MESA PUBLIC LIBRARY News
Bound Under the Influence: Book Arts by Suzanne Vilmain
Including: BOOKS, EDITIONS, LETTERPRESS, WORKS on PAPER & SOUVENIRS
40 years of making & collecting books
Mesa Public Library Art Gallery
April 2 through 30
Public Reception
Saturday, April 7 2:00-4:00 PM
Al Mutanabbi Street Starts Here. Courtesy Photo
Suzanne Vilmain has devoted much of her life to words, first as an English teacher and always as an artist who uses words and text both as the symbols they are and as design elements. In Vilmain’s words:
“I’ve been under the influence of typography and computers most of my life, working as a typesetter at Copygraphics back in the early 80’s, than as a graphic designer; and yet, only after having my own letterpress, have I been able to address the non-sequential/non-essential—rather than go minimal, my pages/bindings/books have been printed multiple layers, as well as multiple techniques of markmaking/printmaking/bookmaking. After 40 years of keeping journals, I’ve abandoned the grid, the justified line, the content-driven sequence. After 2 decades designing for the graphic, digital and small press worlds, I now make books by hand, one-of-a-kind, unique—using other books to print palimpsest over.”
What this means is wildly unpredictable, richly colored and layered images and text, exuberant and engaging works of art-book art. Vilmain makes accordion books; books bound in innovative ways with unexpected materials; letterpress, handprinted broadsides; ‘zines; and the exhibition includes years of collected materials along with some ‘souvenirs’ for visitors to take away.
Suzanne Vilmain’s work has been shown nationally in galleries, libraries, universities, and special collections. Vilmain’s books can be seen at Vamp&Tramp.com, as well as in the libraries at Drake University, Denver University and University of California, Santa Barbara. Her work has been included in three books, Adventures in Letterpress, New Mexico Artists at Work and Al Mutanabbi Street Starts Here: a collection of broadsides and writings, release date: May 2012. She has created more than two dozen artists’ books.
The exhibit will be on view April 2-30 during regular library hours:
Monday-Thursday 10 AM-9 PM
Friday 10 AM-6 PM
Saturday 10 AM-5 PM
Sunday 12 PM-5 PM
A Premonition. Courtesy Photo
Please visit the Mesa Public Library website for all the details: www.losalamosnm.us/library
