significant book artists represented in the Herron collection include Julie Chen, Linda Broadfoot, Emily Artinian, Lois Morrison, and local book artists, Bonnie Stahlnacker, Paul Brown and Karen Baldner. New additions to the collection can be seen in the Artist Book Alcove at the Herron Art Library, 735 W. New York St.
Any resident of Indiana is eligible for an IUPUI University Library card. The "Bookish" exhibit was made possible by a generous gift from Mark and Carmen Holeman, collectors of local arts books.
More information can be found online at http://www.ulib.iupui.edu.
