01 Jul

Posted at 19:39h in Artist's Postcards

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
10 x 6.5cm, envelope with printed label content of two 3.5 x 5cm 1pp folded cards.
The first card created by Thomas A Clark and Laurie Clark reads "FOLDING THE LAST LAMB" meaning the animals have been placed in a pen. The second card by Finlay reads FOLDING THE LAST SAIL" which has a double meaning of storing a sail and/or folding a sail around a dead sailor as a form of coffin before burial at sea.Both cards are folded - adding a physicality to the metaphors by altering the cards themselves.
This is the second version of Finlay's card - previously published by the Wild Hawthorn Press in 1997 in a larger size and alone but with an acknowledgement to the Clarks. This version has both the original card and its adaption.VG+.

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14 Jun

Posted at 10:55h in Artist's Books

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1999
9.8 x 10.6 cm, 12pp, plus card covers and dust jacket. Content of 16 b/w drawings of knots used in netting by Gary Hincks- the subtle differences between them and the sequential way they are presented reminds one of the schematics of Sol Lewitt. The last pages of the book have a line by Finlay:

Variations on a Theme of Diamonds
net

A one line poem which notes the shapes of the netting as the ropes are pulled into diamond shapes. And the value of such nets to the fisherman.

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10 Jun

Posted at 20:20h in Artist's Postcards

Edinburgh: Morning Star Publications/Water press. Wax366, 1998
16.2 x 22.9cm, printed envelope content of four artists' postcards by David Bellingham, Alec Finlay, Ian Hamilton Finlay and Kevin Henderson issued on the occasion of the 1998 football world cup in France.
Ian Hamilton Finlay's card is "Relative Geography" which was a concrete poem originally published in "Tea-leaves and Fishes" from 1966. The text reads:

Britain: North Pole Equator South Pole Brazil: North Pele Equator South Pele

Pele of course was the world famous footballer who was often regarded as the Greatest Of All Time. All cards are VG+ in like envelope. The co-publisher Morning Star Press was the idea of Finlay's son Eck Finlay (now Alex FInlay).

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03 Jun

Posted at 12:18h in ARTIST’S BOOKS

Munchen: Gina Kehayoff Verlage, 1998BR> 14 x 21cm,28pp plus card covers. Artist's book consisting of 132 small b/w photographic images of relics from both East and West youth culture in Berlin in the 1970s (before the Berlin wall came down) The images are of toys, exercise books, sports drawings, fan articles, drawings, photos." The book is printed dos-a-dos with the Eastern objects shown in one direction until half way, and the Western images in the other direction once the book is turned over. Minimal text in German. VG+.

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15 May

Posted at 17:54h in EXHIBITION CATALOGUES

Paris: Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de paris, 1998
26.5 x 21cm, 28pp plus card covers. Exhibition catalogue that has an important text "Le Voyage au Perou/The Journey to Peru" which is in French and English. The text gives insights into the artist's practice - how he likes to reinstall works which change depending on the situation, the role of objects as a means of referencing "humanity" in his installations, the role of memory and archiving in his work and the importance of religion in art, the issue of death and its denial by society, and the artist's "journey to Peru' which relatees to the chronological experiences and knowledge. Black and white images of installations and works throughout. A wonderful catalogue. VG+.

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14 May

Posted at 11:52h in Artist's Books

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1998
11 x 10.8 x 2cm card slipcase content of two volumes - both 10.5 x 10.6cm and unpaginated. Printed card covers. The first volume consists of the names of boats followed by unprinted coloured pages such that the painted colours of the actual boat are displayed serially. The second volume follows the first in that the same boats are listed (without identification) but now with the words of the boat colours printed in a large font. The boat names are repeated at the end of the book. For some reason this is reminiscent of some Sol Lewitt books in its conception but it also recalls earlier Finlay publications that are often referred to as "kinetic" eg OCEAN STRIPE SERIES 3.
One of only 250 printed. VG+

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07 May

Posted at 10:27h in ARTIST’S BOOKS

Paris/Munich: Editions des musées/ Gina Kehayoff Verlag, 1998. 26.5 x 20.5cm, 1168pp plus boards. First edition of this huge artist's book which reproduced 1148 black and white photographs all without detail taken from Botlanski's personal collection of found images. All are figurative - people in all of their different forms - and the title Kaddish is a Jewish call for praise of god - and sometimes part of mourning rituals.
There are four sections - Menschlich, Sachlich, Ortlich, Sterblich. Boltanski has adopted an interest in his father's religion and while not practising he clearly identifies with some of the religion's compassion.
VG+.

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09 Mar

Posted at 21:43h in Artist's Books

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1995 11 x 8cm, 8pp plus card covers. Artist's book with two poems by Finlay that share a similar structure:

willow
dogwood
daylily
azalea


hiding



and



daisy
foxglove
harebell
dog-rose


presencing



The first list of plants are all cultivated, the second list is made up of plants that are usually regarded as weeds or wild. Finlay in a note directs us to C.R. Carswell's Life of Robert Burns, page 452 - where while Burns is dying:

"And though it was too late in the year for some of his favourite plants to be in blossom, she and the boys found daisies and foxgloves and harebells and some late dog-roses." which account for the second list of flowers. VG+....

08 Jan

Posted at 16:55h in ARTIST’S BOOKS

Paris: Editions 9 février, 1997
24 x 18cm, unpaginated plus printed boards - all bound in a thick metal spiral. A joint artists' book in which Jacques Roubaud takes three of Boltanski's "list" books (The work people of Halifax, Liste des Suisses morts dans le Canton du Valais en 1991 and Liste des artistes ayant participe a la Biennale de Venice 1895 - 1995) and utlising different arbitrary rules re-orders the names into 99 different lists.
This is followed by a number of unidentified portraits of people printed on semi-transparent paper which are split into three sections allowing parts of the faves to be rearranged to create "new" portraits. In some manner this latter re-organisation of the facial features reflects Roubaud's re-categorisation.
The cover displays the two artists but with their portraits cut up and recombined to create a new image. VG+. ...

15 Dec

Posted at 14:26h in Artist's Books

Little Sparta: Wild Hawthorn Press, 1997
15.2 x 21.4cm, 48pp plus green card covers with tipped on title label. Artist's book with twelve b/w photographs by Robin Gillanders of trees in Little Sparta where Janet Boulton had painted "highlights" directly onto the branches and trunks and Gillanders photographed them on very dull days when there were no actual reflected highlights other than the paint. Each set of three images of each tree gets closer until the last close-up.
In this sense the work is similar to the Fauvist treatment of nature with colour and bright paint highlighting parts of nature - hence why this is a homage to Derrain who with Matisse founded the movement. One of only 250 copies. VG+.

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14 Nov

Posted at 23:06h in ARTIST’S BOOKS

München: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 1997
One part printed folder (black on blue) content of a 30 x 21cm, 92pp colour magazine. Artist’s book which was created annually by the newspaper for its Sunday supplement here dedicated to Christian Boltanski. Long essay text in German and many colour reproductions of works. The cover of the magazine has a tipped on card label printed with the text "Verloren in Munchen". VG+ in like folder and there is an ex libris "From the Library of Anthony d'Offey" on the inside of the folder. Not in any catalogue raisonne.

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