Highlights From The Artist Book Collection at the John F Flaxman Library – 1960-Present Day

Housed at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Library & Special Collections, The Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection (JFABC) features over 12,000 artists’ books, zines, multiples, video and audio recordings, digital works, periodicals, and other intimate works of art and ephemera from the 1960s to the present.

The collection was named after the late Joan Flasch, a bookbinder and teacher at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Words and pictures are supplied with permission by Paul K.

 

Compostela by Lars Arrhenius, 2004

Compostela by Lars Arrhenius, 2004

Description: An exhibition catalog contains a DVD with animated pictograms about life in the city.; Accompanying DVD title: The Street. Computer animated pictograms about daily life in the city. Published by Xunta de Galicia, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

 

ARKITIP, 19XX

ARKITIP, 19XX

Description: Los Angeles art magazine; each issue features different artists, providing site-specific work.; A mixture of two color, four color and black & white; offset printed; perfect bound.; Accompanying fold out prints designed for ARKITIP by Rostarr.; Issued in clear pvc bag with snap closure.; Limited edition of 1000.

 

This is Not America Either by Balázs Czeizel, 1993

This is Not America Either

Description: Produced and printed for Montage 93: International Festival of the Image … images were selected arbitrarily from the streetlife of Los Angeles in the year of 1989. Edited by Judit Borus; published by Visual Studies Workshop Press, Rochester, New York.

 

Night Flyers by Joseph H Scheer, 2003

Night Flyers by Joseph H Scheer, 2003

Description: The book illustrates over a hundred species of moths selected from artist’s collection. Digital scanning technology allows for the examination of the insects at a high resolution.; Chinese stab binding with red string; printed on double leave, oriental style.; Essay by Gerar Edizel.; Published by Nexus Press / Institute for Electronic Art, Atlanta, Georgia.

 

The Beautiful Book by Jack Smith, 2001 (reprint from 1962)

The Beautiful Book by Jack Smith, 2001 (reprint from 1962)

Description: The only autonomous collection of Jack Smith’s photographs to appear during his lifetime. The beautiful book comprises 19 hand-tipped black-and-white contact prints originally published in an edition of 200 copies. The 2001 Beautiful book is a true facsimile produced by Granary Books in collaboration with the Plaster Foundation. New prints have been made from the original negatives and hand-tipped onto Canford Buttercup paper. The covers are silk-screened in two colors on Tweedweave paper and saddle-stitched. The printing and arrangement of the photographs, choice of materials, and nature of the binding are consistent with the four copies of the book given by Smith to Marian Zazeela in 1962.; Reprint. Originally published: New York : Dead Language, 1962.; Printed in a numbered edition of 200.

 

Pipeline 24 Smash Hits by 24 Puzzle Punk Bands, 1995

Pipeline 24 Smash Hits by 24 Puzzle Punk Bands, 1995

Description: Compact disc of collaborative sound work between the band: Yamantaka EYE and Shinro Otake, accompanied by the booklet, Yamantaka’s diary.; Titles from container.; Issued in slipcase. Published by UCA: Uwajima Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan.

 

Unthunk by Les Coleman, 2002

Unthunk by Les Coleman, 2002

Description: Aphorisms and images by the artist. Published by IVDX Errata, Stockholm, Sweden.

 

Bring Me Your Love by Charles Bukowski, 1983

Bring Me Your Love by Charles Bukowski, 1983

Cover illustration by R Crumb.; published by Black Sparrow Press, Santa Rosa, California.

 

I [Jump] by Liese A Ricketts, 1998

I [Jump] by Liese A Ricketts, 1998

Description: Issued in clear vellum envelope.; Library’s copy no. 3 out of 25 signed by the artist.; Cover title. Published by Poor Press, Chicago.

 

 

Cremaster 3 or The cremaster Cycle by Matthew Barney, 2002

Cremaster 3 or The cremaster Cycle by Matthew Barney, 2002

Description: Cremaster 3, the last in Matthew Barney’s epic five-part film project, is part zombie, part gangster film. Set in 1930s New York and Saratoga Springs as well as the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, the plot explores the Irish mob system, freemasonry, and Celtic lore as further symbols for the forces at play in Barney’s mythological system. The book features still photography from the film. {info. from artbook.com} Published by Guggenheim Museum Publications, New York City.

