Books have long served as vessels of knowledge, storytelling, and memory. In this exhibition, the book is reimagined not only as an object of content, but as a site of transformation—where material, meaning, and message converge. Through sculpture, installation, and mixed media, Contemporary Volumes explores how artists use the form, function, and symbolism of books to challenge conventions, reshape narratives, and expand the possibilities of both art and language.
Contemporary Volumes features the works of nine artists from across the US: Brian Dettmer, Colette Fu, Samuelle Green, Cheryl Gross, Amanda Love, Sarah Matthews, Cheryl R. Riley, Susan Rostow, and Diana Schmertz.
I know this may raise the ire on some of the usual SW people.
The art world does love pseudo-intellectual waffle and the introduction here is no exception, but once you go past that the works tell an appalling story of suppression and censorship, sometimes even to try to hide physical cruelty, in a country that used to parade itself as "The Land Of The Free".
The number Amanda Love quotes of books banned from libraries and schools - nearly 3700 - asks if that verb ought not be "parody".
Those books, or at least covers, displayed: are all those ones that have been expunged?
I wonder what would happen if students and parents said to the schools or libraries, "Actually, we have read _____ , and enjoyed it, but have you, and why won't you allow anyone else to enjoy it?"
