Salto de página. El libro de artista en el siglo XXI (Segovia)
Curated by Rocío Santa Cruz
HAY FESTIVAL
September 25, 2014 – November 23, 2014
Palacio Quintanar Exhibition Hall. Segovia.
The artist’s book emerged in the second half of the twentieth century, specifically in 1963, when Edward Ruscha produced the first edition of Twenty-six Gasoline Stations. From then on, the most avant-garde artists chose to use the book as a means of breaking away from previous artistic traditions, despite the paradox of employing a traditional artistic medium.
The persistence of this legacy explains why, now in the twenty-first century, the book continues to enjoy remarkable relevance. This runs counter to the predictions made two decades ago by those who foresaw its disappearance in the face of new digital media for text and image. Perhaps, as Michel Butor wrote in 1987: ‘The only books that will interest us in the future are those that can be regarded as works of art.’
This exhibition brings together landmark works from the last decade, particularly from the past five years. Artists such as Jaume Plensa, Perejaume, Antón Lamazares, José Pedro Croft, Joan Fontcuberta, Eulàlia Valldosera, Hannah Collins and Lawrence Weiner enter into dialogue with younger creators such as Regina Giménez, Cristina de Middel and Jordi Mitjà, all of whom dedicate a significant part of their practice to publishing. A substantial number of these works have been produced in the form of photobooks and come from the Banco Sabadell Collection and the ArtsLibris Collection.
