Explore the World of Artists’ Books

Book by Lorena Lowe

Artists’ books have become a unique genre of art making in recent years, but, depending on how you define them, they have a long history going back to the medieval period and the Irish monks, or to the 19th century and William Blake’s self-published poems and illustrations, or to the Surrealist publications of Marcel Duchamp, or to the 1960’s in L.A. with Ed Ruscha. Starting in the 1970’s, however, the idea of making an art object in some book form, had growing appeal to artists in many different fields because of its flexibility. No single material or set of rules, or accepted format limited what could be done. The book format itself is hard to define, and can include, among other things, the codex, or scroll, with bound or unbound pages, with or without pages, and with or without text. Artists working in drawing, painting, printmaking, fiber arts, poetry, sculpture, design, graphics, watercolor, or collage could see book arts as an intersection where they could explore, integrate and transform ideas in limitless ways to express their ideas. The popularity of book arts can be seen in the exhibitions that continue, the library and art museum collections that began, the college and university programs that were founded, and the growing interest in book arts among the general public.

The beauty of the artist’s book is that it can be a source of expression for non-artists too. Get inspired to make your own book by visiting these sites:

See the many possibilities of book structures in this collection.
Art Books

Here artists created unique books based on the works of well-known scientific discoveries.
Art Books

Take an e-visit to the Getty Museum’s artists’ book collection by clicking here.
Art Books