Hand-printed Books exhibition - Angela Morton Room til May 31st

  

I'm delighted to have some of my artist books included 

in the beautifully curated 

Aotearoa Handprinted Books exhibition 

on until May 31st at the

Angela Morton Room, Te Pātaka Toi Art Library

Level 1, Takapuna Library,

Auckland, NZ.

This exhibition was installed to accompany the "Tactile Verse" talk, presented by writer, researcher and librarian Leanne Radojkovich, printmaker Toni Mosley, and myself, at the recent Printopia Festival. The aim of the presentation was to share some of the rare and unique artists’ books and prints that can be found in the Angela Morton Room and to let people know what they will find when they visit and how they can access the resources.

Hand printed Books exhibition, AM Room

Hand printed Books exhibition, AM Room

The books included in the exhibition are books that are held in the collection in the special reading room, away from free public access because they are too fragile, precious or rare. However, they can be viewed by making an appointment with the librarian.

Be inspired!

To view works of art such as these, up close, is incredibly inspiring. Nothing beats being able to see the intricacies of the textures and aesthetics of ink on paper, the various, and often unique, bindings and presentations, the carefully selected materials... ooohhh it sends goose-bumps!

As a printmaker myself, it is awe-inspiring to be able to view works such as these and to continually be inspired by the limitless ways that printmaking can be used to create beautiful artworks that are other than a two dimensional image in a frame. 

Personally, I think the format of artists' books allows the opportunity for the viewer to actually experience the pieces on a more intimate level, through the turning of pages and handling of the materials, (although in a very controlled manner in an archival setting such as this special collection, of course.) 

Hand printed Books exhibition, AM Room

Aotearoa Hand-printed Books exhibition

Our Hand-printed Books exhibition celebrates text/image collaborations

between Aotearoa artists, poets, printers and binders. These pukapuka range

from traditionally bound, to concertina books, to unfolding structures like Toni

Hartill’s Field Notes –Manawa (above). Max Gimblett, Marilynn Webb and

Joanna Margaret Paul are some of the artists whose work is on show and poets

include Hone Tuwhare, Peter Olds and Rhian Gallagher. These beautiful

collaborations have generated fresh ways to create books, and to experience

reading them.

Hand printed Books exhibition, AM Room

Visit the Heritage et Al blog

The Hand-printed Books exhibition celebrates text/image collaborations between Aotearoa artists, poets, printers and binders. These pukapuka range from traditionally bound, to unfolding and concertina structures, to unbound artists’ books...

For a beautifully written background, full description, and images of the works in the exhibition, please visit the Heritage et Al blog  post here.

Hand printed Books exhibition, AM Room

Follow the Angela Morton Room on Instagram 

for a regular insight into the treasures in the collection.

@angelamorton.room

Hand printed Books exhibition, AM Room

My artist books included in the exhibition

It has been such a joy and a privilege to work with Leanne Radojkovich on a number of projects within the Angela Morton Room including my own solo exhibition Artful Narratives in 2022. 

Following my exhibition, as a token of my gratitude for her immense support and encouragement, I created a special archive box for the Angela Morton Room, which included a few pieces from my exhibition including 

Field Notes: Manawa, 

"Field Notes: Manawa" by Toni Hartill

Logbook: Ngunguru River, 

"Logbook: Ngunguru River" by Toni Hartill

and the Butter Book sample 

(a sample from the making of 

" The Butter Book", Ak Museum collection.)

"The Butter Book" sample by Toni Hartill

I was very honoured when Auckland Libraries 

purchased the wall-hung cascade book 

Lost Forests of the Plains 

to also add to the collection.

"Lost Forests of the Plains II" by Toni Hartill

To read about the piece purchased by Auckland Libraries and the special archive box I gifted to the special collection, please visit my earlier blog post 

Artful Narratives and the Angela Morton Room Special Collection

Aotearoa Hand-printed Books exhibition

ENDS May 31st

Angela Morton Room,

Level 1, Takapuna Library.

Follow @angelamorton.room 

for updates on coming exhibitions and events.

Thanks for visiting!