Catch-Up Week

I will be doing some catching up this coming week after spending far too much time selecting images for my Zoom presentation for CBBAG.

People seemed to be happy with my presentation but I always find it difficult to gauge a talk given when I can’t see my audience. (I also suffer more stress after the event than before it, thinking about things I might have said differently and things I left out entirely.)

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My exhibition Star Bright is now on.

I did not attend the Friday night opening, but here are some images courtesy of the gallery photographer.

Laura (the curator) did a wonderful job with the display. I was delighted to have the opportunity to exhibit in 1:24 scale as it gave me a chance to do really large pieces!

(You can follow The Thimble Gallery on Instagram and Facebook. You’ll find links to more information on the gallery linktree.)

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The projects for this coming week include year-end bookkeeping for income tax.

I will also be cutting back the geraniums, and starting new cuttings. I have been postponing this because they have been flowering so gloriously, but it is time.

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In other book arts news:

The Dia al-Azzawi exhibition (on until June 11, 2023) looks like a must-see for anyone who can get to Oxford. If you can’t make it to the Ashmolean, you can download the exhibition leaflet (with lots of pictures) instead. A poor substitute for the real thing, I suspect, but one which will have to satisfy most of us.

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From the Rijksmuseum website:

Every book designed by Irma Boom is unique: from one without ink to another consisting only of book covers. More than 30 of her books are on display alongside works of art from our collection – art that has inspired her and art for which she feels a strong affinity.

CONNECTIONS

Art and the making of books are inextricably linked for Irma Boom. She designs books for museums and many artists. And it’s not without good reason that international clients such as fashion brand Chanel, the Art Institute of Chicago, MoMA in New York and architect Rem Koolhaas all choose to work with her. This display presents Boom’s selection of objects from the collection that relate to her work: her aluminium book Renault=Présent from 2016 stands next to Paco Rabanne’s 1967 aluminium chainmail dress, and her totally white Chanel 5 book is placed alongside Jan Schoonhoven’s white relief sculpture R70-63.

20-YEAR PARTNERSHIP

This display is a celebration of the Rijksmuseum’s more than 20-year partnership with Irma Boom. In 2012, she designed the Rijksmuseum’s logo and corporate identity. Her use of that half-space between ‘Rijks’ and ‘museum’ caused quite a commotion! Irma Boom and her office design all the Rijksmuseum’s graphic output. Boom has also designed several Rijksmuseum exhibitions, including All the Rembrandts and most recently Modern Japanese Lacquer.

 

This is another exhibition I would love to see. If you can’t make it either, you could have a look at some of Boom’s books in the Books on Books Collection.

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The Getty Museum recently acquired the Irmengard Codex, a significant 11th C. manuscript made for Irmengard of Nellenburg. You can see all fifteen illuminations here.

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There is an art book fair coming up in Reykjavik. Most of us won’t be making it to that either. Instead, here’s a post from one of the participants.

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Letterform Archive continues to host its Salon Series of lectures both in-person and online. You can find more information about the Bethany Qualls lecture —and a registration link— on this page.

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It’s still winter here, although we are getting lots of spring sunshine. (The photo is an evening shot.) Normal temperatures for this time of year are a daytime high of 5ºC, and overnight low of -5ºC. Here’s what the forecast for the week looks like.

Sigh!