Weekend Update

23 Sandy Gallery and the College Book Art Association (CBAA) are pleased to present The Assignment, a national, juried book arts exhibition held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the CBAA in Portland, Oregon. To illuminate the meeting’s focus on book arts teaching practice and pedagogy, this exhibition features artist book works that were generated directly from course assignments or from self-assignments generated by the artist.

Please join us for our artist reception on First Friday, December 4, 2009, 5:00-8:00 p.m. and for our closing reception on Friday, January 8, 2010 from 5:00-8:00 p.m. During our closing reception, one book will be awarded the “Purchase Prize” and will be purchased and donated to the John Wilson Special Collection Room at the Multnomah County Library in Portland. In addition, the CBAA will give cash awards and several honorary awards. The CBAA meeting attendees, many of whom will be featured in the show will be here for the closing reception. We are also open during First Thursday, December 3, 2009, from 5:00-8:00 p.m. We invite you to join us for any, or all three, of these exciting evenings.

The Assignment was juried by Macy Chadwick and Clifton Meador. Macy Chadwick is an instructor at Academy of Art University in San Francisco, the San Francisco Art Institute, and the San Francisco Center for the Book. She is also the proprietress of In Cahoots Press, Oakland, California. Clifton Meador is associate professor and director of the M.F.A. program in book and paper at Columbia College in Chicago. He is also the editor of the Journal of Artist Books.

The College Book Art Association is a non-profit organization fundamentally committed to the teaching of book arts at the college and university level, while supporting such education at all levels, concerned with both the practice and the analysis of the medium. The Association aims to engage in a continuing reappraisal of the nature and meaning of the teaching of book arts. The annual meeting to be held in Portland January 8-9, 2010.

In the meantime, enjoy this mini peek at these Assignment submissions.

Fairyland, by Leilei Gou, comes to us from Bejing, China. Gou states, " My idea of this work comes from my grandfather’s home, which is a very old style building in Beijing. There is a huge space in the center of the building, all the apartments are around this space, so when you are on the first floor (ground) you could see the sky through this space, and if you are on the top of the building, you look down could see what happens in the ground." This silkscreen tunnel book is gorgeous and intriguing.

Angela Early of Brooklyn, New York offers Many Stories in Just Six Words #5. Early's accordion book contains portions of everyday conversations which, according to Early, "...include powerful statements that have universal and infinite meaning. My goal in creating these relief printed accordion books was to make these statements visible, tangible, and accessible. I limited my stories to just six words in order to edit the endless possibilities." Bold graphics + minimal text = big impact.

All images and text copyright the artists and authors. All rights reserved.