 

Get Rich With Art, (late 1990s/early 2000s)

Get Rich With Art, (late 1990s/early 2000s)

Description: This publication is a combination of graphic design, fine art, multimedia and music; 20 young artists have developed a game that combines board and computer game.; The game includes 1 CD-Rom (for Mac & PC), with additional music tracks, a game board, 80 works of art by 20 artists, 80 outrageous economic and social events, 6 art dealers, 6 private collection cards, 24 exhibition cards, 1 set of playing instructions.; in English and German.

 

“NANO” – Stories in a Blink by Michael Miller, 2005

“NANO” – Stories in a Blink by Michael Miller, 2005

Description: The book presents two back to back visual stories (comics): Face to Face and Flatman. Published by Sara Ranchouse Publishing, Chicago, Illinois.

 

Invisible Sightings by Ed Pien, 1998

Invisible Sightings by Ed Pien, 1998

Description: Catalogue of an exhibition of drawings held at Artcite from May 30 to June 29, 1997. Published by Artcite, Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

 

Acme Comics No. 10 by T Motley, 1992-1994

Acme Comics No. 10 by T Motley, 1992-1994

Description: 4-color silkscreen cover.; fanzine comic book published by Fandom House, Denver, Colorado.

 

Luigi Ontani (self titled), 2004

Luigi Ontani (self titled), 2004

Description: Artist’s catalog printed on translucent paper with one foldout plate.; Limited edition of 1000 copies. Published by Sperone Westwater, New York City.

 

 

 

Angus 15 Jaar by Mark Manders, 2001

Angus 15 Jaar by Mark Manders, 2001

Description: A collaboration between Mark Manders and Marije Langelaar.; “House to house newspaper for Rotterdam, distributed on the day of the 15th birthday of Angus.”.; Printed in an edition of 100 copies in collaboration with International Sculpture Collection Rotterdam. Published by ROMA Publications, Arnhem, Holland.

 

Imagined Experiences : Make This Magazine, 2006

Imagined Experiences : Make This Magazine, 2006

Description: Theme-based fantasy magazine (Issue 3), reproducing photographs, drawings, sketches, and poetry. Published by Megan Mullett, New York City.

 

Nite Soil by Kenward Elmslie, 2000

Nite Soil by Kenward Elmslie, 2000

Description: “…a huge cycle of collages interspersed with accompanying text … 41 original postcard collages inspired by his long poem that bears the same title.”.; Published by Granary Books, New York City.; Literary Format – Poems.; Production Format – Postcards.

 

Turbulence : A Log Book by Henrik Drescher*, 2001

Turbulence : A Log Book by Henrik Drescher*, 2001

Description: “Turbulence is an intricately produced artist’s book that catalogs Drescher’s vivid world of images, and a visual narrative that follows one man through the troubled past, an uncertain future, and the enduring timelessness of myth.”–P. [4] of cover.; Selected text excerpted from Hindu Myths.; Board covers.; 3 cut-out windows on front cover. Published by Chronicle Books LLC, San Francisco, California.

 

The Fastener Incident by Mark Wagner, 2001

The Fastener Incident by Mark Wagner, 2001

Description: “The story is about librarians who fight over the use of paperclips or staples. The form of the book follows from the content… looking like some kind of official report or document.” {Artist’s description from acquisition sheet}.; Bound in file folder with title on the cover and folder tab.; Illustration by Dylan Graham.; Limited edition of 200 copies. Published by Bird Brain Press, Brooklyn, New York.

 

What Can A Man See? by Russell Edson, 1969

What Can A Man See? by Russell Edson, 1969

Description: Author’s autograph copy.; Series – Jargon 37.; Published by Jargon Society, Penland, North Carolina.

 

12 Décors Textiles by Marc Camille Chaimowicz, 1983

12 Décors Textiles by Marc Camille Chaimowicz, 1983

Description: Designs of 12 textile patterns by the artist Marc Camille Chaimowicz, including two fabric samples.; Text by Hubert Besacier, in French and English. Published by Comportement Environnement Performance, Lyon, France.

 

Disasters of War : A Coloring Book by Oli Watt, 1997

Disasters of War : A Coloring Book by Oli Watt, 1997

Description: “A disaster coloring book” — Cover.; A coloring book depicting war scenes. Published by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.

 

All images © the respective artist; all notes above are quoted or paraphrased from the source site.

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