Book by Book – 2nd Edition
Keith A. Smith for the 2014 NY Book Art Fair
For the 2014 NYABF Bruce Silverstein Gallery will present Book by Book: 2nd Edition, an installation by the renowned book artist, Keith A. Smith.
The exhibition will be comprised of unique and editioned books, prints, and photographs from the 1960s-2014. Additionally, Smith has created three images to be released as special editions in conjunction with the fair.
With thise resurgence of attention surrounding book arts, it is critical that Keith Smith receives rightful attention. His earliest books from the 1960s set the bar for the possibilities within this art form. Additionally, his influence as a teacher and author on the subjects of alternative bookbinding and structure is widespread; this exhibition will be an opportunity to view his acclaimed methods and process that has inspired book artists over the decades.
Smith’s artworks are radical departures from traditional books. They are made of string, covered in fabric, unfold, light-up, do not open, are unbound, or punched full of holes. Each piece is an opportunity for the viewer to expand his or her own expectations for a book and physically engage with the imagery or text.
Smith has taught at the Visual Studies Workshop, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the University of Illinois. He is a recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships, and a National Endowment of the Arts grant and a Pollock/Krasner Foundation grant.
His work is in the collections of major public and private collections worldwide including the Art Institute of Chicago; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Morgan Library; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Getty Museum, Los Angeles; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London among others.
Smith has authored nine books on bookmaking, among them; 200 Books, An Annotated Bibliography, published by Keith Smith BOOKS, First Edition, May 2000; Books without Paste or Glue, Non-Adhesive Binding Volume I, The Sigma Foundation, Inc., 1991; and Structure of the Visual Book, First Edition, The Sigma Foundation, 1984