Karen HanmerDéjà Vu: History, Memory, Place |
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Karen Hanmer At once vast and minimal, sparse and rich, the night sky has always been a canvas upon which people project their myths and dreams. In Celestial Navigation a photograph of the Milky Way provides the background for an illustrated catalog of instruments used across the ages to navigate by the stars, and a 19th-century astronomical chart. This historical content is complemented by a brief poem in which the artist looks to the night sky to recapture the memory of a long lost beloved. Celestial Navigation is constructed of ink-jet printed, hinged triangles that can be held in the hand and read page by page like a traditional book. Unfolded flat, it references historical star charts or contemporary NASA composite photographs. The book can also be folded into myriad sculptural shapes. Pigment inkjet prints. Edition of 30. 6.75x5.75x.5" closed, 17.5x 30" open. 2008. To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery.
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Karen Hanmer At once vast and minimal, sparse and rich, the night sky has always been a canvas upon which people project their myths and dreams. Star Poems presents quotes that document response to the night sky across the ages by philosophers, artists, and poets from Plato and Byron to contemporary writers, scientists and astronauts. This text is paired with 17th century mythological images of constellation forms and images of early star gazers on a background of a NASA photograph of the Milky Way. The book can be held in the hand and read page by page like a traditional book, can be removed from its jacket and unfolded flat to reference historical astronomical charts or contemporary NASA composite photos, or can be folded into an infinite variety of sculptural shapes. Pigment inkjet prints. Edition of 30. 6.75x5.75x.75" closed, 17.5x 23" open. 2008. To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery.
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Karen Hanmer The Model Architect: The Panic Of ’09 is based on The Model Architect, Samuel Sloan’s 1852 collection of house plans and instructions to contractors. The new work pairs historical text and illustrations from Sloan’s work with contemporary text from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s online Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure. The colophon provides commentary by the artist, noting the effects of speculation and financial collapse in her own neighborhood. The Model Architect: The Panic Of ’09 is one of six winners of the Building by the Book competition sponsored Philadelphia Athenaeum and Philadelphia Center for the Book. The book is bound using the drum leaf structure, but is evocative of a mid 19th century binding in its use of materials and decorative elements: leather spine, marbled paper, decorated edge, gold tooling and titling. The large page size mirrors that of Sloan’s work. Pigment inkjet prints, calf spine, leather label, title and tooling in gold foil, red acrylic ink edges. Marbled paper by Iris Nevins. Edition of 30. 14x11x.5”. 2010 To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery. |
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Karen Hanmer Originally created for a friend eager to leave Philadelphia, this tongue-in-cheek tribute combines portraits and proverbs by the ubiquitous author, publisher, statesman, ladies’ man and inventor. Cover illustration by Henry Maron. Pigment inkjet prints, false accordion binding in quarter cloth case. Edition of 100 To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery. |
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Karen Hanmer Vintage photographs and brief text document a couple’s many separations and ultimate reunion. I began Reunion shortly after the death of my father. My mother predeceased him by 34 years. He never remarried. I am intrigued with the idea that they are now reunited, at least figuratively, and perhaps in a more tangible form. Sewn boards binding. Pigment inkjet prints, silk brocade, title blind stamped onto goatskin spine. Edition of 25. 7x7.5x.5". 2006. To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery. |
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Karen Hanmer Vintage photographs represent the accomplishments and values of a mid century husband and wife. Pigment inkjet prints. Edition of 25. 5x10.5x.25" closed in dust jacket Removed from dust jacket for display, fully extended 5" x up to 9' (can also be displayed extended into a closed circular shape). 2006. To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery. |
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Karen Hanmer Text and photos documenting the connections between three generations of men through reminiscences of hunting and fishing trips. Pigment inkjet prints. Edition of 20. Fully open size 6x30x3" 1998. To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery. |
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Karen Hanmer Text discusses continuing feelings of connection to deceased loved one. Mobius strip. Pigment inkjet print. Edition of 20. 3.5 x 15 x 9". 2000. To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery. |
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Karen Hanmer A young Navy wife’s letter written from Europe to her family on the farm. Flag book. Pigment inkjet prints. Edition of 20. Fully open size 8x19x3". 2004. To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery. |
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Karen Hanmer This carousel book tells the story of the sensuous pleasures of a the straight-laced child’s twilight summer walk to the candy store to purchase caramel “bull’s eyes,” in the company of the free-wheeling children from the family next door. Carousel book. Pigment inkjet prints. 7x14x7". Edition of 20. 2000. To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery. |
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Karen Hanmer Text tells the story of a 1930’s small town school teacher and her philandering boyfriend. Pigment inkjet prints. Edition of 20. 6.5x20x3" fully open. 1999. To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery. |
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Karen Hanmer Inspired by Willa Cather's My Antonia, and quote from the text printed on one end panel: “Everywhere, as far as the eye could reach, there was nothing but rough, shaggy, red grass… And there was so much motion in it; the whole country seemed, somehow, to be running.” Double-sided flag book. Pigment inkjet prints on polyester film, double sided variation on flag book. Illustration in collaboration with Henry Maron. Edition of 25. 8x10x.5" closed, 8x9x18" open. 2006. To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery. |
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Karen Hanmer Text outlines brief history of immigrant farm family and lists the names of three generations. Flag book. Pigment inkjet prints. Edition of 20. 8x19x3" fully open. 2001. To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery.
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Karen Hanmer Like the child’s pocket game, the viewer maneuvers the box to get each of the balls into a divot corresponding to a city mentioned in the Johnny Cash song, Big River, where the lovesick narrator chases his woman down the Mississippi River, missing her at every port. Pigment inkjet prints, binders' board, plexiglass, ball bearings. Edition of 20. 10.75x8.75x1.25". 2004. To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery. |
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Karen Hanmer Mirage is winner of the award for best 3D entry in the 2010 Midwestern Biennial exhibition at the Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL. Karen Hanmer's Mirage beautifully represents the concepts of time and motion through a sequence of dreamlike images that whirl across the pages. The photographs, blurred as if taken from a speeding car, describe place and memory in a manner that is melancholic yet detached. The book is a diary of sorts, documenting the quickly passing and often unperceived moments that later prompt recollection. — Jeff Rathermel, Artistic Director, Minnesota Center for Book Arts Pigment inkjet prints, drum leaf binding, title stamped on spine. Series of 100, each unique. 5x7x.5" To purchase this work please contact Laura at 23 Sandy Gallery. |
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