Elastic Membrane by Kidner Michael (4 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. Folio. 2 v., [6] loose plates, 1 board : ill. facsimiles. ; 45 x 35 cm. Consists of: 1. Continuity Book 2. Notebook (facsimile), 3. Loose title-page. 4. Six large photo-offset plates (in folders). and 5. The practical homemade computer (powered by the elastic membrane of the title). Edition is limited to 300 copies, each signed by the artist. Designed by the artist in collaboration with Jack Shirreff, the master craftsman of 107 Workshop where the work was produced. One of an edition of 300 signed copies, 40 proofs. From Circle Press: "A production in three parts by this system artist , contained in a wooden box with perspex cover. The first part, a Practical , is an example of a homemade computer used to generate the images which follow ( a mixed media construction entitled "Cross Sketch" with wood, fabric, and push pins, made from wood, perspex, and an elastic membrane). The second is made up of three signed etchings and three signed lithos by Michael Kidner, each signed, title, dated, numbered and laid into paper folders. The third consists of two spiral note books: 1) a 54 pp Continuity Book and 2) a 72 pp facsimile of the artist s Note Book.

Ensemble including 6 original prints and 2 facsimile notebooks, in an elaborate wood and perspex case. Contents as follows:Title/colophon leaf. Prints: 3 photo etchings and 3 continuous tone lithographs, each signed and numbered in pencil by the artist (most on the verso), loose as issued within individual colored paper folders. Sheet size: 432 x 338 mm. (ca. 17 x 13 1/4 inches). Facsimiles: Continuity Book: 1f., 28 plates (partly printed on translucent vellum). 4to. Wraps., wire-bound. Signed by the artist under front cover. Note Book: (72)pp. Facsimile of the artist's manuscript notes. Lrg. 8vo. Wraps., wire-bound. Signed by the artist under front cover. Case: polished plywood, with interior compartments, closed by a sliding plexiglass cover. Folio. One of 35 Artist Proof copies, signed and numbered by Kidner in the colophon, from the edition of 350 in all, designed in collaboration with the artist and produced by Jack Shirreff, 107 Workshop. Presentation copy, inscribed by the artist to Hans Joachim Beyer on the title/colophon leaf.

Perspex and Plywood. Condition: Very Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Near Fine. 1st Edition. 2 v., [6] loose plates, 1 board : ill. facsimiles. ; 45 x 35 cm. Consists of: 1. Continuity Book 2. Notebook (facsimile), 3. Loose title-page. 4. Three photo etchings and three photo lithographs (each one signed and titled by artist and contained their own individual folders, each folder a different color). and 5. The practical homemade computer (powered by the elastic membrane of the title). When packed & repacked correctly (an impressive exercise in it's own right) these elements fit together snugly in a large compartmented rectangular plywood and perspex container, a container way too elegant to be referred to as just a box. Edition is limited to 300 copies, each signed by the artist. Designed by the artist in collaboration with Jack Shirreff, the master craftsman of 107 Workshop where the work was produced. Condition of all elements: Virtually flawless, fine. All elements fresh, unhandled and free of wear. [P.S. No description completely captures the large number of moving parts packed into this one very fine package; our experience handling this title a half a dozen times or so over the years is that a prudent collector will be sure to check that the two small, custom, brown bakelite head pins that anchor the plastic arcs of the "practicle computer" are present in their original form.]. A mind boggling artist's book bristling with energy, pushing at the boundaries of the book arts genre. "When stretched, elasticized cloth contains energy. Only the warp is elastic, but - with an image drawn on it and stretched between two batons - distortions due to that energy are revealed. In this case, because I myself had imparted the energy, it was a matter of taste. To eliminate this limitation, I used fiberglass rods to provide the tension needed for stretching the elastic. I couldn't have imagined the forms that would result.". First Edition, First Printing. [Ltd. Edition of 300].

Condition: Good. A production in three parts by this 'system artist', contained in a wooden box with perspex cover. The first part, a 'Practical', is an example of a home-made computer used to generate the images which follow (made from wood, perspex, and an elastic membrane). The second is made up of three signed etchings and three signed lithos. The third consists of two spiral note books: 1) a 54 pp Continuity Book, 25 x 21 cm and 2) a 72 pp facsimile of the artist's Note Book, 20 x 17 cm - 300 signed copes, 40 proofs - the whole measures 46 x 36 x 7cm.Kidner's first solo exhibition was held at St Hilda's college, Oxford in 1959 where he showed his After Image paintings. However it was not until 1965 that he became recognised as a pioneer of Op Art following the publicity surrounding the exhibition called The Responsive Eye organised by William Seitz at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Both Kidner and Bridget Riley's work were included. The importance of Op Art in the canon of Western art history is well-established. Artworks which explored optical reception had been created since earlier in the century, though they were usually experiments and three-dimensional work. It was Kidner's generation which made optics the focus of painting and Kidner himself who can be said to have produced the first Op Art paintings in colour. Without losing this rigorous, intellectual approach, Kidner manages to make his work resonate emotionally. Throughout his life, he retained an interest in unpredictable world events that provoked unplanned elements within his work but he somehow managed to intimate an underlying order through his use of form and colour. He survived to see a major show of his work from the 1960s, 'Dreams of the World Order' at the Royal Academy in September 2009. Solo exhibitions of Kidner's work include Serpentine Gallery; Grabowski Gallery; Victoria Art Gallery, Bath; Arnolfini Gallery and Royal West of England Academy, Bristol; Henry Moore Institute, Leeds; Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna; Betty Parsons, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Poland; and exhibitions in Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Stockholm, Helsinki and Budapest. His papers and archive were gifted to the Tate in 2010. Kidner has work in numerous public collections, including Tate; V&A; Arts Council; Government Art Collection; Contemporary Arts Society; Henry Moore Sculpture Trust; New College, Oxford; Southampton City Art Gallery; Walker Gallery, Liverpool; Gulbenkian Foundation; Sintra Museum of Modern Art, Portugal; Stuyvesant Foundation; Poznan Museum, Poland; Malmo Konsthall, Sweden; Museum of Modern Art, New York; and National Gallery of Australia.