Beyond the Text : Artists' Books from the Collection of Robert J. Ruben : An Exhibition at the Grolier Club

Edition of 1500 copies. Laminated pictorial wrappers with flaps, oblong large 8vo, 156, [1] pp, colour ills, 21 x 28 cm, 69 entries. From the introduction - "Codex books, though immensely varied, are fundamentally narrative and linear, even when they are artistically embellished. Works that tend to be characterized as of the visual arts, such as paintings, graphics, and sculpture, characteristically can be taken in almost immediately by the viewer's eye (though not necessarily fully comprehended), or in the case of a three-dimensional sculpture, several continuing views. Artists' books, drawing upon both of these modes, evolve in a space/time continuum that is likely to be in part linear, as in a codex, and at the same time carries the possibility of immediate apprehension that we generally expect in works of visual art. They are, to varying degrees, both. Creators of artists' books use type, materials, movements, colors, transparencies, contrasts of texture, and more assertive three-dimensionality to convey information in the broadest sense. Artists' books do not have embellished texts: taken as a whole, they are the text; While artists' books go beyond the traditional codex in their wide ranging use of materials to achieve their artistic ends, we should say, as lovers also of the codex, that the range of artistic decisions and solutions that ultimately give form to a finely made codex may go far to bridge the gap between codices and artists' books - but of course, definitions are always constructs, tentative though useful as long as their permeable "edges" are held in mind. Some artists' books arrive on our visual doorstep bearing, primarily, humor, while others - all in mixed degrees - convey intellectual challenge, or emotions such as awe or joy. Some are embassies from the dark side of human experience. The assemblage of materials in artists' books is characterized by craftsmanship and artistry that heighten alertness and relax resistance, thus opening the door to a deeper understanding of the full range of human experience. Artists' books may be accordion, codex, scroll, box book (including those with multiple books within the box), pop-up, or tunnel. They come in every variety of mixed media; they may have previously known texts, new texts, or no text at all; they may be totally new creations in the material sense or altered objects; the subject matter may be political, argumentative, or humorous, and is ultimately infinite; and they may be unique, limited edition, or mass produced. We have selected the books for this exhibition to provide examples of many of their characteristic forms and media, always with an eye to high quality." Very Good.…