MORE THAN JUST A BOOK
EXHIBITION ‘ARTIST'S BOOK MUSEUM:
FROM LIVRE DʼARTISTE TO BOOK-ART
FROM LIVRE DʼARTISTE TO BOOK-ART
At the end of February, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Kaliningrad opened an exhibition that forces us to reconsider the usual ideas about the book and see it as an independent work of art. The project ‘The Artist's Book Museum: “from livre dʼartiste to book-art” presents the unique collection of the Moscow museum of the same name, where each object tells about the author's idea through an unexpected union of different materials, forms and technologies. The curator of the project and a prominent representative of contemporary book art told our publication about the exposition. Valery Korchagin, the curator of the project and a vivid representative of contemporary book-art
“The Artist's Book is more than a movement or a trend in art. It is a whole phenomenon
in contemporary culture.” says Valery. Its core is a synthesis of the arts, covering a wide range of forms and techniques: from the exquisite illuminated books of William Blake to the aesthetics of the French Livre d'artiste d'avant-garde. Blake and the aesthetics of the French Livre d'artiste to the avant-garde experiments of Russian futurism and daring contemporary book-art.
Valery Korchagin is convinced that the book has long ago transcended beyond the usual format of the book codex: “The book is an object of contemporary art. For the artist, the book
is a tool with the help of which he transmits his ideas. It can be made of any material, be of any shape or size, have inside it unreadable text or no text at all, but it's still a book because that's what the author has appointed it to be”.
Behind the scenes of this unusual exposition are three artists - Valery Korchagin, Mikhail Pogarsky and Viktor Lukin. In 2010, they founded the International Association “Artist's Book”, and ten years later their painstaking work resulted in the creation of a museum, which has become a real treasury of book art. Today the museum's collection has more than a thousand exhibits - from uniques to small prints, and is constantly being enriched with donations to artists and objects from projects organised by the Museum's founders. The criterion for selection into the collection and the main value of a book is not its rarity, but its authorship, i.e. the personality of the artist who created it.
The exhibition features 29 authentic masterpieces from artists from different parts of the world: Russia, Egypt, Jordan, Ireland, South Korea, USA, Great Britain and other countries. Here you can see works made of metal, wood, fabric, where text sometimes gives way to abstractions, and the binding becomes an art object. Among the exhibits are a book-shirt by Natalia Sinyova, pop-up objects by Korchagin and Vasily Vlasov, an interactive book by Mikhail Pogarsky, a multimedia installation by Leonid Tishkov, works by Fernanda Fedi, Nazir Tanboli and other foreign authors. Special attention should be paid to large collective books recently created: “Russian Primer’, “Iliazda”, “The Poetry of Unknown Words”, “The Word of the Artist”
in contemporary culture.” says Valery. Its core is a synthesis of the arts, covering a wide range of forms and techniques: from the exquisite illuminated books of William Blake to the aesthetics of the French Livre d'artiste d'avant-garde. Blake and the aesthetics of the French Livre d'artiste to the avant-garde experiments of Russian futurism and daring contemporary book-art.
Valery Korchagin is convinced that the book has long ago transcended beyond the usual format of the book codex: “The book is an object of contemporary art. For the artist, the book
is a tool with the help of which he transmits his ideas. It can be made of any material, be of any shape or size, have inside it unreadable text or no text at all, but it's still a book because that's what the author has appointed it to be”.
Behind the scenes of this unusual exposition are three artists - Valery Korchagin, Mikhail Pogarsky and Viktor Lukin. In 2010, they founded the International Association “Artist's Book”, and ten years later their painstaking work resulted in the creation of a museum, which has become a real treasury of book art. Today the museum's collection has more than a thousand exhibits - from uniques to small prints, and is constantly being enriched with donations to artists and objects from projects organised by the Museum's founders. The criterion for selection into the collection and the main value of a book is not its rarity, but its authorship, i.e. the personality of the artist who created it.
The exhibition features 29 authentic masterpieces from artists from different parts of the world: Russia, Egypt, Jordan, Ireland, South Korea, USA, Great Britain and other countries. Here you can see works made of metal, wood, fabric, where text sometimes gives way to abstractions, and the binding becomes an art object. Among the exhibits are a book-shirt by Natalia Sinyova, pop-up objects by Korchagin and Vasily Vlasov, an interactive book by Mikhail Pogarsky, a multimedia installation by Leonid Tishkov, works by Fernanda Fedi, Nazir Tanboli and other foreign authors. Special attention should be paid to large collective books recently created: “Russian Primer’, “Iliazda”, “The Poetry of Unknown Words”, “The Word of the Artist”
Valery Korchagin speaks with awe about the exhibits: “All the books presented at the exhibition are of absolute importance for us. Behind each of them is a huge labour of the artist. Each has its uniqueness, its special destiny, its own cultural authorial code”
Based on the particular interest in the figure of the artist who created it, one of the earliest books in our collection is Wenzel Štich. “The Shadow of the Wound is Us” (1985) by Vladimir Yankilevsky. Another is “The Biryukov Number” by the late artist Alexander Pankin, in which he attempted to translate the work of avant-garde poet Sergey Biryukov into a numerical formula. Then there is “Thoughts and Aphorisms" by Viktor Umnov, created at a time when the artist was already completely blind.
Valery takes a skeptical view of digitalization’s impact on the future of the book. He is convinced: “The introduction of digital technologies cannot fundamentally alter the development of book art, the artist’s book, or any other kind of book, nor the publishing industry as a whole. One only needs to look at the book itself and realize that it has remained virtually unchanged for centuries. The book is a part of human civilization, and if it is destined to disappear, it will do so together with the last of us.”
The Artist’s Book Museum is actively developing in our country and has long become a creative bridge between Russia and other nations.
“Book art is gaining momentum in Russia. We’ve established an annual printmaking forum in St. Petersburg, organize and participate in academic conferences, lead numerous tours and workshops, publish a literary and artistic almanac, and work on publishing projects. Books by Russian artists have drawn interest from foreign partners—just as international book artists have taken part in Russian projects,” Korchagin says proudly.
Based on the particular interest in the figure of the artist who created it, one of the earliest books in our collection is Wenzel Štich. “The Shadow of the Wound is Us” (1985) by Vladimir Yankilevsky. Another is “The Biryukov Number” by the late artist Alexander Pankin, in which he attempted to translate the work of avant-garde poet Sergey Biryukov into a numerical formula. Then there is “Thoughts and Aphorisms" by Viktor Umnov, created at a time when the artist was already completely blind.
Valery takes a skeptical view of digitalization’s impact on the future of the book. He is convinced: “The introduction of digital technologies cannot fundamentally alter the development of book art, the artist’s book, or any other kind of book, nor the publishing industry as a whole. One only needs to look at the book itself and realize that it has remained virtually unchanged for centuries. The book is a part of human civilization, and if it is destined to disappear, it will do so together with the last of us.”
The Artist’s Book Museum is actively developing in our country and has long become a creative bridge between Russia and other nations.
“Book art is gaining momentum in Russia. We’ve established an annual printmaking forum in St. Petersburg, organize and participate in academic conferences, lead numerous tours and workshops, publish a literary and artistic almanac, and work on publishing projects. Books by Russian artists have drawn interest from foreign partners—just as international book artists have taken part in Russian projects,” Korchagin says proudly.