Maine Printmaking Project Exhibit Opens at UMaine

October 10, 2006_Contact: Owen Smith, 299-2418; George Manlove, 581-3756; Walter Tisdale, 942-3119

ORONO – The newest exhibit at the Department of Art's Lord Hall Gallery at UMaine focuses a good deal on books, in addition to the creativity that emerges when artists and writers collaborate, but to appreciate the show, visitors must suspend their ingrained concept of just what a book is, says co-curator Walter Tisdale, a Bangor book printer and publisher.

For instance, the Islamic Koran is read back to front, says Tisdale, who owns and operates Tatlin Books. Asian text reads vertically. Some books open in an accordion-like fashion and have no binding. Some books are very small and others very large. And some of the books in "The Art of Printed Books and Artists Multiples," on display through Nov. 22, have different sized pages, some with pockets and fold-outs, and a few with woodcut images, but no text.

Seemingly one-of-a-kind creations, the books on exhibit were printed, or mass produced, in multiples, as were some of the other items in the exhibit, including a pair of white socks and wine bottles. The works come from the personal collections of Tisdale and Owen Smith, professor of art and director of the New Media Program at UMaine.

"From socks to toilet paper, they were drawn into the art orbit," Smith explains, "as a way to question what art is."
An opening reception for "The Art of Printed Books and Artists' Multiples" is scheduled from 5-7 p.m., Oct. 13, at Lord Hall. The exhibit is part of the "Maine Print Project: 200 Years of Printmaking in Maine," a series of exhibitions taking place in 25 museums, galleries and college campuses throughout the state of Maine.
Smith and Tisdale are co-curators for the exhibit.

Another way to describe many of the pieces in the exhibit is "book art" or "artists’ books," according to Smith and Tisdale.
"Taking the structure of the book beyond everyday expectations is often a goal of the artist's book," Smith and Tisdale explain in their curators’ statement. "Other important aspects of artists' books are: the use of cross-disciplinary media; the production of the work through an accessible (usually inexpensive) means; and the reaction against the established art world/art market.

"Often the impetus behind the use of the book form is to cross boundaries and defy existing limitations and definitions. It is a medium of expression that allows for, in fact calls for, the combination of several modes of creation," they write. "In fact, this confluence of art forms had affected artists' books to such a degree that they have become characteristically and foremost multidisciplinary. This tendency towards cross-disciplines also allows an artist to belong to no explicit discipline while referring to many.

"Even artists, who are supposedly ‘free spirits,’ need a way to grant themselves permission to explore ideas outside of their normal modes of thought. Artists' books take on this role."

The Maine Print Project, being shown at two dozen other Maine galleries, involves a broad array of printed art, including books, and is the largest collaborative arts initiative in Maine history, according to Bruce Brown, a Maine book and art collector who chairs the Maine Print Project.

The show was created to celebrate printmaking by Maine artists, and each individual exhibit has an educational component to it.
For information on the project and each exhibition site, visit the Maine Print Project Web site at www.maineprintproject.org. For information about the Orono exhibit, the UMaine Department of Art can be reached at 581-3245.

Major funding for "The Maine Print Project: Celebrating 200 Years of Printmaking in Maine" is provided by the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces Program, and by a major grant from the Maine Community Foundation. Funding is also provided by the Davis Family Foundation, with additional support from the June Fitzpatrick Gallery