A PORTFOLIO OF PILES. 1969. A NUMBERED COPY POSSIBLY SIGNED.

Vancouver: N.E. Thing Co. Ltd/Fine Arts Galery at UBC , 1969

24 × 16.5cm, outer red folder content of 59 different 1pp sheets each displaying a reproduced photograph of a heap of a particular item (a “pile”) such as wood, nails, rocks found around the environs of Vancouver along with 4 sheets of 1pp text – a title sheet, a short essay by y Kurt Von Meirer and colophon. There is also a 23 x 10cm (folded size) colour map of Vancouver inserted by the artists which is often missing.

This is a famous and important work of conceptual art and photography ( with most of the photographs taken by Iain Baxter, with the rest by Fred Herzog) which is often referenced in monographs on the subjects. The book was issued on the occasion of the “Piles” exhibition, which opened February 6th, 1968 in the Fine Arts Galery at UBC, Vancouver.

This is not in mint condition – the outer folder has wear at the folds and there is a handwritten IAN BAXTER on the back of the folder and Baxter on the front both in black ink (perhaps an autograph by the artist but we cannot confirm this). Internally the title page has a crease from a diagonal fold along the bottom but the rest of the sheets are mint.

The Vancouver Map which is the original insert and often missing is in VG+ condition. This is a very rare item indeed despite the edition size being 555 in total – this is numbered and is #306.